TR EMERITUS

By Grace Chua from Straits Times WHEN Bedok resident Betty Wong, 59, moved into the housing estate some 30 years ago, she was wowed by the project's orderliness and convenience. 'At that time we were very poor, so we were very excited to move into government flats,' Madam Wong said, describing how her family had to draw water from a well, burn firewood, and even go through other people's used charcoal for usable lumps. 'It was so clean - not like the kampung we used to live in, which was dirty and always had a lot of mosquitoes,' Madam Wong, an office tea lady, marvelled. Previously, she and her nine siblings lived in a Changi kampung, then moved to a village in Bedok Road near the present-day Bedok Food Centre. Their father was a cook for British colonial residents, while their mother did laundry and ironing. Read rest of article here  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent In a sign that the next general election will be called anytime soon, the PAP is disbursing its five yearly goodie bags to court the votes of citizens. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan announced yesterday that about 12,000 HDB households in older estates will undergo upgrading under the Home Improvement Programme (HIP). The government will cover the costs for repairing leaking ceilings, spalling concrete and replacing wasate pipes completely while other optional improvements such as upgrading of toilets will be heavily subsidized. "The HIP will be a permanent fixture of the HDB's upgrading programmes as it complements the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP), which upgrades an estate with better facilities based on residents' feedback. Moving forward, more residents islandwide will benefit from this programme, with up to 14 precincts selected for HIP this year," Mr Mah was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. Mr Mah added that the upgrading works will soon be introduced to other towns as part of a "long-term plan" to raise the standard of living and preserve the value of HDB assets for Singaporeans. An unverified HDB survey found that an unbelievable 99 percent of the residents were "satisfied" with the HIP rolled out by PAP. More than 80 percent of Singaporeans living in public housing built by HDB, a government agency headed by the National Development Minister. The prices of HDB flats have sky-rocketed in recent years due to limited supply of new flats being built in the face of rising demands fueled by mass immigration. In 2009, the prices of resale flats grow by a record 8.2 percent with median Cash-Over Valuation (COVs) doubling from $12,000 to $24,000 in the last quarter alone. Below is a graph illustrating how the rise in the prices of resale flats coincides with the rise in the number of foreigners in Singapore between the years 2000 and 2008, courtesy of Kojakbt, the moderator of 3in1kopitiam: Due to the PAP's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, foreigners now made up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. As the bulk of savings of Singaporeans are used to finance the purchase of their flats, they are an important asset to many of them. The PAP had cleverly made use of estate upgrading to coerce Singaporeans to vote for them in previous elections by threatening to turn their estates into "slums" if they vote for the opposition. It is a fear tactic which had worked well for them in the past and is likely to be re-employed again in the next general election. PAP's strongman Lee Kuan Yew "forecasted" recently that the value of HDB flats will plummet if Mr Mah Bow Tan loses his seat in the next general election. He also called Singaporeans "daft" if they were to cast a protest vote against the PAP over rising prices of HDB flats. Mr Mah has come under fire lately for his failure to prevent the prices of HDB flats from spiraling out of control though he admitted that he was "caught off-guard" by the escalating prices. In an interview on CNA's Talking Point last Sunday, Mr Mah continued to reiterate that HDB flats remain "affordable" to the majority of Singaporeans and that the system is "sound." With the PAP handing out the "goodies" to sweeten the ground ahead of the next election, many undecided voters may be swayed again to vote for them.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to help us exceed the number of fans on the YPAP Facebook page.   Related articles: >> Mah Bow Tan: We do not want flat prices to go down >> Prices of resale flats to rise further as PR quota reached >> Taiwanese PR offers $50k COV for resale flat >> Mah Bow Tan: PRs have minimal impact on resale flat prices >> No empirical evidence to suggest that public housing is affordable in Singapore >> When will Singapore’s property bubble burst? >> Why HDB is unable to reveal break down costs of new flats now >> HDB to consider introducing rules to curb property speculation >> HDB blames Singaporeans for not selecting flats when given the chance >> Singaporeans worried about retirement after depleting CPF to pay for over-priced HDB flats >> Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that rising HDB flat prices has sparked “fresh concerns” >> PM Lee: Govt does not have control over prices of resale flats” >> COVs of resale flats shooting through the roof >> HDB resale price index hit record high in 2009 >> Singaporean wants PRs to live in rented flats instead of buying resale flats >> Singaporeans wants PRs to be banned from selling HDB flats at a profit >> Shanmugam: Singaporeans likely culprits for driving up HDB flat prices >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats remain affordable >> Means testing for PRs to buy resale flats >> Immigration and public housing: should the govt or people plan ahead? >> Grace Fu: hard to predict demand for housing >> Indonesian PR bought 4-room flat at $653,000 >> Mah Bow Tan asks home buyers to be realistic >> PAP MP blames young couples who cannot get a flat for not planning ahead >> Home affordability: HDB versus the public >> Demand vs supply: so many applicants, so few flats >> Number of applicants exceed number of flats >> HDB to increase supply of flats >> Mah: don’t compare with prices in the past >> ERA: 40 per cent of HDB flat buyers are PRs  Read More →

