What I hate about the current Singapore
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Dora1:
Dunno leh. I know of a few who did come back. One even became a Member of Parliament. :evil:The sad thing is that, from my observations, most Singaporeans that I know who have gone overseas, have no intention of coming back. Those that come back mostly because of aged parents etc. Once their parents pass away, they will go again. Most that I know who are overseas never indicated that they want to go back to SG for retirement etc because that is home. However, the FTs that I talk to all hope to go back to their country one day, even though their country has high corruption, high crime rate, high joblessness and a fraction of SG GDP.
That is so sad isn't it? :sad: Are we still a country?? -
janet_lee88:
Dunno leh, I am surrounded by Malaysians, PRCs, Indians from India, Philippinos, Japanese, angmos etc but I still feel very comfortable with the foreigners around me leh.Singapore is not of the past...a place we feel at home...a place we call home.
With a great influx of foreigners, we are going to lose a sense of belonging. -
Is the whole world not changing?
In US, there are also many PRCs, Indians, Vietnamese, Japanese, Koreans.
In Japan, there seem to be more PRCs, Koreans, Ang mohs
In Australia, Malaysians, PRCs, Viets, Kiwis, Indians, Singaporeans.
Most developed countries are seeing an influx of immigrants. I read somewhere that Obama was talking about allowing more legal immigrants into US, to help create jobs and grow economy. He mentioned something about harnessing the talents and ingenuity of hopeful immigrants. -
Think foreigners working and living in another country will be a global phenomenon which will someday become a way of life. I have family who hold multiple PRs and will re-locate based on job opportunities.
Even Korea is opening up to foreigners.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/south-korea-scours-himalayas-for-staff-as-population-ages.html -
Coolkidsrock2:
Actually those of us who complain about foreigners are not saying that we should not have a single foreigner in SG. We all understand that they are required. However, now we are like a house with the door left wide open, any tom dick or harry can come in, do whatever they want, even bully the original occupants, and take whatever they want and leave. There must be better control of the number and quality of foreigners. And I strongly believe that there must be legislation in place to protect SCs from being discriminated because the FTs hire their own kind. And the rate of immigration must slow down.Think foreigners working and living in another country will be a global phenomenon which will someday become a way of life. I have family who hold multiple PRs and will re-locate based on job opportunities.
Even Korea is opening up to foreigners.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/south-korea-scours-himalayas-for-staff-as-population-ages.html
Other countries have plenty of land. Even if they add lots of immigrants, they still do not feel that they are squeezed out of their own homeland, unlike SG. Even with their big land size, some people are complaining about the immigrants.
Cannot compare US and SG, our land size is totally different. and our population density is also very different.
Also the rate of immigration is important. SG has always have immigrants, it has never stopped. And ppl have never complained. Just tat the rate has been too much and too fast recently. it's almost that we just woke up one fine day to find that we suddenly cannot board the MRT, and everyone around us is a foreigner. -
Whether we decide to migrate to Canada, NZ, Australia, UK, US, or even Timbuktu :yikes: there are many varied reasons for doing so and there will be many push and pull factors.
But despite the wonderful news you hear from ex-Singaporeans, I have always wondered in today's world where it is most certainly the Asian century why would you want to go to places where the governments of those countries look to Asia with envy?
If u had listened to the State of the Union speech of Obama, you would have realized that this country that so prized innovation and immigration is looking at itself and wondering where it went wrong. Obama mentions how they have to pump in money into the education system so that US children will not get left behind, have to encourage US companies to come back to the US, have to encourage US companies to innovate etc. I love San Francisco but I find New York too crowded, and yet you have to try to stay in the crowd to feel safe! I love Washington because it seems to have the right balance of space and buzz.
I love Melbourne, find Sydney so-so and Perth is :snooze: I love England but the weather is terrible for me personally.
I cannot comment on Canada or NZ as I have never been there.
Yes you will find a lot of attractions superficially in all the countries above that I have listed except perhaps Timbuktu, but I still personally feel I will remain a 2nd class citizen in the eyes of the born and bred whites. It is no different from the recent angst that Singaporeans who are born and bred here have displayed to immigrants.
Just because every country I listed is bigger than Singapore and has more space etc. does not mean the citizens there do not feel the same way as we Singapore citizens do? It is a visceral reaction that comes naturally.
You can see the resentment that the Europeans have to the mass migration of Africans and Middle Eastern persons of the Muslim faith to especially Germany and France. You can feel the resentment of the British towards the mass influx of Indian, Polish and other eastern Europeans into the UK. The middle-class white American is grappling with accepting the idea of the overwhelming influx of Latin/Hispanic immigrants both legal and illegal. The list can go on and on.
The argument that these countries are big and can absorb such immigrants cuts no ice with the locals there as where do u think the immigrants are going to live and work? In the great forests of Canada, the great desert of Australia? The immigrants will compete for the same housing, jobs, facilities, as the locals. So ultimately the type of unhappiness Singaporeans express about foreigners are the same ones expressed by locals in the various towns and cities of the US, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK (but perhaps not Timbuktu).
We have to adapt to the living conditions that surround us especially in Singapore and to be aware that there are actually very few places out there that are better than home. There are always trade offs whether u decide to stay in Singapore or migrate. It is whether the trade offs in staying outweigh the trade offs in migrating to a foreign land and dealing with the problems and issues over there. -
pirate:
Singapore is just becoming more like the rest of the developed world, just that people here have yet to learn how to adjust to it.
Dunno leh, I am surrounded by Malaysians, PRCs, Indians from India, Philippinos, Japanese, angmos etc but I still feel very comfortable with the foreigners around me leh.janet_lee88:
Singapore is not of the past...a place we feel at home...a place we call home.
With a great influx of foreigners, we are going to lose a sense of belonging. -
For those who have benefitted from the growth of the last decade, it is important to help those who had been left behind.
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3Boys:
Singapore is just becoming more like the rest of the developed world, just that people here have yet to learn how to adjust to it.[/quote]We opened the door to foreigners but there are no legislation to protect SCs against discrimination. Countries like Aust and US have labour laws to protect their citizens at work, something we face everyday. I dun think I'll ever adapt to being a 2nd class citizen in my own motherland. If I have to adapt being a 2nd class citizen, then I might as well migrate to be a 2nd class citizen with a bigger house and car and shorter working hours?
Dunno leh, I am surrounded by Malaysians, PRCs, Indians from India, Philippinos, Japanese, angmos etc but I still feel very comfortable with the foreigners around me leh.pirate:
[quote=\"janet_lee88\"]Singapore is not of the past...a place we feel at home...a place we call home.
With a great influx of foreigners, we are going to lose a sense of belonging.
The reason ppl like us are making so much noise is that there are certain industries in SG were SCs are severely discriminated. But fortunately it has not spread to entire SG yet. There is no laws nothing to protect us. The reason we are tirelessly bringing up the issue is to prevent this from spreading to the whole SG, which will be highly likely with the white paper. The day I stopped complaining means I've totally given up hope of SG and left to be 2nd class citizen elsewhere -
Agree. Heard that in Aust,foreigners only allow to purchase new hse,cannot buy pre-owned house.
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