'Is Singapore my home, daddy?'

[Anonymous user]

Kolaps, you jump from dissing Lee Kuan Yew to something else altogether. Quite odd

Class difference is everywhere (Chinese among Chinese, White among Whites etc), no offence you either sound ashamed to be Chinese or incensed at some ancient history?

In South East Asia, Chinese have proven to be the most tenacious race we are hardworking and we get things done. If you do not know how difficult it is then you have not been to South East Asia, imagine the Chinese who came to SEA in the 50's and literally dominated the country economically. In some parts of SEA the locals will not hesitate to hang you and cut you open. Don't believe me, try picking a fight with a local Indonesian in the streets of Jakarta and thats now. Imagine in the 50's

I think you lead too good a life, you need to come down to the poorer countries and see how tough things are before you respect what being a Chinese means.

People at the time looked down the Chinese people capability. That is why everyone, including Malaysia government think that Singapore is going to collapse and begging to return to Malaysia one day.

Just like people looked down on South Korea over Philippine too at the time. Where South Korea was destined as a poor country forever unlike the Philippine.

Not just the foreigners looked down on Chinese, even fellow Chinese too, like the Christians and Communists.

You are so politically correct.

Hah, hardly diplomatically correct is more like.

I spent a year working in India man, I wouldn't go there if I didn't respect the people in the first place. We're all just humans making the best for ourselves and those around us.

 

[ameer219]

Foreigners are good for Singapore .. without them Singapore could have been same as Malaysia or Indonesia... perhaps worse, it doesn't hvae oil.

Yes, some singaporeans may feel low ... if they are unable to buy a $ 2,500 ladies purse in Marina Bay Sands ... It's just a matter of expectations. .and comparing yourself to super-rich.

I pay tax to the Singpaore govt, which is slightly less than the annual per capita income of singapore.
(natually, I would have liked Indian govt to earn those taxes of my hard work, since they paid for my education / growing up !!)

A singapore family enjoys on the rent I pay them, which again totals slightly less than the per capita income. The landlord does not work .. just enjoys on the rent !!! -- otherwise a real estate agent (perhaps, for namesake) .. real estate agents can only be singaporeans.

Then, whatever I buy .. atleast my living expenses ... Singapore govt earns a 7% GST, and the shopowners their profit margin.

---- Add all these items, I am nothing but an agent transferring money from Europe to Singapore .. since my employer who eventually pays for everything which I pay for (thru my salary) is a European bank and serving clients mostly outside Singapore.

It's a funny world ... I want my tax money to go to Indian govt, I don't want to pay exhorbitant rent in a costly city, where spoilt landlord makes merry on the rent and does no work, and you buy everything $hit costly in the stores. And I still do it, because my savings would be somewhat higher than what I could save in Mumbai doing a similar damn job.

The the funny thing is that. .I think I am doing singaporeans a favour. .and the singaporeans think they are doing me a favour. :shrug:

A foreigner like you will never understand. Most of the foreigners come here, settle down, use Singapore as a stepping stone, and then move out to another nation with more land opporunities e.g. USA. We the people of the land never get what we truly deserve. As a 3rd generation Singaporean, I can honestly tell you, I do not feel that same patriotism as I did 10 years ago when I was a school kid.

Compulsory conscription was suppose to develop the bond between me and my nation. But it does not. I feel like I am here to protect the foreigners, who don't even need to serve National Service, while I set-back 2 years of my life for the nation. That is why at times, I feel more proud to be a Pakistani, rather than a Singaporean. And I am surprised to see that no matter how corrupt nations such as Pakistan are, the citizens are still able to bond to their land. That's what I call, a true love to their homeland.

 

[3Idiots]

A foreigner like you will never understand. Most of the foreigners come here, settle down, use Singapore as a stepping stone, and then move out to another nation with more land opporunities e.g. USA. We the people of the land never get what we truly deserve. As a 3rd generation Singaporean, I can honestly tell you, I do not feel that same patriotism as I did 10 years ago when I was a school kid.

Compulsory conscription was suppose to develop the bond between me and my nation. But it does not. I feel like I am here to protect the foreigners, who don't even need to serve National Service, while I set-back 2 years of my life for the nation. That is why at times, I feel more proud to be a Pakistani, rather than a Singaporean. And I am surprised to see that no matter how corrupt nations such as Pakistan are, the citizens are still able to bond to their land. That's what I call, a true love to their homeland.

What is the meaning of 3rd generation Singaporean?

Singapore has a few 'ethnic' classifications - Chinese, Malay, Indian (not sure if any thing else).

Are you recognized as an ethnic Pakistani or simply Indian in Singapore?

- Since 3 generations back, Pakistan and India were the same (Undivided India -- the pre-partition days).

