8/12/2008

The unhealthy disquiet

Is there a disquiet among Singaporeans? We have 4.6m people here. The Singaporeans do not include the more than 1m foreigners. It does not include the probably another 1m PRs. Don't let anyone change the definition of Singaporeans. The Made In Singapore, the true owners of this land is about 2.5m. And if we remove the top 20% from this group, we will be left with about 2m Singaporeans that really matters. The top 20% don't matter in the sense that they can go anywhere and are welcome anywhere. And many of these 20% may have made alternative arrangements to be somewhere if need be. The unhealthy disquiet is about the disquiet of the balance 2m Singaporeans who are gradually being displaced or eased out of their comfort zones. It is like the parents bringing in a few strangers and telling the children to make room for them, squeeze out a room for the strangers. And also being told to smile and to be nice to the strangers. The children will not accept that and will protest or refuse to budge. Why should they give up their space in their home to strangers? But parents would not do that. They know the difference between home and the right of their own children. They will provide for their own children, even sleeping in the corridors themselves. That is what parents would do. The landlord will do exactly as above. They will make the tenants make way. They will tell the tenants the best rooms will be reserved for the one who can afford to pay. And if the tenants could not pay the higher rent, they will have to squeeze into one room, or move out. Is this disquiet healthy? Some may think that since no one is screaming or protesting, then it is good. But do they read into the disquiet? Why are Singaporeans not protesting? Resigned, gave up, no use fighting, accept their fate, or think of leaving? A nation is a collection of people who owns and belong to a place. The people must think and believe that that place is theirs, their home. And they will not take it lightly when their rights to their home is challenged. But when there is a disquiet, something is missing. The soul of the nation, the spirit of a people is missing. Where is the spirit?. When a people gives up fighting, when a people gives up protesting, they deserve to be replaced. It may be a good thing replacing these hopeless and less talented people. They lack the motivation to fight for themselves and their rights to ownership. They should be replaced by the highly motivated and energised foreigners who brought along a different vibration, a higher vibrancy. They should be the new owners of this paradise. You find them everywhere and they can be easily recognised. The chirpy and happy faces in trains or foodcourts are the distinct faces of the newcomers who have found their paradise here. The grumpy, groomy and lost look faces are those of the Singaporeans. Lost in the pursuit to making ends meet, and a lot of bills to pay. Singaporeans who are complacent of their rightful existence in their own homeland will live to regret it one day. Many are still in their comfort zone and think it will not affect them. Before they know it, things would have changed so much that they would not know what hits them.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like to ask you, so at this point, what have you done to make THE SINGAPOREANS be aware of this?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

this blog has an average of 3,500 unique visitors reading our posts. in redbeanforum.com there are 3000 hits daily or 90000 hits per month.

this is the small contribution from the two sites to make people aware of the issues we are talking here. and thank you, all of you, for sharing and contributing to spreading the message.

Anonymous said...

You are barking up the wrong tree, redbean. Singapore is not a nation. It is a corporation, owned by Lee Family & Cronies Holdings Pte Ltd. Singaporeans are but workers in the corporation. Hence, they do not own the place. A corporation has no soul or spirit. It is simply a money-making machine, existing solely for the purpose of enriching its shareholders. Once in a blue moon, the shareholders have some loose change in their pockets which they will then dish out to the workers as a small bonus. Corporations are not beholden to their workers, only ti their shareholders. Hence, they neither need to consult nor care about how their workers feel about their actions. They do not need to justify to their workers why a certain course of action is taken. As long as the shareholders are happy, the corporation's management has nothing to worry about.

So, wake up from your dream, and take a long, hard look at the cold, hard reality. So, why should you fight for something that was never yours to begin with ?

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous@ 12.21pm
I have to disagree. On the social aspect, this land was ours until some smart PM decided 2 is Enough... and social engineering that went awfully wrong. Their disincentives killed the Singaporean. Politically, they robbed us of rights through their gradual degradation of the democratic system not the least of which, with their GRC system and a host of other 'tweaks'.

No Thanks to the 66.6%.

Unless we as Singapore Citizens are willing to take risks at the polls.. the citizen of Singapore will continue to get DISPLACED, MISPLACED AND REPLACED...

