Foreign Workers' frontyard in our backyard

Loud, smelly, drunk, dirty, thieving. These adjectives pop up whenever most Singaporeans talk about foreign workers. Clearly, most Singaporeans do not have a good impression of foreign workers, at the least. Hence, when the government announced that an unused school in Serangoon Gardens will be converted into a dormitory for foreign workers, a big hoo-ha was raised. Not only were there discussions which sounded more like one-sided views on the internet and media, but the citizens themselves actually “got down to work themselves”. A petition was signed to appeal against the idea of the dormitory with 101 reasons.

Ironically, their reasons were not as reasonable as they should have been. For example:
“They will rob our elderly folk.
They will molest our women.
They will sleep with our maids.
They will litter.
They will get drunk in our parks and make us feel unsafe in our homes.”

Now what does that say about us Singaporeans? My first thought was, “we are an ugly bunch of people calling ourselves civilized because we have more dollar bills in our pockets than they have.” Isn’t it quite true? But if foreign workers were nothing but trouble, they wouldn’t even have the chance to step on Singapore soil in the first place.

The truth is, Singapore needs them, we need them, but we just do not accept them. They are indispensable in a way, because they do the jobs that you and I would not do. They labour in the day to give us our homes and skyscrapers, but when night falls, we fear they might just pop up at our house to rob us. To put it simply, this is unfair and unbecoming of citizens in a “first-world” country.

Sure, some of them are loud, are drunk and urinate wherever they like. But they are just isolated incidents. Most of them are good-natured men who have no other intention than to earn a sizeable sum of money to support their kin back in their country. If we can characterize them based on a few isolated incidents and actually justify ourselves in this way, then perhaps we should also consider locking up all teenagers in a place far from the adults because some teenagers also do drink, smoke, vandalize and damage public property when they have gang-fights.

However, we Singaporeans have a right reason to protest their close proximity too. The reason is simply we are, too, concerned for our safety. The residents at Serangoon Gardens certainly are concerned for their safety, and unsure of these foreigners they have never had any experience with. Hence their petition is simply a defensive measure they have taken to ensure their well-being and primarily survival.

Understanding this, the citizens at Serangoon Gardens are neither right nor wrong to appeal against the dormitory even though they may be based on baseless accusations. Right now, the best thing the government can do is to take measures such as increasing police patrol in that area to give the residents confidence in their security, and try to reach a consensus with them. The dormitory must go on, but the animosity will still be there.
Whether the residents and Singaporeans can accept them, only time will tell.

Democracy Discussion

“Democracy creates stability”

While democracy currently is “practiced” by many countries in the world, to the extent that any form of government not comprising of democracy is condemned, it does not mean that democracy is the “ultimate” form of governance. Throughout the course of history, examples have shown how democracy has in fact caused much of society’s upheaval. For the purpose of discussion here, stability refers to social, economic and political stability.

First let us look at the case studies of how democratic states have become much unstable. In Asia itself, we already have case studies of how democracies have brought a standstill to the nation. An obvious example would be Taiwan. In the past, Taiwan was a one-party ruling state. When democracy came in 1996 in the form of the first presidential elections, the change was welcomed by the people. However, 8 years down the road, the Taiwan we see now is full of internal conflict between the 2 major opposition and ruling parties. While the president is from the ruling party, the opposition holds the majority of the opposition camp, thus when Bills have to be passed, the opposition boycotts them and leaves the legislature log-jammed. Taking advantage of the principles of majority-rule, the opposition has left Taiwan’s political and economic situation to a standstill.

Then let us look at America, the champion of democracy, world superpower built on the basic fundamentals of ‘power to the people’. Despite it’s seemingly good track records of human rights, ask any man on the streets of what America’s weakness is and chances are they will tell you it lies in the great divide between the blacks and the whites in America. This racism and prejudice, however condemned, is not fully constitutional and somewhat contradictory to America’s pledge to a human’s basic rights, which includes freedom of speech, thought and action. But why do I saw this? This is because since all man are created equal, so no one should be favoured in one way or another, or prejudiced in another form. However, America’s freedom of thought yet allows individuals to have the freedom to discriminate, resulting in the deepest divide in America’s society.

