Decided to share this

I was writing to BenK regarding the issue of Foreigners in our country.
Thought I'll share this. Something for us to think about.
xxxx

Hey Benjamin,

I came across this comment by someone who calls himself "Mani" in an article that addresses PM Lee's take on the current inflow of foreigners.

"Mani the Parrot:

Due to the PAP’s liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, foreigners now make up 36 percent of Singapore’s population.
It is now easy for foreigners to obtain Singapore PR and new citizenship which does not require a minimum period of residency.
The relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore has lead to mass retrenchments of local citizens, depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans and increased the cost of living.
Such a disastrous, ill-conceived and misguided policy to increase population by mass relocating and importing foreigners at the expense of the local citizens can no longer be tolerated by Singaporeans.
Mass immigration had also lead to the destruction of the social, cultural, linguistic, and ethnic coherence necessary for national unity and adversely affecting the quality of life of the existing Singapore population.
With lower wage growth, higher rents and housing costs, more urban congestion, more pollution, and more pressure on public services and infrastructure; the huge influx of foreigners also threatening to shred the fabric of our society and destroy the ties that hold our nation together.
The reason PAP is able to cling to power and still earns millions of dollars in salaries in spite of all the damages it has done is because it is the dominant party in our totalitarian state, when the rest of Singaporeens is suffering from the ruling party economic mismanagement of the city state.
Even a bird brain can predict that it is high time that we exercise our votes properly by voting out the Pro Alien Party and in tandem, vote for an alternative government to take care of our interests first and not the interest of the foreigners."



So what are the possible implications for Singaporeans at present? Job opportunities, university placements and housing. Young couples who wish to settle down are already (last I hrd from my friends) bidding for Build-T-Order
units which will be in the mkt in like 2-5 yrs time. 14 couples to one unit. Say, my bf proposes to me when im 25. We want to get married, we bid for one of these BTO flats. We compete with 13 other couples. We fail. When we finally get one, it's gonna be for another 5 yrs. That's when im 30!!!! My ovums are dying and shriveling and that's a fact. The optimum age for women to give birth is when they're 23-26.
Let's not forget the rocketing prices of flats and resale flats because there's such a high demand for it. If u study economics u would know. I've a cousin (non-Christian) who's 30 and registered for marriage already , she's still waiting for her flat which will be ready end of this year. So if they're thinking of making babies, it wont be anytime from now till the traditional ceremony. She'd been living with her husband at her in-laws. Sometimes, they'll stay over at my aunt's instead. The traditional ceremony will be held end of this year.
I've a friend who's 24 this year, her bf (31) proposed last year. The wedding (including ROM) is not announced yet till they get a flat which they're almost desperate for but still, they have to wait.
Another friend, 23 this year. Her bf (28) proposed to her last year. They just got a 3-room flat at an exorbitant price. Their traditional ceremony will be held end of this year.

"The prices of HDB flats have sky-rocketed in recent years fueled by mass immigration in the face of limited supply of new flats. PRs form some 20 percent of buyers in the resale market. The Straits Times reported last year of an Indonesian PR who forked out an astronomical $653,000 to buy a 4-room resale HDB flat in Queenstown though he could well affford a condominium. "

University placements. It is a fact that the govt gives scholarships to scholars from other countries (eg. Sean Lim), with monthly allowances provided. Will these scholars stay on as talents here? We don't know, But I already know that Sean has made plans elsewhere, he's already announced that he won't settle here. How many scholars out there are like him?
Canida applied for a scholarship programme. Failed miserably (her fault I guess).

I guess competition raises the par for productivity. So I won't talk about job opportunities for now.

