7/20/2010
New laws against xenophobia
I share the concern raised by Radha Basu in the ST today. She pointed to the xenophobic postings in cyberspace and feared that many talented FTs will be turned away from paradise. She quoted two super foreign talents who had intention to settle here but changed their minds when she showed them the anti foreigner blog postings.
This is serious and may become a national crisis when the additional 100k foreign talents that Hsien Loong said was needed refuse to come here to work. Our economy will not see the 15% growth and Singaporeans may lose their jobs as well. And for sure, no big bonuses.
Xenophobia has no place in this city of the world. Our country is meant for all the supertalents to live here. We need to quickly introduce laws against xenophobic Singaporeans, especially the oldies and those less talented that are most vocal against foreigners. These people must be put behind bars quickly. Or at least they should be made to wear green vests and paraded along Orchard Road or Raffles Place.
But the law must also be fair to the less talented and ignorant Singaporeans. Foreign talents that beat Singaporeans, be they 3 year old or 90 year old, or ridiculed Singaporeans must be given a one way ticket back to where they belong. This would at least appease the unhappy Singaporeans for the anti xenophobic laws.
How many of you are in favour of such legislations?
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17 comments:
Me am not in favour of any legislation, there are already too much of them and the enforcers are mostly confused or too bog down with them.
As for ownership of motherland(nationhood), there is no two way about it, it belongs to the natural citizens. If a country can be be sold or be given away, it has to forget about nationhood as there is no ownership by the citizens. And there shall be no obligation for them(citizens) to protect it.
If Singaporeans treasure and cherish our country(or city), the line must be drawn clearly with minted citizens. No one goes around calling any man father or any woman mother, we are children of this tiny land which has hardly space to accommodate us alone, it cannot be sold away or shared with aliens. IT IS NO XENOPHOBIC, IT IS JUST THAT WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH(SPACE) OURSELVES! JUST LIKE OUR LEADERS HAVE NEVER GOT ENOUGH OF REMUNERATIONS.
WE, SINGAPOREANS, HAVE NO SPARE SPACE(LAND). FOREIGNERS CAN BUILD A FLOATING CITY NEARBY TO BE ADMINISTERED BY SIN IF THEY LOVE IT SO MUCH.
patriot
We need Singaporeans to feel strongly and passionately about this island, that this island belong to them. Only then will they have the conviction and dedication to want to protect this country and even give their lives for it.
On the other hand if Singaporeans do not careless about what is happening here, adopt a tiada apa attitude, want to give away, want to sell away, also don't care, then Singaporeans don't deserve to own this island and they will lose it eventually.
Either they become masters of their own land or they become like the Red Indians one day.
Laws against Xenophobia?
Ha! There should be laws against unbridled immigration and the granting of citizenship to so called "super talents" and mouth pieces for which we truly have plenty, home grown.
These "newly minted" citizens will never ever be true Singaporeans. They are just Sing Dollar loving mercenary wayfarers, stopping by to take water and sustenance from an oasis before moving on to greener pastures. In the meantime, their footprints of destruction can be seen in the high cost of living, high home prices, high crime rates and stifling soul bashing struggle for common social infrastructures, which lagged behind the explosive population growth.
Ask the 400,000 or so Indian Nationals now settling here to work whether this country is the end point for their sojourn. You'll be shocked to know the answer. Similarly, ask the near million PRC nationals the same question and get the same answer.
When push comes to shove and there is war with our enemies, Changi airport will be crammed with these "newly minted" citizens scrambling to take a flight out, any flight, to safety. The ones left standing to fight would be Patriot and son, Wally and sons, Redbean and sons and all true blue born here, bred here, catch spider here Singaporeans.
Legislation is not the answer. Persuasive communications, via proper channels at the appropriate time would be better. On the basis that the government knows best, I thought it would have been less threatening for Singaporeans if the PM spent 30 minutes on TV explaining why we would need 100,000 FTs, the categories, the likely sources of this number. It willl also be re-assuring to know that the number was arrived at AFTER talking to the likely companies who need FTs.
The press can help, by not running scare stories about a plate of nasi lemak costing $10-00 if no FTs are allowed, as the NewPaper did.
The situation calls for cool heads on the part of everyone. Legislation is certainly one of the ways to go, but there are enough anti-littering laws, speeding laws and these things still happen.
It is all in the mind.