How does Singapore govt officially describe Singapore Indians: Those whose forefathers came from the current India or the then India (when they came)?

Edit: It is amusing to see Singapore govt officially classifying it's own citizens on racial basis (mildly put ethnic basis).

 

[3Idiots]

Link: Composition of Singapore's Total Population

So, the high earning foreigners are quite few (12%), low earners are the major part of non-resident immigrant population.

 

[ameer219]

What is the meaning of 3rd generation Singaporean?

Singapore has a few 'ethnic' classifications - Chinese, Malay, Indian (not sure if any thing else).

Are you recognized as an ethnic Pakistani or simply Indian in Singapore?

- Since 3 generations back, Pakistan and India were the same (Undivided India -- the pre-partition days).

How does Singapore govt officially describe Singapore Indians: Those whose forefathers came from the current India or the then India (when they came)?

Edit: It is amusing to see Singapore govt officially classifying it's own citizens on racial basis (mildly put ethnic basis).

In the first Generation, My grandparents migrated from Sargodha to Singapore after the partition. Therefore I am classified as a 3rd Generation.

I am recognized as a Pakistani here. It's written in my Identification Card as well. It's a big community here, its just that most of the Pakistanis here are adapting towards the Malay culture here. Hence, most of them do not know how to speak Urdu. In addition, a number of Pakistani origin people are migrating here as well. The number of course is overshadowed by the number of Indians migrating here.

I guess they go through your fore-fathers. If you fore-fathers who migrated here, they should declare first if they are either Pakistani or Indian, before the whole process of creating their identity here could begin. There is not much complication in description. Indians here are mostly Tamils, with the uncommon Gujarati, or Punjabi speaking ones.

You will be surprised with the Singapore govt. But it is imperative to classify under the race, so its easier to allocate them to certain language subjects that will benefit them.

Neverthless, living in Singapore is not an easy life as most of the people believe it is. We have to constantly adapt to the increasing number of foreign talent in Singapore whom are becoming increasing competitive as the years comes by.

 

[3Idiots]

In the first Generation, My grandparents migrated from Sargodha to Singapore after the partition. Therefore I am classified as a 3rd Generation.

I am recognized as a Pakistani here. It's written in my Identification Card as well. It's a big community here, its just that most of the Pakistanis here are adapting towards the Malay culture here. Hence, most of them do not know how to speak Urdu. In addition, a number of Pakistani origin people are migrating here as well. The number of course is overshadowed by the number of Indians migrating here.

I guess they go through your fore-fathers. If you fore-fathers who migrated here, they should declare first if they are either Pakistani or Indian, before the whole process of creating their identity here could begin. There is not much complication in description. Indians here are mostly Tamils, with the uncommon Gujarati, or Punjabi speaking ones.

You will be surprised with the Singapore govt. But it is imperative to classify under the race, so its easier to allocate them to certain language subjects that will benefit them.

Neverthless, living in Singapore is not an easy life as most of the people believe it is. We have to constantly adapt to the increasing number of foreign talent in Singapore whom are becoming increasing competitive as the years comes by.

The above graphic I posted show that only 12% of foreigners are on EP.

Rest are lowly jobs - construction workers, maid servants etc.

What education did you get in Singapore, and do you find hard to find a job (commensurate with your education) inspite of being a citizen?

 

[MuslimConscript]

It is a good question to ask of the Americans， or the Australians，the Canadians etc for that matter。

Agree with that...

Not sure but the native population were originally Malays and Singapore was a part of Malaysia.

Seeing no alternative to avoid further bloodshed, the Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman decided to expel Singapore from the federation.The Parliament of Malaysia voted 126-0 in favour of the expulsion on 9 August 1965[/B]. On that day, a tearful Lee Kuan Yew announced on a televised press conference that Singapore was a sovereign, independent nation. In a widely remembered quote, he uttered that: "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in the merger and unity of the two territories."

Then why separating two territories?

 

[Bonkers]

4. Last one this one makes me laugh, without Foreigners Singapore will be no improvement over Indonesia and Malaysia (both are great countries btw with "huge populations"). Where you even in this region during the 80's & 90's. Heck Malaysia today is even a much better improvement compared to India, least their highways are superb and been there since the the 90's and they are busy building a better rail system.

Malaysians are quite behind than most people think.

They still have Euro 2 Emission standards while India is moving to Euro V.

 

[Anonymous user]

Then why separating two territories?

When Singapore joined Malaysia she already had here own government system (courtesy of the British), from the transcripts seems people not treated fairly which led to a disgruntlement in the populace. I suppose the Malaysia government at the time had two options, remove the government in Singapore by force. Or make Singapore hoping without Malaysia support we become a failed state and then they can reclaim Singapore without a powerful government. They chose the latter and we became stronger.

