PM Asks "What kind of people do we want to be?"

[Daddy D]

verykiasu2010:

Daddy

I just saw the picture on straits times, page A7... On people watching NDP this year @ Esplanade waterfront...


Majority not locals... :yikes: :yikes:

How to have a big heart?

http://i46.tinypic.com/2e1suic.jpg\">

Thanks for posting...
Dunno want to cry or laugh... :faint:
Imagine being the odd one out when singing anthem/reciting pledge in that crowd :yikes:

[Dora1]

3 boys


We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for EQUAL treatment on our own soils, I don’t think we are asking for too much. Big Heart in the face of adversity, graciousness, blah blah blah… I am sorry, but I think Singaporeans already have a very big heart in the sense that we still treat the foreigners with respect face to face after all unequal treatment that we get from them. At least we don’t hurl abuse in their face like what a lot of other countries do to their immigrants. And their citizens actually don’t even face the unequal workplace treatment that we are facing. So I think its very unfair to say that we don’t have a big heart and Singaporeans are xenophobic. I think we are already very tolerant. And the fact is, Foreigners are given equal opportunities in Singapore by the Singaporeans, but Singaporeans are not given equal opportunities by the Foreigners here.
The government can choose to continue denying that there is a problem, and all the anti-foreigners sentiments are because Singaporeans are not big-hearted enough.
I am sorry, but I think Singaporeans are already very big hearted for not displaying our dissatisfaction publicly like many other countries. The anoymous display of dissatisfaction in the cyber world is here to stay no matter how much propanganda there is to tell us we need foreigners because of our low birth rate, we should be big hearted, blah blah…
Subconsciously we all understand that. But if day in and out we suffer the injustice, where else do you expect the people to vent their frustrations? Are you saying we are supposed to have a big heart to a robber who we invited in as a guest, but ended up robbing us and chased us out of our own house? We still can be friends with the robber??
Can you seriously do that?
And like I said, the public sentiments is already boiling, and if no concrete actions are taken, it will just take some incident to catalyse the spread of the sentiments from the cyberworld to the real world. This is something that I don’t wish to see.
Denying the real feelings of people is not the solution. Preaching and telling the people to have a big heart without recognizing and addressing the real problem is like pouring fuel on fire on people’s feelings.

How did we end up being like that? For the record, I don’t believe in posting nasty anti-foreigners remarks online which are unsubstantiated. However, I can fully understand why some people do it, having been through it (and going through it everyday now).

[wearefamily]

Where I stay, almost a third of the residents are foreigners. I observed that these residents, including their children, tend to stick to their own cliques. I see no effort made to integrate themselves with the locals. Guess the numbers of their own countrymen are big enough here. For example, the children from Japan will have a clique, children from India another clique, from Ang moh countries, etc etc etc…wonder if it is the same elsewhere in Singapore.


Sorry am I off-topic?

[Edureach]

Factors like: 1. Singapore aspires to be a global city state. 2. Low birth rate 3. Immigration and international mobility of local talents are present, our government alone cannot solve the issue of fts.


We know in many instances fts are placed in lucrative entry positions or promoted despite not being the best candiates, such are the realities of coporate world. Either the chosen ones had higher potential or the recruiters were more comfortable with the fts. Many times, favors do play a part and not necessary one’s academic and experience. I recalled approx two decades ago, many good honours grads from local business schools had their cvs binned for position in front desk of invesment banking. In place were fresh grads from top overseas unis and Aussie unis some of whom graduated from non business disciplines. At that time, these investment banks felt that local grads just couldn’t think out of the box due to lack of critical training and financial training can be taught in-house.

So how to we go about living fruitfully in the light of all these development. Chief amongst the strategy is to adopt a positive mental attitude that it is our personal responsibility to look after our own living as no one else will do it for us. The following are some of my suggestions for a couple to ensure that their families are given opportunities to explore other areas apart from being in the coporate world.

1. Start a small business.
2. Tutor in a pte school or providing tuition services.
3. Be an independent sales agent ie insurance, real estate, products or services.
4. Financial trading ie stocks, futures, commodities.
5. Pray for favors from above.

You will observe that there will always be opportunities to explore. One of u, either husband or wife can undertake any of the above at your own timing which must be convenient given your own circumstances. For the guys who were ns trained, surely you had taken away the character building from boys to men after completion of ns. For those who had undergone commanders’ courses, its even better as the leadership provided by SAF grommed you to be decision makers. Of course there’s are some issues i don’t like about SAF, but i concede that their character building and leadership training are the best! So the training we guys had received with regard to physical and mental really strengthen our minds and is fully applicable in the world economy. Take the guts to hve at least one of u in the family decide to be an entrepreneur, self-employed or a trader. Get yourself trained in one of the above fields.

At the end of the day, if things don’t really work out, just look for another job and Just Obey Boss for life! I mean at least must make an attempt to try and therefore no regrets in life.

[MR06]

Dora1:

Winchester


I am not in IT/banking. There are other industries around that also suffer the same fate.

