Singapore ruling party rebuked in by-election as disquiet rises

With 75% of Singapore’s residents being Chinese, and with the indigent Malay’s only 13%, it’s hard to make a convincing argument, by The Worker’s Party, or anyone else, about “foreigners”. The whole country is “foreigners”. That is the uniqueness of Singapore and part and parcel of it’s economic success.

I noted in another article Singaporeans had some complaints about public transport. Whoa, if only every city had this cities transport problems… a dream come true for most. World class city, amazing services and incredibly tolerant. If only most cities were models of this one. Even on the occassion when looking a little lost (twice in one day) it was elderly Singaporeans who would take note and offer assistance, with a smile.

Still, without migrant workers I do not see how this city would operate. Migrant workers are some of the unsung heroes of Singapore. Native Singaporeans would balk at the idea of working for this sort of wage and lifestyle.

@JapanViewer

The 75% are Singapore Chinese, not Chinese. They are not the same thing, and the complaints about ‘foreigners’ are largely aimed at PRC Chinese, who are viewed with contempt by the Singapore Chinese.

@Free_Pacific

Singapore is not tolerant. Quite the opposite – they hate foreigners unless you are on holiday spending money. For example:

“Seems to me that PRC’s are causing much danger & doing alot of damage to this dumb country. The govt is closing more than one eye to them. Wtf for? Open up your eyes you bloody idiots!”

“Well thats PRC for you. And if we take in more of these people, Singapore will soon become the 2nd China.”

“The PAP clearly wants Singaporean to forget about their incompetence and their “su(king up” of the Angmohs.” (Ang moh = white)

http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/video-of-fatal-bugis-accident-red-ferrari-crashed-into-comfort-taxi-at-high-speed/

**********

“This is the society fault – first we have all the foreigner taking away all the job that there is no part time job available at all. This make local resort to this type of earning”

http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/more-singapore-girls-becoming-freelance-prostitutes-to-make-a-quick-buck/

*********

The Singapore government is already cutting back on foreign workers, and yes- it is causing problems.

Language schools are finding it hard to recruit native speaker teachers. One school know of has had the past 5 applications turned down and is cancelling classes as a result,

Retail can no longer hire Filipinos as they did in the past, forcing them to take Singaporeans at much higher salaries. Singaporeans sales staff expect higher salaries than Filipino shop managers. Existing Filipino’s are having visa renewals refused.

Construction is running short of labour as they are not issuing visas for foreign workers, but the Singaporeans doing all the complaining will not get their hands dirty in construction. Some projects are almost at a standstill due to the labour shortage.

@Abdulafiah

Certainly they are making it harder to renew Visa’s. The ‘take a day trip to Malaysia’ technique has been closed off. Even know of a case where a singaporean employer would send the staff to Bankok instead. They would pay for the plane ticket, but not expenses in Thailand.

And yes, the transport system is creaking a little… it has tripped it’s capacity limit. Still, compared to many places it is excellent… despite increased wait times due to overcrowding (at peak hours).

I noticed a contradiction in policy there, being the determination to increase manufacturing, but also to reduce migrant numbers. I dont see how these can go hand in hand. As you say, Singaporeans will not want to work for the wages migrant workers do.

On the street, I did not notice any real intolerence. I stayed for extended periods on my trips and lived with migrant workers while there, so was often not in or around the ‘tourist’ locations. I may be off mark due to my limited exposure, but I certainly felt safe at all times.