Displaced by the unequal treatment and freebies given to PR's, FT's.
Misplaced by the delayed entry into the workforce by NS, FT's (alledged talents). Rights get displaced by draconian laws that curtail our rights to even complain peacefully.
Replaced - for every 1 Singapore citizen giving up, there are loads more coming in.
The SS

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi anonymous,
i can appreciate the bitterness in your post. but your last sentence said it all. that this island is not ours in the first place. so by default, we give up what was ours by accepting the fait accompli.

just because we were made to become apathetic and disinterested in our country, and then again get slapped for our apathy, singaporeans must not take this as the true state of affair. every singaporean must be reminded all the time, that this is their land and home.

we need more people to feel like SS. we must not give up what is ours without a fight. i don't mean taking to the streets. we need to make a stand, speak out and be heard. we need to protect this little island of ours as our country. ya, our country.

sing this,...this is my country, this is my land...

Sylvester Lim said...

Singaporean's authority are not just limited to elections. We can empower ourselves by subscribing to non-violence protests promoted by Dr Chee and JBJ. Unfortunately, the numbers are not big enough to make the PAPies sit up and take notice. Singaporeans are too afraid to stick their necks out and are STILL waiting for somebody else to do it for them and then enjoy the fruits of their labor. Fat hope! Better still, USA or UK do something to speak out for us. Singaporeans have to make things happen ourselves! It is about time that we take back our authority as we are all taxpayers and are the bosses of the PAPies. As individuals, we are powerless, in numbers, we have the means and authority. That is one of the reasons LKY does not allow protests. Rules that he himself broke when he was fighting for independence against the British.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi xnsman,

welcome to the blog.

i must agree with you that many singaporeans are leaving the battle to chee soon juan and jbj and anyone else. most are still in their comfort zones and will not want to suffer battle scars.

i must add that most singaporeans are living reasonably well and not at a point when they find that it is time to fight for their own good. but what they can do is to add a bit more noise to express their displeasure. not that the govt has created a state of crisis and immdiate action is demanded. what the people should be doing is to tell the govt what they want and not the govt telling the people what they want it done their way.

more involvement in the affairs of the state, more kpkb if necessary. for a start, start thinking and believing that this place is ours not someone's private property. and don't give it away without a fight. our parents earned the right to this place and it is irresponsible for anyone of us to give it away for short term interests.

Anonymous said...

Singapore has been called a 'nanny' state by many for a long time. The 'Nanny' must be a cruel stepmother for the ways She takes cares of her charges!

Redbean, I think the End is near, an ill-wind is blowing, the Unhealthy disquiet will not be quiet anymore.

patriot

Anonymous said...

Watch these strong willed blokes fight for our entitlements, with the hope that everyone get the benefits if they succeed. And if not, be prepared to settle for less, so long as the issues doesnt concern us directly. This is what i think our smart alecks will do.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

pathetic singaporeans!

Anonymous said...

What about voicing your thoughts in ST forum - its state controlled of course but sometimes they will peiblish some "alternative" viewpoints. In any case, if they do not publish, you can blog about it too.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi emu,

welcome to the blog.

i enjoy my freedom to write my pieces without having to think whether it will be published or not. and i am sure all of you enjoy the same feeling.

but if anyone wishes to copy any post here and send it to ST, feel free to do so.

cyberspace encourages such cross postings. my posts have been copied in www.littlespeck.com and toc and i have copied theirs in my forum as well.

this is something we must cherish. no need to look at the faces of anyone and hope that he will give you an inch of space. create your own space here. write freely at will.

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,

indeed, Singaporean are too timid, we are already completely replaced by foreigners. Local born citizen are less 2.5millions and foreigners,PRs are slightly more than two millions. The job, our garden city become rubbish city, rubbishs everywhere,prostitution, 1st world nation gracious sg people are force to learn from 3rd world ungracious habit, look at now public transport peoples are abandon our courtesy manner since 1997 and it getting worst. I guessed singaporean are flar up with foreigners bad habit and now everyone are competiting with this ungracious habit as well as job.

Singaporean time to wake up, another 2 years for election.

Anonymous said...

What makes you think we even get to vote?