3boys
I want to say that I was never xenophobic. I had lots of friends from other countries. The turning point was when certain PR managers took over and \"forced\" SC to quit so that he can bring in his own countrymen from his country. And this happened in more than 1 company. I don't think you can ever understand unless you are in our shoes. Can you imagine being squeezed out of your job due to nationality in your own country - repeatedly? Would you still open foreigners with open arms? I am sorry I am a normal human. I am not able to do that. However, I still have some personal good friends who are foreigners.

And please don't tell me that those are real talents and SC cmi. I heard from the last few ex-colleagues that the company has so many non-compliance issues now, that the HQ is sending some ang mos over to investigate. The result of the investigation was \"professionalism and technical skills of staff\".
Ours is a highly regulated industry, and the reason that we managed to attract so many foreign investments in the earlier days was SG's reputation for good quality professional workforce - made up mainly by SCs. We painstakingly build up the good reputation and its now officially destroyed by the FTs. :gloomy:

I understand how you feel....
Singaporeans have always been tolerant, receptive and welcome foreigners. The liberal immigration policies would not by itselves be able to attract foreigners with the correct know-how or skill sets to move here.

What gave rise to the resentment, the frustration, the anti-foreigners skirmishes?

It is the over-crowding, on the bus, on the train, at the shopping centre, competing for house, for car, for school....

The displacement of our own people and discrimination at the workplace; not because these foreigners are better but the jobs lost as a result of politics, bias, fraud on paper qualification and experience!

When you feel assaulted at all fronts, there is no breathing space for you..... would you not :stompfeet: :mad: :rant: :nunchuk:

The authorities are still in a neck of the wood. As far as on having their ears on ground sentiment, they have a long way to go..... :frustrated:

[pirate]

Dora1:

Winchester


I am not in IT/banking. There are other industries around that also suffer the same fate.

Stop dancing around the bushes. At least have the courage to stand up for you believe to be right. What kind of society will we become if people are not prepared to stand up for what they think is right? We become a society of whiners, that's what we become. Content to just gripe anonymously at the coffeeshops, internet etc, but not much else. Just watch the children at the playground. Nobody wants to play with whiners.

You can start by at least stating clearly which industry(ies) you are referring to. What are you afraid of?

PS. Yah. I am not a \"local\" graduate. I don't take things like that lying down. Nobody is going to \"squeeze\" me out of my job, because I will not just go out quietly into the night. :nunchuk:

[mum_sugoku]

Haha it has always been "our" (the people’s) fault: If we become resentful of foreigners/new immigrants, it’s because we are "xenophobic"… And if Singapore becomes too crowded as a result of having too many foreigners/new immigrants, it’s our fault because we don’t produce enough babies… If Singapore becomes less competitive, it’s still our fault because we are not hard driving/hard striving enough… alas.

[Dora1]

Pirate


How do you know that I am not doing something at my end? I can’t state my industry as I am now in a stat board, so it will be very obvious. And I AM trying to do something right now, so I don’t want to jeopardize anything by revealing my place of work.

The reason I am sharing is that there are a lot of people suffering due to the unequal treatment. People don’t dare to stand up for themselves for various reasons. Sole breadwinner, hefty financial commitments, etc therefore not wanting to jeopardize their own rice bowl. I understand why they choose to whine and not take actions. The only action they dare to take is to find another job and quit.
I don’t agree that we are becoming a nation of whiners. I do write to ministers, REACH etc. I see that a lot of people do too. But whether something concrete happens, that’s another thing.
And when all else fails, we get a chance to do something once every 5 years. I think 39.9% of Singaporeans last year showed that contary to popular belief, Singaporeans are not whiners that only knows how to NATO.

Edureach
without positive thinking, many people would have gone mental. Life goes on for me. I am actually doing quite well now, if we can just accept the fact that we are being put at an disadvantage for being a SC on Singapore soil.
Yes, a lot of my ex-colleague are in financial planning, property agent etc. they are doing ok now. But they were also doing very well in their previous jobs. I wonder how many of you have personally experienced it and still be so positive about it.
Again, I like to repeat, I do not support irrational on line slamming like the Ferrari case. However, the gov cannot and should not just brush aside the anti-foreigner sentiment as "irrational". Something needs to be done urgently for the sake of continued social stability in Singapore.
The 1st thing that can be done is to implement a quota on PRs from the same country in the same organisation, something like the PR quota for HDB flats. I am not suggesting a quota for PR, just a quota for each country (PR, EP, S pass, WP combined). Exceptions can be given for certain situations, e.g. a US MNC can have a higher quota of US citizens since they may need more staff fr HQ. Countries like AU have laws to protect their own citizens during hiring. When the govt opened the door for immigration, there should also be laws to protect SCs. It is still not too late to implement it now.

[pirate]

Dora1:

The reason I am sharing is that there are a lot of people suffering due to the unequal treatment.

I'm sorry. But without specific information, all you are sharing is anti-foreigner sentiments, even if you put it in a civil language. And the best way to spread it is with general statements like that.

[verykiasu2010]

mum_sugoku:

Haha it has always been \"our\" (the people's) fault: If we become resentful of foreigners/new immigrants, it's because we are \"xenophobic\".. And if Singapore becomes too crowded as a result of having too many foreigners/new immigrants, it's our fault because we don't produce enough babies.. If Singapore becomes less competitive, it's still our fault because we are not hard driving/hard striving enough.. alas.

because nobody owes you a living