TR EMERITUS

Author: Dr Wong Wee Nam 16 November 2009 At a grassroots event recently, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong confidently declared that “new immigrants to Singapore can become Singaporeans in outlook and loyalty within a generation.” He apparently reached this amazing conclusion after a visit to his ancestral village in Wuling in China’s Fujian province, and after a recent Deepavali event where he found that several young children of permanent residents from India could easily pass off as Singaporeans. How he could have come to his conclusion based on these two set of factors escapes me. First of all, young children all over the world do not behave differently from one another. Put a group of young children together and they will soon play their own games oblivious of their colour or nationality. However, this does not mean they will all grow up to be Singaporeans in outlook and loyalty. Secondly, Mr. Goh might have felt very Singaporean when he visited his ancestral village. This does not mean the children of the new immigrants will, in future, feel the way he did. The Next Generation The next generation of these new migrants will not think and feel the same way as this generation of Singaporeans. This is because the fathers and forefathers of the present generation, of older Singaporeans, including the Senior Minister, had migrated to Singapore under different circumstances. They were political and economic “refugees”. Many did not have a choice. They came as teenagers to escape war, hunger and poverty and once they established their roots here, there was no turning back. Those who came from China then could not go back at all. Neither could they bring their children back for visits even if they could afford and wanted to. Because of this, the ties were cut and over time memories of their homeland became very faint. It was only natural then that the children of these people did not know of any motherland other than Singapore. They, especially the English educated, probably had more attachment to England than China. The present new migrants from China are different. They come as adults and are usually better educated. They have not run away from a country that is a basket case but have chosen to come here to improve themselves and the lives of their children. To a lot of them, a Singapore passport is a stepping stone to better things. They are not going to cut off any emotional ties with the country they had come from, not when it is growing bigger and bigger in economic and political stature every day. It’s really no contest between a giant red mass and a little red dot. At the back of the Chinese migrant’s mind is an idiom that is ingrained in them when young: 衣锦还乡。This means “To go back to one’s old home in silken robes.” The children of these new migrants are not going to be like Goh Chok Tong. They are certainly not going to sever their cultural, emotional and ancestral ties with China. How could they? Unlike Goh Chok Tong, a lot of them can and will go back to visit their relatives regularly. Some even go back during the school vacation for immersion. Like their migrant parents, they will watch CCTV and Phoenix station as much or even more than channels 8 and 5. Is it then any surprise to see Zhang yuanyuan, a Singapore permanent resident, taking part in a national day parade, waving the Chinese flag and feeling very proud to be a Chinese on China’s National Day. Don’t be surprised to see more Chinese flags displayed in HDB flats on 1st October in future. The new Indian migrants and their children are also unlike the Senior Minister. They are still likely to visit their ancestral home on a regular basis and are likely to be as Indian as they are Singaporeans. Just as Singaporeans cheered Liverpool when they played Singapore, a lot of these new migrants are likely to cheer the Indian national hockey team when they play Singapore. Whither Singapore? I, therefore, do not share Mr. Goh’s optimism about loyalty. If our policy does not change, the problem is likely to be compounded. In thirty years time, Singaporeans are going to be a minority in their own country and in forty years time, they will form about 25% to 30%. In the same speech, the Senior Minister also said, “Without PRs and new citizens, Singapore will go the way of the dinosaurs.” Imagine an England that is three-quarter Chinese and a Japan that is three quarter Polynesian. Both the English and the Japanese will go the way of the dinosaurs. According to Socrates, “patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does and would actually promote analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be.” In other words, to have patriotism, there must be a devotion to humanity and beneficence. There must be an individual responsibility to fellow citizens. Without provision for charity, without the right to criticize injustice or to denounce excessive laws, and without the spontaneous participation of people in the affairs of the country, there can be no patriotism. As it is, many years of authoritarian-style government have reduced Singaporeans into an apathetic lot and made them feel like guests in a hotel. In years to come, with hordes of foreigners coming in to depress their wages or even displace them at workplace and reduce them to second class citizens, how much more loyalty can we expect from local-bred Singaporeans let alone migrants? It would have been different if Singaporeans had been allowed to developed their patriotism and let this patriotism rub off onto a slow influx of migrants. Then come 2040, we would not have a population that is made up of Singapore citizens but largely owing emotional allegiance to another country. As it stands, in 2040, when a minister visits his ancestral village in China, he is not going to be as detached as the Senior Minister. The cultural, social, emotional and ancestral ties will be so much stronger. He would feel not so much like a visiting Singapore leader but, psychologically, rather like a municipal officer 衣锦还乡going back to one’s old home in silken robes. Alas, perhaps it is just a historical cycle that Singapore has to go the way of Temasek. Source: http://www.sgpolitics.net  Read More →

The PAP regime has tightened the inflow of immigrants ahead of the next general election to placate disgruntled and angry Singaporeans who are made to feel increasingly like strangers in a strange land dominated by the foreigners. Speaking in Parliament today, PAP Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng revealed that only 59,000 PRs were granted out of 115,900 applications last year. There were 20,000 PRs in the year before. When asked for the profile of successful PR applicants, Mr Wong claimed that the "majority" of them qualified under the "Professional, Technical and Skilled Workers Scheme" without giving an exact breakdown of the figures. "We will continue to be stringent in our requirements for PR. PR will be granted to those of suitable quality, are able to contribute to Singapore and integrate well into our society," he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. He added that "Singapore will continue to be stringent in its requirements for PR and it will be granted to those of suitable quality, are able to contribute to Singapore and integrate well into society." However, the media was full of reports of cleaners, construction workers, bus drivers, masseurs and even freelance prostitutes are given Singapore PR and citizenship. PRC national Zhang Yuanyuan, who came to Singapore to work as a Chinese language teacher was given Singapore PR within TWO MONTHS of application. It is not known if she was classified under the "Professional, Technical and Skilled Workers' Scheme" too. On the other hand, there are genuine global talents who surprisingly had their PR applications rejected, one of them being Peter Kriz, a former senior lecturer in economist at the Singapore Management University who graduated from the prestigious Stanford University and armed with a Masters from Harvard University and PhD from Yale University. Singaporeans should not be deceived again by the latest "wayang" put up by the PAP regime to "sweeten" the ground ahead of the next general election where it is expected to lose a dozen of seats including a GRC to a resurgent opposition whose ranks are now filled by an increasing number of young, educated professionals. During the 2006 general election, the PAP put up a deceptive slogan "staying together, moving ahead" to entice Singaporeans to vote for it. Four years later, it's the PAP ministers and elites who have "moved (far) ahead" of the rest of us who are "staying together" behind. The next general election may be the last window of opportunity for native Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of their beloved country, after which they will surely be relegated to being second class minorities in a new Singapore dominated by the PAP and the hordes of foreigners it is mass-importing to convert them into new citizens in order to maintain and perpetuate its political hegemony forever.   Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.  Read More →

By Gan Theng Wei Today we had two new volunteers joining us for our walkabout for the first time. It is heartening to see two new faces that were willing to volunteer their time and effort to contribute to our call! We know that Singaporeans do care! And we are really grateful for their help. However, I urge more of you to step forward now if you want to see a change in Singapore. As we have mentioned earlier, every Singaporean has a stake in Singapore. If we want to see a change in Singapore, it is not enough to just say that we are going to vote for change in the coming election. We need to step out/up now. One of the two new volunteers who came today commented that although doing walkabouts was tiring and sweaty, it was a fulfilling affair as she got to interact first hand with the residents to understand some of the problems that they were facing. I was happy that this volunteer shares the same views as me. :) Read rest of article here.  Read More →