'Racist Singapore' has two choices on migrant workers from the subcontinent

The label 'Racist Singapore' is not cooked up by me but by many racists from the subcontinent that have been accusing Singapore of being racist towards migrant workers and white collar workers from the said continent. Though none of them have been beaten up in the streets of Singapore like they had in Australia, UK and the US, these racists have been very vocal in calling Singapore a racist country and Singaporeans, particularly Chinese Singaporeans as racists.

How did Singapore came to earn this glorified label from the racists in the subcontinent? Read this from theindependent.sg for a start.

'While the Singapore Government has “done well in safeguarding the lives and livelihood of migrant workers”, there are underlying issues, such as racism and a lack of embracing diverse perspectives, that cannot be ignored, according to a letter published in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post on Sunday (May 10).

The letter writer, Gauri Venkitaraman, was responding to the letter “Singapore is not racist: City has stood by migrant workers in coronavirus crisis” (April 26) from Lee Teck Chuan. 

Lee had defended Singapore’s handling of the outbreak of coronavirus cases in the country, writing that foreign workers’ lives and livelihoods had been well taken care of. He gave the examples that they had been given SIM cards so they could keep communicating with their families, and that meals, accommodation and medical treatment were given for free. Lee had asked: “Is it fair for our international audience to think that Singapore is a racist society?”

Gauri responded by writing that all the good the Government has done “does not justify the racist undercurrents, nor address a problem that some Singaporeans refuse to acknowledge”.'

What is the problem of these racist writers to attack Singapore as a racist country? What did Singapore do to deserve this honour or dishonour? The sin of Singapore is to provide employment to the hungry jobless men from the slums of the subcontinent. These poor and illiterate and unskilled workers were given good decent jobs, decent income that they could not imagine, would never even get a job in their slum country, and living in decent dormitories that were many times better than where they came from, with proper sanitation and toilet facilities that they did not have. But these are not enough, to these racists critics, the workers must be treated better, how better is up to their wild imagination. They could not even provide these poor workers with a job, with 3 meals, let alone a decent place to live and are demanding Singapore to provide for them, things that would be a luxury in the slums where they came from.

Since these critics are so unhappy with Singapore, why don't they provide a better alternatives to these workers, bring them home where they would be happy and with decent jobs and decent incomes and a better life and not be 'discriminated' in Singapore with good jobs, good living quarters they could never dream of, and a better life for their families. Why come to be exploited in 'racist Singapore' that treated them so badly?

Singapore has two choices to avoid this stigma of dishonour, one, by stopping migrant workers from the subcontinent to work here. Period. The racist critics would provide them with better jobs and better lives in their slum country. No doubt about that. Why go all out to please these ungrateful foreigners and treating them in many ways far better than Singaporeans? 

But if the daft in Singapore want to continue to employ these workers, provide them job and a future they could look forward to, a better life, then the alternative is to adopt some of the suggestions of our good and wealthy citizens and provide the foreign workers a lifestyle similar to Singaporeans, live like Singaporeans, live among the Singaporeans. Perhaps Singaporeans should even integrate them into their lives by marrying their daughters to these single workers. That may please these critics and Singapore would not be called a racist country by them.

Raise their salaries to that of the average Singaporeans, provide housing like those of Singaporeans, in HDB estates and enjoy the same cost of living as Singaporeans. Treat them like first world citizens, good pay, good accommodation, good environment etc etc. The employers would be very generous to raise their pay and would be able to continue to run their businesses profitably for sure.

What do you think? Is Singapore deserving of the label 'Racist Singapore' accorded by the racists from the subcontinent? Is Singapore doing enough or need to do more, like having them living in districts 9, 10 and 11 and have meals in restaurants, foodcourts or hawker centres? What do these racists want? One good spacious place to accommodate them is the big garden in the Istana and the President can lullaby them to sleep.

By the way, below is reported in theindependent.sg.

'More than 38,000 netizens have signed a petition calling for more protection for migrant workers from the Covid-19 virus.

The petition, started by one Kokila Annamalai a week ago, shared it with the hopes that Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo would take notice.

She asked that their living conditions be better taken care of, explaining that “in current dormitory set-ups, which are overcrowded; There has been consistent evidence of unsanitary and very poorly-ventilated environments”.

Workers often do not get their meals on time, and there is a shortage of face masks, she wrote.

“Fear and anxiety are high among workers, who aren’t allowed to leave their dorms (or their cramped rooms, in the case of the dormitories gazetted as isolation areas). Many feel akin to sitting ducks trapped in a ticking ‘time bomb’”, Ms Annamalai wrote.'

If these 38,000 people really wanted to have, it can be easily done by offering to invite a foreign worker to stay with them and enjoy the comfort of their homes. Surely all the homes in Singapore, including HDB flats, would have space for one foreign worker to sleep in and not feel crowded.  As for those living in landed properties, they would easily have a few spare rooms to offer.

If this is done, the foreign workers would be so happy that more would be queuing up to come here, calling Singapore a paradise for foreign workers instead of 'Racist Singapore'.

PS. My observation, Singapore has no Chinese race. The whites and other racists may threw vicious attacks against Chinese, verbally and physically, no Singaporean Chinese would react. They did not see themselves as Chinese but Singaporeans. They have no race, no ethnicity. They are aliens. Thus they cannot be racist in any terms. And they love foreigners, especially angmohs and Indians and many have married them. And many key positions in Singapore are filled by Indians, including the President, Chief Justice, DPM, senior ministers, the national bank etc etc. 

A racist Singapore never allow these to happen. These are facts, not imaginations of the racist critics.