All these will eventually fall back onto us as consumers. Cost of living is going up no matter what. What concerns me is the rate at which it is going. Govt helping much? There's something to think about. Oh or better not. We should spend more time upgrading ourselves, come what may, we have to feed ourselves and run the rat race, no time to think. Once upon a time, a person with n income of $2500 can feed the whole family. But now, to sustain the same lifestyle, they'll need a dual income. Employees salaries remain the same. Govt help much? I guess more problems instead of more help since we're capitalist with minimal social welfare.
LimSweesay said that raising employee wages doesn't help. I know why he said that, but I also know we have to somehow. But didn't the govt raise their salaries a couple of yrs ago? Hmm...
PM Lee said he'd rather fix the oppositions than think of right policies for Singaporeans. Blatantly claiming that his power in parliament is more impt than Singaporeans???
"Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in Parliament. Instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore, I'm going to spend all my time thinking what's the right way to fix them, to buy my supporters votes, how can I solve this week's problem and forget about next year's challenges?" Lee Hsien Loong, 03 May 2006.
How kind of him for such transparency on his agenda.

SM Goh's wife said that 600k is peanuts to a rich organisation (NKF Durai's case).
"For a person who runs a multi-million dollar charity organisation, $600,000 is peanuts as it has a few hundred millions in reserves"
For an elite, that's beyond tactless.


U see those aunties and uncles selling tissue papers at MRT stations and hawkers?
I know of this old uncle who's a cleaner at my estate. He can't even walk properly but he goes around cleaning up the area (a wonderful job at that).


U mentioned London?

" They resent the pressure on England's social services -- and fear losing jobs to foreigners. Many Londoners express deep concern about homegrown Islamic terrorism, which showed itself most violently in the 2005 Underground train bombings that killed hundreds of innocents. Despite increased security measures, British authorities estimate several thousand radicals in England remain ready to carry out terror attacks and that the threat of another major attack is rising. Others see London quickly losing whatever is left of its heritage to enforced political correctness and unchecked multiculturalism. They fear London is becoming "Londonistan" -- a shiny, Disneyesque collection of tourist attractions surrounded by separate, increasingly radicalized ethnic "no go" zones. REACHING THE CITY OF THE FUTURE The truth is more complicated and falls somewhere between the rosy and alarmist views. "This city has truth, but it has a lot of lies, too," observes Serena Bailey*, an IMB missionary on Sims' London mission team. "People are really, really confused. There's no unity."

Source: http://www.thefreepressonline.co.uk/news/3/1323.htm

That's just London. At least the English who resents living in a place where there's "overbearing" diverse culture can still find his heritage elsewhere in UK. What about Singaporeans?


"As we walked the streets of London, I bet I heard 65 languages," he recalls. "When I got back home, I was waking up at night hearing those voices and seeing those faces from all over the world. It was as if God said, 'You don't have to go to the world; the world has come to you. The world is in London and that is where I want you to be.'"

Oh, or maybe it can be a good thing?

Let's see... perhaps the govt might also allocate new spaces for new religious practices brought into Singapore??? We can't rule that possibility out. So as Christians, we should start striving to spread the word to these foreigners too! Actually, I'm quite happy to see PRC chinese, indians, etc who come to our church. It's a feeling i get, that even though we're all different, we're the same.



There are always long term and short term implications, advantages and disadvantages.
I'm seeing this More Foreigners in a more objective view now.
As a Singaporean, I worry for our heritage. Are we able to get these foreigners to assimilate into our society or do we have to change our culture instead? It's now 36% foreigners. in 10 years? 20 years? Some of them may be Singaporeans too. I'm not saying the Singaporean culture is all so great. LOL. It's not, but u get the picture. There might be some loss of identity. Foreigners who decide to be PRs here will eventually give birth to Singaporeans. What we don't know yet is how these new generation Singaporeans will turn out to be.


The crux of this matter, as I see it, is the conflicting interest of the preservation of the Singaporean heritage/culture and economic growth/ sustainable development. Like I said, I'd rather Singaporeans sacrifice a little for more welfare instead of being so economically driven. There's no perfect political system, but one with more heart would be nice.

I pray Lord that it will all pan out just fine. Meanwhile, I'm grateful I'm living in comfort and everything I have at present albeit disgruntled at the high cost of living etc.



Regards,
Kareen