Pinoy Independence Day, a demand for more space

With 200,000 Pinoys working in this city, their demand for more space for social and leisure activities is only natural and expected just like the increase in population from 3.3m to 5.4m and the coming 6.9m. No one can fault the Pinoys for wanting more space to live and enjoy their stay here. We can’t squeeze them into dog’s kennels right? As a good host, we need to be more gracious and generous and share our space and amenities with them.
 
We have already done this. We are giving a lot of space to the various foreign communities living here, all 2m of them, Race Course Rd/Little India for the Indians and Bangladeshis, Chinatown and Geylang for the PRCs, Golden Miles for the Thais, Peninsula for the Myanmese, Joo Chia for the Vietnamese, and Lucky Plaza/Botanic Gardens for the Pinoys.
 
We must also have foresight, to be able to project their needs into the future. The more they grew, the more space they will need. And this will apply to the other nationalities. By the time our population hits 6.9m, the foreigners would definitely need more space to live comfortably. We cannot be so selfish to deprive them from having more space. The current demand for a place to celebrate the Pinoy Independence Day is only to be expected.
 
And why not, our Sinkie population will shrink further, so we don’t need so much space for ourselves in the future. Let’s be mentality prepared to cede more space to make our guests feel they are welcomed, and it will reflect very well on us.
 
The need for more space is only a small step forward. There will be more social and otherliving needs, like a TV channel for their native programmes, newspapers, and maybe more signages on the streets in their languages. They may need to be represented in Parliament in some ways so that their interests will be protected. We can either have NMPs or MPs specially tasked to protect them.
 
Oh, I think they are already being encouraged to integrate with us and joining RC activities and may even become RC members. With such a huge presence, they cannot be ignored. Their interests cannot be ignored. As their presence is proportionally increased, more resources would have to be diverted to meet their needs. And as our presence is proportionally decreased, lesser resources are needed for our citizens. There will be a new balance and a new status quo developing natural and everyone will be happy, to each according to his needs. In politics they termed this as proportional representation. Caveat, in most countries, proportional representation formula applies only to citizens of a country. In our case, we are no longer a country or just a country in the making, and foreigners are already regarded as locals, so citizenship is no longer a criteria to demand for more space and representation.
 
What do you think be you a gracious Sinkie or xenophobic Sinkie?

Tales of a vigorous people and less vigorous people

In the days of the four Asian Tigers referring to the economic success of South Korea, Taiwan, Hongkong and Singapore, their successes were attributed to having a more vigorous people, a population that was disciplined and with very hardworking ethic genes. It was this gene pool that made the difference between their success and the struggling economies of their neighbouring countries made up of less vigorous people.

Of the four tigers, three are still roaring away. One has outdone the rest by becoming the most vibrant and most expensive city in the world. The only odd thing is that the vigorous people are no longer vigorous anymore. And they have to import less vigorous people from neighbouring countries to sustain their economic growth. It is quite a strange biological phenomenon that the genes of a vigorous people can deteriorated to such a poor state in a generation. Could it be due to bastardisation with less vigorous people? I don’t think so. Bastardisation could bring out the best of the two sets of genes. Of course the recessive genes could become the dominant genes.

The only logical conclusion is that the neighbouring countries suddenly have turned vigorous. Their genes could be genetically modified, I supposed, to become more vigorous than the genes of the Sinkie pool. But if true this is also going to be another biological wonders. Gene pools do not make dramatic changes over a generation. They would evolve gradually with time. Also, the people of the neighbouring countries are still deemed to be less vigorous around the whole world except in Singapore. When competing with the Sinkie gene pool they are now regarded as better.

My conclusion is that it must be both, the degenerating of the Sinkie gene pool and the relative improvement in the neighbouring gene pool relative to the Sinkie gene pool that make the Sinkies less vigorous than them. And I think it would not be difficult to compile some empirical data to prove that this theory is true, that there is a strong case of a vigorous gene pool that turned bad in one generation.

The Sinkies are no longer a vigorous people, or at least they are less vigorous than the people of their neighbouring countries.

Kopi Level - Green

PME taxi drivers

Our highly qualified PME taxi drivers are going to be touted as another great career choice in this most expensive city in the world.  And it could be real if the taxi fares are raised to the levels of western developed countries. Then being a taxi driving ‘boss of your own’ would make some sense, when taxi drivers could be among the high income earners.

In reality our unemployed or underemployed PMEs are exactly like the so called foreign talents here. These FTs are the unemployed and underemployed PMEs of their home countries. There were not enough good jobs for them and there are so lucky to have this global city to offer them employment and paying them so well relative to their top earners at home. Many of the junior or middle executives working here could be earning more than their ministers or top civil servants. No need to imagine those that are in senior management, all thanks to the high exchange rates and the high salaries being offered here.