So far, I have been bringing up case studies of how democracies have caused instability instead of the expected stability. However, we must not forget that democracies still have resulted in many stable societies throughout the world since their transition into democracy. However, if we go back to the key fundamentals of political systems, we realize that these systems are theorized based on each camp’s notion of Man’s rationalization. Similarly, whether a democracy creates stability once again depends on Man’s rationalization. This can be said the same for other political systems such as communism and socialism. However, ultimately, in the case where leaders of either political system are equally rational and fair in governance, then democracy will result in more stability basically because the people are given more freedom and rights to fulfill their individual rights as humans.

Escape of Mas Selamat: A wakeup call for Singapore and Singaporeans

How often do normal, petty criminals escape from jails to avoid a simple 3-week jail term in Singapore?

Not often.

How often then, do you see big time criminals escaping from detention and jail in Singapore?

More often it seems.

Doyou remember the 'Huang Na' case that got everyone is Singapore to sit up and constantly listen out for the latest news on the progress of the investigation of the murder? Do you remember the public outcry when Took Leng How was arrested for the crime, and on the 21st of October 2004, escaped under police custody? He had used the 'toilet ruse' by pretending he needed to go to the toilet, before escaping through the back door.

It should have rung alarm bells then for the Singapore Police Force, credited for Singapore's low crime rate. They should have tightened their security to make sure no criminals escape, especially a murderer.

How then did a terrorist, JI leader who planned to bomb Changi Airport and cause a catastrophic blow to Singapore escape after being caught and his plan, foiled?

The question is: how did this happen? Since our police force is not a small and inefficient one, then perhaps it was a case of complacency.

Second Minister for Defence and Minister for Manpower Dr Ng Eng Han had said during Total Defence Day this year: "Guard against complacency." How ironic is that just about 2 weeks later, is was complacency that led to the escape of Mas Selamat. Complacency is not to be overlooked, it is not checked, as it has proved to result in a serious breach of security which now involves Interpol and the world.

This should be a long due wake up call for the Police Force and all Singaporeans. As the lives of Singaporeans get better, more Singaporeans are complaining about everything and expect the government to solve the problem for them. When the streets of Singapore are dirty, Singaporeans complain the cleaners are not doing their job, but how many of us know cleaners work harder than us and arrive as early as 5am in the morning to clean up after us?

We have already lost to Malaysia, complacently regarded by many Singaporeans as our backward neighbour', in terms of airport rankings by different organisations in different categories since 2001. Although Singapore Changi Airport (SCA) still holds an edge over Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) overall, the fact that KLIA is fast catching up with SCA clearly tells us that Malaysia is not our 'so-backward-neighbour' anymore.

Let this incident be a true wake up call for Singaporeans and the next generation to come. Our complacent mindset no longer has a place on the global platform and this mindset has to be changed before it is too late and Singapore loses its competitve edge on the global platform. Singapore still does have talent, and the ability to attract foreign talent, but to ensure progress for many years to come, we will have to rally together to break away from our comfort zone to compete for a better future.

References
-skytrax 'Winner 2007' 'AIRPORT OF THE YEAR'. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from SKYTRAX, THE WORLD AIRPORT AWARDS Web site: http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2007/Airport2007.htm

-Ang, Shawn (2008, 02 12). Dr Ng Eng Hen: "Guard against complacency". Retrieved March 2, 2008, from MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SINGAPORE Web site: http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/publications/cyberpioneer/news/2008/February/12feb08_news.html

-2006: Accolades Received by Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore / Singapore Changi Airport . Retrieved March 2, 2008, from CHANGI AIRPORT SINGAPORE Web site: http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/about_us/awards_accolades/2006.html?__locale=en

-(2008, 03 01). KLIA Awards & Recognitions. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from WIKIPEDIA Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLIA_Awards_%26_Recognitions