Singapore became part of Malaysia on 16 September 1963 following a merger with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak. The merger was thought to benefit the economy by creating a common, free market, and to improve Singapore's internal security. However, it was an uneasy union. Disputes between the state government of Singapore and the federal government occurred on different issues, especially the federal policies of affirmative action, which granted special privileges to Malays guaranteed under Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia. Singapore's chief minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and other political leaders began advocating for equal treatment of all races in Malaysia, with a rallying cry of "Malaysian Malaysia!"[4] Racial tensions between Chinese and Malays increased dramatically resulting in numerous racial riots. The most notorious riots were the 1964 Race Riots that first took place on the Prophet Muhammad's birthday on 21 July with twenty-three people killed and hundreds injured. The price of food skyrocketed when the transport system was disrupted during the unrest, causing further hardship for the people.

The state and federal governments also had conflicts on the economic front. UMNO leaders feared that the economic dominance of Singapore would inevitably shift political power away from Kuala Lumpur. Despite an earlier agreement to establish a common market, Singapore continued to face restrictions when trading with the rest of Malaysia. In retaliation, Singapore refused to provide Sabah and Sarawak the full extent of the loans previously agreed to for economic development of the two eastern states. The situation escalated to such intensity that talks soon broke down and abusive speeches and writings became rife on both sides. UMNO extremists called for the arrest of Lee Kuan Yew.

Seeing no alternative to avoid further bloodshed, the Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman decided to expel Singapore from the federation. The Parliament of Malaysia voted 126-0 in favour of the expulsion on 9 August 1965. On that day, a tearful Lee Kuan Yew announced on a televised press conference that Singapore was a sovereign, independent nation. In a widely remembered quote, he uttered that: "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in the merger and unity of the two territories."[5] The new state became the Republic of Singapore.

 

[Anonymous user]

Malaysians are quite behind than most people think.

They still have Euro 2 Emission standards while India is moving to Euro V.

No one is saying they are way ahead, that was in reference to AADHAAR statement about us being as backward as Malaysia, my statement is straightforward as "Backward" as Malaysia may appear they already had superb highways in the 90's from Johor all the way to Penang and the tip of Thailand. I worked in India during 2003 period so I am fully aware of the Airport and Highway infrastructure available at the time. One should not be so quick to judge is all I am stating.

 

[3Idiots]

Singapore's chief minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and other political leaders began advocating for equal treatment of all races in Malaysia

If so, that were very progressive thoughts of Lee Kuan Yew.

But I don't understand, that with such views why Singapore identifies its own citizens by race or ethnicity?

They should be all Singaporeans, no.

In fact, I learnt that they also expect all foreigners to identify themselves by races.

Even schools have different rules based on what race the child belongs to (e.g. what language the child learns depends on his race, not the child's or the parents choice).

 

[JingDong]

If so, that were very progressive thoughts of Lee Kuan Yew.

But I don't understand, that with such views why Singapore identifies its own citizens by race or ethnicity?

They should be all Singaporeans, no.

In fact, I learnt that they also expect all foreigners to identify themselves by races.

Even schools have different rules based on what race the child belongs to (e.g. what language the child learns depends on his race, not the child's or the parents choice).

Nothing like this. Nobody heard of discrimination on racial basis in Singapore. In fact, LKY was instrumental in ensuring this because Singaporeans could only rise together.

The cosmopolitan and modern city state, which Singapore is, could be an example for others including Malaysia where there is still an uneasy discord prevalent.

 

[Anonymous user]

Good question, though we are all Singaporean we are of multiple races and cultures, one cannot deny that being in one's own race there will be a tendency to just congregate among ourselves.

So the government had an aim, how do you merge all races as one but keep their culture differences. (To merge everyone would mean sharing the same language (english) which risk losing the culture

So the government implemented the mother tongue policy to ensure various races were well educated on their mother tongue during primary school

During the early years this was one of the programs, identifying by race also helps the government ensure racial integration in HDB flats

Ethnic Integration Policy in public housing still needed | TODAYonline

I am sure there are many other policies to promote such integration and these are few of the main ones.

I will put a incident that took place years back which demonstrates this, this is an example of Singaporeans vis a vis foreigners.

Singaporeans' culinary anti-immigration protest: curry | Reuters

If so, that were very progressive thoughts of Lee Kuan Yew.

But I don't understand, that with such views why Singapore identifies its own citizens by race or ethnicity?

They should be all Singaporeans, no.

In fact, I learnt that they also expect all foreigners to identify themselves by races.

Even schools have different rules based on what race the child belongs to (e.g. what language the child learns depends on his race, not the child's or the parents choice).