6/05/2012

Deaf frog will not listen



Sing a song of good foreigners. This has been the theme song in the main stream media for the past months and all kinds of logical and illogical scenarios and craps were published to establish just one point, foreigners are good and we need more foreigners. It is in the blood of the deaf frogs not to listen to the people. Surveys were also conducted with flattering conclusions how Sinkies love foreigners with only a little misgivings which are understandable.

These things are happening despite the tension, cries and cursing everywhere of the problems foreigners are causing to the citizens in practically every aspect of our lives. In small numbers they were most welcomed. In bigger numbers, they were still welcomed but with a little pain. When the increasing numbers is going to make Sinkies a minority in their own country, this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. A breaking point is not too far off.

But the deaf frogs continued with their beautiful song, foreigners are good, foreigners are welcomed. There is an interesting rebut by John Kwok Jung Yun in the Today paper in response to a Vincent Gabriel’s article, ‘Not citizens, but they sacrificed.’ Gabriel was referring to the heroism of the Malay Regiment during colonial rule when citizenship was irrelevant. The Malay Regiment fought bravely, for the British Empire, who robbed them of their country and made Malaya a British colony. I wonder if that was something to be proud of without belittling the bravery of the soldiers.

Gabriel’s point was that even they were not citizens, they were willing to defend the country. What he did not touch on was the mentality of the people then. All the subjects of colonialism stretching from Africa, India to Southeast Asia, were conscripted to fight for the Empire with little thought of Nationalism. The awakening came only after the Second World War when all these colonized state and its people rose to reclaim their countries. Before that, they served the Empire blindly and out of a need to survive, to put food on the table. There were no will, no leaders to tell them that they were colonized people and the colonial masters were their enemies who robbed and raped their countries.

Would the non citizen conscripts of today fight for a country they don’t believe in? Fighting and dying for a country, a motherland, comes from the heart. No amount of money and rubbish campaigns or words can win the hearts of soldiers who have no heart to serve and die for a country. In peace time, they would reluctantly serve as they could see some economic returns after NS. In crisis, would they scoot? I bet, scoot they will.

Some jokers even called for a mercenary force. This is the most foolish idea to ever be suggested. The mercenaries could turn around and take over the country.

The gist of the importance of a national army is best defined in the words of Dr Goh Keng Swee in 1968, ‘conscripts and regulars of other countries did no put up a distinguished performance (at the Battle of Singapore) but it could have been different if “we had 40 battalions or our own men.”’ I took this quote from John Kwok’s article in his reply to Gabriel.

The defense of a country must be the responsibility of its citizens and not any foreigners. No one will fight and die for a country when the heart is not in the right place. We could continue to draft the children of PRs into our armed forces. We will constantly be in a tricky position wondering what would they do when they are called upon to fight and die for the country. Are the words of Dr Goh just hogwash and to be forgotten because the new expediency is that we need the foreigners? To take one step further, farm out the jobs of defending the country to mercenaries, out source them.

Foreigners will always be foreigners. Fair weather foreigners don’t make good choice as defenders of the nation. Sing a song of good foreigners could be singing a song of our own demise.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Weren't our forefathers foreigners too who came here to forge a better living,who came and compete with locals for a day's wage? Samaa samaa, deaf frogs will not listen when they are on the wrong side.

Anonymous said...

Can somebody please answer this question?

Is the Pro Alien Party an anti-Singaporean party?

Can this be false?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

When our forefathers came, the land was virgin, only village chiefs. There was no country or nation. That's how things were and how the colonialists came and took everything. It was finder's keepers as far as the colonialists were concerned. And the locals who did not know what statehood meant, what a country meant, did not miss anything.

Our forefathers made a country out of the land taken back from the colonialists. It is like the ruling govt taking over the country and rule the country as if it belongs to them. No other opposition party can ever hope of taking over the country from them like foreigners being invited in to be citizens.

Once people have taken over ownership, it would be silly of them to give it away in a silver platter.

Our forefathers made this country ours. It only takes a prodigal and irresponsible son to squander it all away, destroying a family inheritance. The Chinese has a phrase called 'pai jia zhi'

Anonymous said...

Well said redbean. Singapore will be sold or given away by the unthinking and irresponsible.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:39,

Would you invite foreigners to live in your flat?

Anonymous said...

Are people trying to sell everything away, grab all the money and run?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

It is a futile intellectual exercise to try to generalise about an arbitrary grouping of humans, and equally pathetic to "wish" that they'd change so you can be happy.

To add to the risk of brain damage, you can add to your stress by complaining about the lying motherfuckers in the media.

Some people are fair weathered folks, and others will stick by you in your time of need, come what may. and chances are, you won't know until the shit in your (worthless?) life hits the fan.

Singapore's population is going to increase, first by immigration and then by by the number of births increasing over the number of deaths as many foreigners settle down and start families. You can continue to bitch about it, or shift your sad attitude and seek profit opportunities in the trend.

Whatever you decide, it ain't going to stop. Nor should it. There are people like me who will defend the open border, free-labour market policies, mainly because -- and I'll be frank -- we will benefit from it :-) Oh, I'd better add... it's also good for the Hotel...sorry , I meant the cuntry...a little bit of token / insincere patriotism there, thrown in for good measure.

Got sanity?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

I agree that your position is the best of many worlds as the country is turned into a hotel. But a hotel is not a country and will fail when the fundamentals of a country is compromised,
That is why the people are so angry.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The question I keep asking myself, What is so difficult about policies that really benefitted the citizens of the country, like ensuring that every citizen be eligible to buy a HDB flat, like tertiary education without ending up having to pay a debt, like medical insurance to avoid being bankrupt on hospitalisation, or owning a car when public transport is just not a reliable and dependable alternative especially for those who really need it?

Anonymous said...

Can it be possible?

Possible that answer may be that we have an anti-Singaporean party in Singapore?

Invictus said...

RB, just to add. The Malay Regiment fought bravely not because of the colonial masters. Rather they fought bravely to protect their family and comrades fighting next to them. Most importantly, they fight to protect this land they call home. Colonialism was fought after they rid the Japanese.
Will these foreigners do they same if Singapore is invaded. Take a look Kuwait. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, the oil rich kingdom had many foreigners but all fleed when the invading forces were banging at the door. These people, like those foreigners in Sngapore, are economic opportunists and have no deep root to the country. They have little family here, if any. They don't perform NS so they don't fight for the comrade next to them in the trenches. Most mportantly, this is not their LAND. You can infer that when we see trouble, they will rather take flight than fight.
PM Lee is skeptical of Malay Singaporeans' loyalty if we were invaded by Malaysia. This is well documented. If Malaysia invades our land, most Malays here will fight them because Singapore is our home. This is where the PAP fails badly, they don't understand basic human psyche. We are against the current UNREGULATED influx of foreigners that is making us a minority and making Singapore feel less of our home.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi Invictus, welcome to the blog.

How could these economic opportunists compare to true blue Sinkies be they Chinese, Malay or Indian?