There is a glimmer of hope that our PMEs could discard their taxi driving and becoming FTs in the neighbouring countries when the Asean Economic Community Agreement is signed. Then our PMEs can flood the streets of KL, Jakarta and Manila for FT jobs in these cities. Be nice to the Pinoys if you want them to be nice to you when you seek jobs in Manila ok.

Actually our PMEs could do the same in the big cities of India with the CECA in place. We have heard that our professionals are in high demands overseas and being rejected or not in demand in this global city would not be a problem as there are plenty of good opportunities elsewhere. With the AEC, they could be earning big money in these foreign cities. Just don’t convert the currencies to Sing dollar and everything will be fine. They could be earning millions and millions in rupiahs, rupees and pesos. If they are not happy with these currencies, there are the dongs, the kyats, the ringgits or Thai bahts that may give better value.

There is hope for all the unemployed and underemployed PMEs in all the Asean countries to play the game of musical chairs. Only fear is that when the music stops, all the Sinkie PMEs will be standing.

The NMP dream team

If only this is possible, having a dream team NMP from the social media. In reality this is unlikely as the bloggers in social media are just too loud, talk too much and will be a pain in the neck if they ever get into parliament. Why would they want these loudmouth bloggers to give them some headache when they don’t need to?  Still then, if they really want committed and sincere citizens that have the affairs of the state at heart and are thinking and talking about them daily, without being paid, where else can they find them other than the social media?

Let me imagine what the NMP dream team would be like if the bloggers have a choice. Leong Sze Hian, Roy Ngerng, Alex Au, Vincent Wijeysingha, Chris K, Oxygen, Christine Lim, Cynical Investor to name just a few. Kenneth J, Tan Kin Lian and Gilbert Goh too would make it to the team but they would likely contest the next GE and enter by the main door. And there is a FT in Christopher Balding to consider too. We are so in love with FTs and including one will be just so nice.

With such a team in parliament, PAP would definitely be at their best, no more on leave, busy, no time to attend parliament, and cannot afford to doze off either. It may even devote a handpicked team to take on the NMP dream team, but not necessarily their first team. The first team would be too lethal, a cold steely stare would be enough to deal a deadly blow to the NMP dream team. Let’s just speculate a few names for the PAP task force against the NMP dream team. Lee Bee Wah, Irene Ng, Hri Kumar, Vikram Nair, Lim Wee Kiat, Janil, all great PAP debaters. And for good measures PAP might want the team to be helmed by a minister to give it the ballast. Iswaran would be more than enough to take on this task, and watch out for his southpaw. Fatimah Lateef did not and took a full body blow recently.

It would be a wonder to watch the two teams fight it out in parliament and I am sure the TV ratings would shoot through the roof when parliament is in session. It would beat all the Channel 5 or Channel 8 dramas hands down. Unfortunately this can only happen in dreamland. There would not be any NMP dream team or PAP task force to do mortal combat in parliament.

Kopi Level - Green

Independence Day – A political interpretation

The objections to the Pinoys celebrating their Independence Day in a public area like Orchard Road have drawn out sympathetic responses from some Sinkies. Even the ST did not miss the negativity of the outcry and came out with an editorial calling for a curb on anti foreign rantings. Many Sinkies are still adamant that such a celebration should not be held in the streets of our city but in private or within the compound of an embassy.

An Independence Day is a political statement of a nation of people breaking free from the oppression of colonialism or an external power. Every country is proud of their Independence Day, and the Pinoys are no exception. Should we allow or support such a celebration in Orchard Road? We have many very open minded Sinkies who would not mind and may even ask what is the fuzz all about. And they would look at it unkindly to Sinkies who tried to make a big issue out of it and calling them narrow minded and old fashion backward patriots, out of touch with the reality of a new globalise world.

Are there any merits to those who objected to such a public celebration by a tribe of foreigners in the heart of our global city? Put it in another way, how would we view it if the Malaysians would to celebrate their Independence Day at the Padang and with speakers standing at the steps of City Hall shouting, ‘Merdeka, Merdeka!’ How would the Sinkies feel if the PRC Chinese or the India Indians would to do the same?

Or how would the Malaysians or our neighbouring countries feel if Sinkies would to celebrate our National Day in the heart of their cities and shouting ‘Merdeka, Merdeka?’ Politically speaking there is some sensitivity involved and some subtlety in the meaning of celebrating an Independence Day in a foreign country. Are they implying that they are now independence from us, the City that hosts them, that they could do anything they want here as free and independent residents?  Of course they don’t mean it.

What is the political message? Today we allowed the Pinoys to celebrate their Independence Day openly, would we also allow the other tribes to celebrate their Independence Day here as well? Are we being too uptight? Or should we be the generous host, the global citizens, opened minded, sophisticated anything goes as long as it is fun, and let everyone have a good time, to celebrate their Independence Day in our streets?

What do you think?

PS. Yesterday my pageview hit a new record of more than 12,200 in a single day. But somehow it did not translate to more kopi.