Singaporeans should demand a referendum on whether they want the country to keep importing new citizens to compete with the locals. This issue is not only for the monority elite to decide. It is in the interest of all Singaporeans to decide.
May the opposition parties take this up as an issue in the next election and demand a referendum on it.
So, we need a new law against xenophobia, and at the same time we want a new law to protect less talented and ignorant Singaporeans from being beaten by foreigners.
Good idea. But as time goes by, both law will be tweaked, like all the other laws, to make the second law impotent. And from being designated as dumb, we are going to labeled as dumber.
Redbean, you have been here long enough to know. What have they done to the election laws for example?
After all these years I can only say that the laws are getting betterer.
Xenophobia is racism, and it is an ugly thing, no matter how you cut it. It de-individualises people -- judging them on "their group" instead of individuals.
I have frequently lambasted xenophobic ideas in Singapore and occasionally abused in writing people of this ilk.
However I am dead against ANY law which restricts the freedom to express ideas and feelings -- regardless of how stupid or immoral those ideas might be.
There is no place for "thought police" in a modern, mature electorate -- I'm am of course assuming that S'poreans, as a collective, are mature enough to handle their feelings and thoughts without the govt acting as a censor.
No to the law. oh oh. I am in trouble.
Matilah ... agrees with your idealistic individual and not group thing yet we have Islamophobia because of a small group of terrorists. What goes around comes around.
peace... some groups of people has to stop first.
FT: white elite, let them stop the xenophobia and other phobias in their backyard.
peace
Fast forward to 1984. Whatever you do with your handphone and where you are are tagged. Next, yes, whatever you are thinking, they know.
Thought policing! Soon will become a reality.
>> She quoted two super foreign talents who had intention to settle here but changed their minds when she showed them the anti foreigner blog postings.
honestly every country in the world is going to have some anti foreigner blogs. it sounds like these super talents wanted to settle down in a place where the local population would fawn over them with nauseating pleasantries .
Fawning over FTs is an understatement. Singaporeans literally gone down on their knees to make out FTs feel welcomed and well taken care off.
If this is not good enough, nowhere else can be better except for Australia and New Zealand. But you need to be of European origins to be fawned over and welcomed.
Me did not know Blogs could be so effective.
Good! Let's hope more will come into Cyberspace to express their feelings.
Me am happy to learn that Singaporeans will protect their homeland from invasion. Kudos to my fellow Singaporeans.
patriot
Can't agree with you more on this.
We need Singaporeans to speak up for our own good. But maybe they have given up. Everything is unavoidable. No point talking about it.
Too bad, we have been ignorant for 44 long years.
Are you out of your mind? it scares me that you used to be in the civil service. Laws against the expression of xenophobia? Public shaming? How will expressed xenophobia be identified? Sounds like you want to live in totalitarian police state my friend. We need to protect our few and pathetic rights to expression. I may not agree with what you say but i will protect your right to say it. If some bad apples happen to say unpleasant things than so be it. Creating an environment of free speech is far more important to our country and our culture in the long term than trying to keep our 15 percent GDP target. Do you know that most of this figure doesnt actually benefit most singaporeans? a lot of that figure is corporate profits from overseas companies. A higher GDP is meaningless if reserves arnt channelled back into education and welfare. Everytime GDP goes up it inflates the cost of living at a disproportionate level to wage increases. Our standard of living has been declining in the last ten years. Foreign immigration drives up GDP, but whats the point if it only makes life worse for many people. At some point in time you have to ask your what is " the good of the country?" Is it the good of a few people. present generations are always sacrificed for a tomorrow that will never come. There needs to be a compromise between looking after present needs and ensuring long-term national success. citizens arnt just lumps of coal to be flung into the furnace of industry.
There are pros and cons to such laws. I accept that. But we do not want xenophobic expression to scare away our FTs do we? And many FTs are feeling jittery with all the signs of anti foreigners appearing. If they dump the flats they purchased and leave, we are in trouble.
Today there is a comment in the ST forum page by a Dr Bill Durodie agreeing with Radha Basu about the 'unpleasant racial dimension to life in Singapore'. And with govt effort and millions of dollars set aside to promote FTs and welcoming them, it is unbecoming to have attacks against them.
Durodie also quoted advertisements for flat rentals like 'No Indians', harking back to the 1960's in Britain when Indians and Irishmen were discriminated against.
If we cannot get our citizens to love the FTs, maybe legislation can help.
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