Time to stop depending on foreigners and put the trust back into Singaporeans
Posted by temasektimes on September 9, 2012
The tightening of immigration policies have come too late. Statistics have shown a remarkable and shocking demographic of the population. Do you know just how little pure local born Singaporeans make up the total percentage? Barring PRs who still laud their motherland, we are indeed a declining minority.
I don’t see how they are going to appease the locals’ call against the massive influx of immigration. Singapore has always appealed to the supply side of global economy, which worked well to propel our developing nation back then; we supplied top quality workers, to attract MNCs to invest in us. Singapore has and will always be that, even as a fishing village it served as a port of call for trade to take place. It is a doomed and inevitable destiny.
Just that, in today’s context, we are rapidly turning into the ‘Chinese sweat factories’ in order to boost our attractiveness globally. Take the depressed wages of the majority; high income earners are not the norm for locals. If you think you are high earning, there are multitudes of ‘talented PRs’ earning more than you.
Look at the Casinos. The focus on amicability towards foreigners. The big picture should dawn upon all of us on what is happening. We are and have always been built up to be this supply-side global factory. Losing out to others in terms of resources and flexibility of options, we turn to whatever makes them stay. ANYthing.
What the drivers fail to realize that Singapore should define itself as its own identity. Not simply as a ready supplier for the global scene. We have quality local workers brought up and raised in the false premise of meritocracy, used to the concept of excellence, and that is enough, to establish our own brand. We are expected to lead ASEAN, so we should act the part, instead of remaining in our supply mentality. Therein lies all of our policy problems.
We Singaporeans are capable enough on our own. As a beacon in the SEA region, we should not offer too much hard selling. It makes us look desperate, look cheap, look weak. Let the MNCs hightail out of here, citing Capitalism, if they do not enrich us, meaninf our local population anymore. Just as how it is within the employment sectors, the draw of experience will be enough to keep us moving forward.
Besides, i believe Singaporeans themselves will work hard for their own prosperity. Won’t we? That is evident from our supposed ‘xenophobic’ rants, is it not? The strong drive. Whose to say that if left to our own devices, we will sit back and let everyone else overtake us? No. The years and years from before, when everything was good, have prepared us for that and more.
Trust us. Trust the LOCALS. Stop grovelling at the feet of others. We have learnt that hard lesson from the colonial masters.
PAULINE TENG
THE TEMASEK TIMES 
Kenny Toong said
Pauline start making a baby tonight.
cow138 said
My main fear is that in the pursuit of materialism. We are headed down the path of the US. Whereby honour is bestowed at the altar of materialism. Other social values such as care and concern and togetherness has been pushed aside in this relentless pursuit.
And see what happened to the US. Its struggling to even make its own way in the world now. Its a declining power in the face of China and Russia.
Singapore was founded on the principles of socialism. Trust in the govt and everyone will have a even fighting chance to improve their lives through hard work. Society led by the govt will ensure that everyone will be protected and provided for.
Yeoohlala said
@Cow138…Totally agree with you! I personally saw a lot of wastage and lavish life-style in the United States. Major decision making at the highest level are sometime impaired due to too much opposing voice. Socialism allows the government to make swift decision when faced with major social issues. The latter take care of the society as a whole while Pure Capitalism or Western Consumerism emphasized too much on the individuals. In my my opinion, Pure Capitalism is also a more exploiting society! In my opinion, ordinary American citizens are a whole bunch of brain-washed and exploited people…they won’t admit because they are soooooo brain-washed since birth! And these big American corporation are trying to convert the whole world into their loyal customers by brain-washing everyone with their never-ending advertisement and propaganda! A few good example is McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy, A&W, Long John Silvers…just compare those lousy junk-food with what we can get at our Food-court and hawker centre…just compare the price and the food…it should be clear!
I believe our government knows how China is doing now and where they will be heading. Although they still have many rural area which is very poor and under-developed, they have made enormous progress as a nation in merely 3 decades! Give them another 2 or 3 decades and all shall see!
We cannot depend on the US…they are declining…look at their current rates of unemployment…a staggering 23 million people OUT OF JOB! We…on the long run will have to depend on China. We have no natural resources or big internal markets for our products and services…therefore we have no choice but to rely on foreign markets such as the US, Japanese, EU, and China in order for local enterprise to export to and make money. In the long run, we have to turn to China and Brazil to survive.
