xenophobia on the rise

[rickjames]

just my observations after living in both mainland China and SG for many many years....when Singaporeans bad mouth PRCs, it's like the pot calling the kettle. same, same but barely different.

Sure, I've seen many more shocking things in China, but being 'kiasu' isn't just a Singaporean trait, it's an Asian- especially Chinese trait. So when I hear the locals here badmouthing a country where their own grandparents came from, and that they themselves STILL hold many of the same mannerisms/traits..it always gives me a laugh. silly people.

[BillyB]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-2 ... -poll.html

[nakatago]

just my observations after living in both mainland China and SG for many many years....when Singaporeans bad mouth PRCs, it's like the pot calling the kettle. same, same but barely different.

Sure, I've seen many more shocking things in China, but being 'kiasu' isn't just a Singaporean trait, it's an Asian- especially Chinese trait. So when I hear the locals here badmouthing a country where their own grandparents came from, and that they themselves STILL hold many of the same mannerisms/traits..it always gives me a laugh. silly people.

You humans are so petty. And tiny.

[NorrinRadd]

Well rickjames said basically what I was saying in the last post. But I can't find this Thor's post, sounds interesting

[NorrinRadd]

That birdcage liner called the ST has a series of articles (including one with the entertaining quote that poodlek mentioned on a separate subject) on this topic.

There's a lot of space dedicated to this in the Saturday section as well as an article in the main section.

Most of it stuff we've seen before, more interesting will be the comments to follow, although those are limited due to the ST's strict policy of mandating that commenters provide their NRICs and other personal data when registering. I think.

[Edroche]

Is Sing becoming a xenophobic little red dot? I am so sick of this kind of nonsense:

http://sgentrepreneurs.com/singapore-en ... -response/

Do these nitwits really believe they weren't given the better seat because they're local? You've got to be f'ing kidding me. The only thing I would give them is that it's probably entirely the possible the white guy was more forceful about getting what he wanted.

If this sort of thing keeps up Singaporeans are going to find themselves quite happily alone and retreating backwards economically and in every other way.

Xenophobia is without a doubt very evident in Singapore. Any expat who has been here for a longer period of time and mixed with these people will know this. Its a pity they don't drink more, might relax a bit and become a bit more friendly rather than harping on about the PRC folks. Especially as many of them have a couple of elderly PRC folks living with them. I'd put it down to puberty - check back in 50 years.

[durian123]

FWIW I'd agree with the distraction theory for xenophobia. I remember seeing an article in Today saying the Gahmen was consciously becoming more "populist."

When I ask my Singaporean friends/colleagues about it, they'll typically start with something weak like "you guys don't know the real Singapore and only hang out on Orchard Road and Holland Village" but that quickly dies down after I put forward one or two arguments showing how stupid a statement it is ("so foreigners shouldn't be allowed on Orchard Rd? or they should be forced to live in HDBs in the heartlands? How many foreigners do you know socially to make such a claim? Are there really no locals in HV or Orchard rd? If so, should locals be forced to go to HV?").

Then they move on to "but actually it's those low-wage workers who are the problem.. they depress wages for poor Singaporeans." This is the main point, but is often followed by claims that:
- foreigners are rude
- the MRT breaks down because of foreigners
- inflation is high because of foreigners
- poor Singaporeans can't afford HDBs because of foreigners
For some reason, this is a lot more sticky. Saying that "you basically want to turn away people who are like your grandparents in every way" or "real estate is expensive, but how much worse would it be without Bangladeshis working 13 hour shifts 7 days a week, while sleeping in rotten dorms, having their passports confiscated and no rights, no health and safety protection, but being forced to blacklist themselves at the casino" just elicits blank stares as do other arguments regarding the MRT, inflation and HDBs.

I think some other commenters are being alarmist when it comes to the decline of Singapore. I don't know if you've visited the rest of the world recently, but it's a dump. There is almost no place I'd rather live than here, and certainly very few places could offer this lifestyle, even at these prices.

Also, despite complaining about local xenophobia, this forum is absolutely rife with the reverse kind. Condescending comments and sweeping generalisations about Singaporeans abound and I sometimes feel like I'm reading Burmese Days. For starters, can we please establish that just because a language or dialect is different, it doesn't have to be BAADDDDD and a sign of poor education / poor taste etc (it's bad enough when the Brits do it with American English, but here it's like all non-Singaporean English-speakers are ganging up together).

[Splatted]

- poor Singaporeans can't afford HDBs because of foreigners

In part it's true.. supply and demand.

But Singaporeans can take ownership of the problem and simply choose to sell their flats cheaper to fellow Singaporeans so as to not contribute to the spiralling cost of housing.

what's wrong with that picture?

[zzm9980]

- poor Singaporeans can't afford HDBs because of foreigners

I call BS on that. Of the over 1 million HDB flats in Singapore...

Permanent residents (PRs) in Singapore owned 48,700 HDB flats as of September this year, according to latest figures released by the Ministry of National Development (MND).

And you can't even claim that it is foreigners gaming the system to drive up HDB rental costs:

In a written response, MND said 1,967 (around four percent) of the 48,700 flats owned by PRs were being sublet with approval from the HDB. MND noted that these flat owners were granted approval, as they had met their Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).

Another 295 PRs received approval from the HDB to sublet their flats during their MOP, with 261 of them working overseas.

from: [guru of property].com.sg/property-management-news/2011/11/31694/48700-hdb-flats-owned-by-prs-as-of-sept
(sorry, URL censored)

[nakatago]

- poor Singaporeans can't afford HDBs because of foreigners

In part it's true.. supply and demand.

But Singaporeans can take ownership of the problem and simply choose to sell their flats cheaper to fellow Singaporeans so as to not contribute to the spiralling cost of housing.

what's wrong with that picture?

[movingtospore]

It seems that a lot of myths are becoming realities to the locals at the moment, #1 foreigners are driving the cost and living and #2 foreigners are taking their jobs.

[Splatted]

- poor Singaporeans can't afford HDBs because of foreigners

I call BS on that. Of the over 1 million HDB flats in Singapore...

Yeah, but how many are owned by locals that have moved up financially over the last 30 or 40 years and now live in condo's, while they rent out their old hdb flats?

Agree it's BS though.

[Splatted]

It seems that a lot of myths are becoming realities to the locals at the moment, #1 foreigners are driving the cost and living and #2 foreigners are taking their jobs.

I guess if they repeat it enough times, and hear it enough times, they will eventually start to believe it.

And it becomes that much easier to believe if one or two foreigners go and do something dumb (like write to newspapers) that inflames the issue and gets the locals fired up.

[Vaucluse]

I wonder when majority of foreigners leave, will the MRT run better ? coz you know, thats what i read all the time

Trying to make sense of that . . . . . . . . . Nope, can't.


Ok, so I'm happy to hear that Caucasians don't get preferential treatment in Singapore and that everyone is treated equal.
(Now, where are those old posts about forum members, Asians, complaining about being . . . . )

[Splatted]

I wonder when majority of foreigners leave, will the MRT run better ? coz you know, thats what i read all the time

No. If anything fares will go up, as not enough commuters around to support trains running every 3 minutes, not to mention mostly empty.

You might find services are slashed as well... trains every 5 minutes .. every 10 minutes..?