However it wasn’t the article itself that got Singaporeans
in a frenzy. The main problem Singaporean has was with Mr Wang Quan Cheng.
Mr. Wang is a founding member and a current committee member of the “Loving and
Giving Society” in Singapore, a group set up to help newcomers from mainland China
adjust to life in Singapore, and he was quoted
as saying that local Singaporeans are very lazy and live off the government.
He was then quoted as saying he would probably return to China once he’s
retired.
The first quote puzzled Singaporeans as the Singapore
government has always rejected all forms of welfare but it was the second that really
got Singaporeans all hot and bothered. Many Singaporeans are upset by Mr. Wang
openly admitting that he is here for his job and he will go back to China once the
job is over. Basically, Singaporeans are upset he is here only for the money.
I don’t understand why. Remember a few years ago when the Singapore
government floated an idea to make Singapore PR take up citizenships and how
the idea was immediately shot down by the local expat community? I wasn’t
surprised then by their reaction and I’m not surprised now by Mr. Wang.
Why is this a surprise? Be they from China, India,
Philippines, Myanmar etc, I
can safely say that most foreigners in Singapore are here for the money.
Once their job is over, they will return home. When new immigrants come, they
don’t come here to stay. They come here for jobs, for the money and all Mr.
Wang did was openly admitting an open secret.
He feels no loyalty to Singapore. He is here for the money
and once it’s gone, so is he. He was just
being honest and there’s nothing wrong with that.
4 comments:
The uproar was because whatever the guy said, it fits our perception of these FTs to a T (pardon the pun), and that it is something all citizens know but that our government pretends does not exist.
That is a damn good article. I always wonder why Singaporeans begrudge a foreigner working here while at the same time hold in high esteem fellow Singaporeans that are highly successful overseas, be it NYC, London or Paris and then subsequently return to Singapore? Have they heard of this guy Chen Show Mao?
The truth is Singaporeans are sick with the cancer of Kiasu/Everything-also-complaint/gahment-must-take-care-of-me that they must attribute a source [regradless of whether it is justified or not] to the problems.
it's great if foreigners return home when they get old. no burden on this country. and hell, they've given their best years to us.
so why people here are getting so upset when PRs and those who became spore citizens want to go back to their country of birth to retire is just ridiculous. just say Thanx, Bye Bye to them.
while it's great to be patriotic, let's also be real.
anyway, is it that easy to give up your country? it isn't! and that's why so many don't, and why they remain PRs. can't we accept something so basic, esp when it works in our favour?
the fact foreigners don't integrate here, that we're having all kinds of probs because of their HUGE presence, is because there are so many! if they had been drip fed into this society, instead of the dam being pulled down, they'd HAVE to integrate, adopt local habits, to some degree. the infrastructure wldn't be so burdened. that's because their numbers would be a fraction of what is here now.
go whack up the people behind this stupidity - the govt - NOW. don't wait till 2016. better still, sneer at all those people who want foreigners by being MUCH better than the imports.
Personally I never understood why Singaporeans blame foreigners for not integrating. Why should they? If they don't have any intention of staying here long-term, why bother with integration? They don't integrate because in a few years they will be leaving. I find that very understandable. I'll do the same thing if I'm one of them.
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