While some may harbour negative sentiments towards PAP, we must admit to the fact that no single political system and parties are 100% perfect, and…no individuals should point fingers at the government and make unrealistic demand or change…it won’t be entertained anyway unless you are able to rally enough people to make your voice heard! But again…those voice should be for consideration only!
We should work together as a whole, and change for the better as a society! While the Americans felt threatened by China’s aggressive growth, we as a small nation definitely feel the heat…and its getting unbearable sometime! However, we should also think and look further…where is our future? Can we rely on the US in the long-run for our own stability and growth? Or is it China we should be looking instead?! Ultimately…its about surviving! Many seem to forget how fragile and vulnerable we are as a small island nation and are blinded from our immediate threat! Singapore is like a big fiber-glass Sampan (we use to be a small wooden sampan)…we may be tougher then before but we’re after all…a sampan…we can be easily capsized when the world rock!
GK said
i see you giving up working in office and get a job to swipe floors, wash bedsheet, make soy bean drink and …
if u can do those job and get SG ppl to work in those field, fine we dun need PRC..
Jenny said
Most ppl doing these jobs in Singapore are Singaporeans…
Mark said
seriously?
Tsa74 said
Yes. Old aunties in foodcourts and jollibean. Old uncles in taxis. Makciks and Indian uncles in Security, Cleaning and whatnot.
We do have Sgporeans in those jobs. Not ackowledging that fact is an insult to our elderly generation who are still working hard for measly pay, compared to the high wages afforded to non Singaporeans for their dubiously termed ‘talents’.
Zam said
You are an idiot.
spotlessleopard said
Stop deprressing wages sack the PAP return Singapore to Singaporeans by 2016
Carpediem said
Pauline
Whose going to take care of cleaning the house, doing laundry, taking care of the elderly, building the roads, MRT stations, schools, hospitals, cleaning the windows (Cross fingers, no one falls and die), whose going to clean all the buildings being built, whose taking the garbage out, whose cutting the trees on the streets? Whose cleaning the hotel beds? Whose putting the cables for OpenNet? Whose washing all the cars??? Most importantly, whose going to carry the bags for our army brats??
Tsa74 said
All the jobs aforementioned, except for the building of roads and maid house chores are and have all been done by locals.
Zam said
Pauline talks about those Foreign Talents not the Fuckin Foreign workers…you idiot
Goh Tong Seng said
In order for this to happen, we must be prepared to go into domestic help, cleaning services, construction and driving public transport.
Zam said
We need foreign workers not the Foreign Talents.
Mark said
I believe foreign workers should be allowed to work here in 3 areas: 1) jobs which the locals shun (this is common in most countries so no offence), 2) jobs which require skills & knowledges that you can’t find here yet, 3) the foreigner is a wealth creator and he/she creates jobs for us. But our LHL-led govt has created wrong equation to the solution. They open the hell gate in 2005 and started feeding our bosses with ‘heroin’, i.e. cheap foreign labour, without accessing their true motives for importing ‘talents’. Can you imagine how painful for a drug addict to withdraw? This is exactly what the govt is doing now – it tells the bosses their ‘heroin’ supply will be restricted, you better start thinking of solutions yourself! Do we need multi-million dollars ministers to plan such kindergarten policy?
jer said
And there go some of us, bringing up the lower wage workers again. Not a word about all those foreigners making PMETs redundqant, underpaid and underemployed.
Funny too, that the heads of corps these days are no longer Sporeans, but foreigners. We were rather good at taking companies places until we got a 1st edu system. Now, we’re deemed incapable. Whatever happened?
Anyway, fi there were fewer people here, we’d need fewer domestic maids, construction workers, tau huay sellers etc.
Tsa74 said
Excuse me.
Pauline Teng did not write that. I wrote that.
Who is Pauline Teng?
Nevermind. Petty things. As long as the message is heard.
Naivety said
There is an increasing trend that many Singaporean PMETs above the age of 40 are currently being displaced by FTs & Foreign Workers as a result making them redundant, out of job & unemployed & the bloodied Pro-Alien Party government refuses to do anything about it!