OPINION The Straits Times published a total of six articles last Saturday in its "Insight" section on the lives of four successful men in Singapore who hailed from immigrant parents to sway public opinion in favor of the PAP's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies. The four interviewees are Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, Senior Counsel Harry Elias, businessman Shaik Mohamad Abdul Jaleel and movie director Kuo Jian Hong and their interviews all revolved around a common theme - the contributions of immigrants and their children to Singapore. Mr Wong took the opportunity to remind Singaporeans that not many of them can really claim to have been here for more than five generations. "Now, we feel foreigners who come here are intruding into our space. But we forget that that's what our parents did before - intruding into the space of those who were here before them. We should remember that immigrant children will one day be like us," he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. Mr Wong's argument is based on the fallacy that being an immigrant society, Singapore should remain open to immigrants now and in the future. It is most disingenuous of the Straits Times to compare the present wave of immigration to that of the past which brought our forefathers to Singapore as the context then and now are totally different. Situated at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, the indigenous inhabitants of Singapore are the ethnic Malays. The Chinese and the Indians arrived only much later after the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Singapore was a British crown colony then and it needed to be open to foreigners in order to spur its economy which was largely dependent on entrepot trade. Chinese and Indian immigrants flocked to Singapore in search of a better life, many of whom eventually settled down there with their children becoming naturalized citizens when self-government was attained in 1959. Being a colony then, Singapore could afford to welcome foreigners from all over the world with open arms, but not now when Singapore has evolved to become a nation. The inhabitants of a colony are different from the citizens of a nation. They owe no allegiance to the colony and are free to leave anytime. On the other hand, citizens have a stake in the nation and an implicit social contract exists between the people and the government. While Singaporeans are expected to serve the state in form of National Service and paying of taxes, the state will have to provide certain social welfare benefits to take care of them in return, e.g. healthcare, education. The root cause of the rising discontent among Singaporeans at the relentless influx of foreigners stem from the perceived blurring of boundaries between citizens and them - that they are allowed to partake in the economic gains made by the nation without reciprocating. In the past, almost all the inhabitants of Singapore are immigrants from other countries and there was no differentiation between any groups, but today there is a distinct class of Singaporeans who regard themselves as the rightful owners of their nation. A unique Singaporean identity has evolved after fifty years after nationhood and though it is still not as strong as the Japanese and Koreans, the fact remains that the younger generation now see themselves as Singaporeans rather than descendents of immigrants. The existence and continued reinforcement of this Singapore identity will set the threshold for Singapore to accept and integrate more immigrants. When Singapore was just a colony, its inhabitants did not care much about the number of Chinese or Indian immigrants the British was importing. In fact, they should yearn for more of their fellow countrymen to join them in Singapore both for social and economic reasons as evident by the number of clan associations being set up over the years. Today, Singaporeans no longer identify themselves with their brethen from Malaysia, China or India. An ethnic Chinese Singaporean has more things in common with an ethnic Malay Singaporean than a Chinese from Liaoning, Jiangxi or Henan. Singaporeans see themselves as Singaporeans first which explain their discomfort and angst at seeing more and more foreigners living amidst them. Foreigners now make up 36 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 percent, an increasing number are born overseas. Though countries like United States, Canada and Australia are largely immigrant societies as well, their percentage of residents born overseas are much lower with 12 percent in the U.S., 20 percent in Canada and 25 percent in Australia according to their latest census. As Singapore has accepted too many immigrants within a short period of time, it would be almost impossible to integrate all of them. Before Singapore achieved independence in 1965, most of its inhabitants are immigrants and it was relatively easy to forge a common identity among them whereas we have two distinct groups today - native Singaporeans and foreigners with their own cultural background. Between the two, the group with the stronger cultural identity will eventually dominate leading to cracks appearing within the social fabric of our nation. The mainland Chinese have 5,000 years of history behind them. Can we expect them to give up their identity and assimilate seemlessly into Singapore society? Not when there are so many of them in Singapore now. The Chinese who arrived in Southeast Asia in the 18th and 19th century came in such small numbers that it was not too difficult for the indigenuous community to assimilate them as demonstrated by the emergence of the Babas and Nonyas in the Straits Settlement. History had shown us that it is always the Chinese which assimilate other ethnic groups and not the other way round due to their sheer numbers, cultural superiority and strong identity as descendents of the "Yellow Emperor" (炎黄子孙)  Northern China used to be ruled by many different non-Chinese tribes and they eventually become fully assimilated into the Chinese race including the Manchus, the rulers of the last Chinese dynasty. Furthermore, there are fewer incentives for immigrants to integrate into Singapore society now compared to the past. Throughout the early half of the last century, China was wrecked by endless internal turmoil and civil wars. The Chinese immigrants in Singapore had no choice but to stay put, but the present China is a rising superpower. The new immigrants from China can always pack up their bags and return if they do not like the lifestyle here. The short-sighted immigration policies of the PAP will eventually create social tension between locals and foreigners, erode the sense of belonging among native Singaporeans to their country leading to a massive exodus and eventually the downfall of Singapore. Immigration is a double-edged sword - it can propel a nation onto a course of greatness like the United States or it can contribute to its eventual downfall and demise like the Western Roman empire and the Korean state of Balhae. Judging from the rapid influx of foreigners over the last few years and the changing demographics, Singapore may have already passed the point of no return. With its demise becoming an increasing reality in the next few decades, Singaporeans should seriously consider relocating to another country to seek a more secure future for their children and grandchildren.   EDITORS' NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so and help us exceed the number of fans on the official YPAP Facebook page.   Related articles: >> Wong Kan Seng: We should remember that immigrant children will one day be like us >> 8 reasons why foreign workers will always be preferred in Singapore >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →