Sg: Place or Nation?
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the govt's indifferent attitude towards Singaporeans is also one of the reasons why we don't feel we belong here.
Singapore
A little looser
Building national ties may now take a longer time, here's why.
By Seah Chiang Nee.
littlespeck.com Jun 18, 2006
IN an increasingly "borderless" world, Singapore is finding it harder to shake off the image that it is more "a hotel" than a nation.
The term was coined by its citizens who are increasingly working or migrating abroad, coming home only occasionally while top foreign talents being courted to settle here are doing so only to use it as transit to the West. In short, it is like a hotel.
Nation building is, of course, a long process even for larger countries, and smallish Singapore has only had 40 years of it, but its extraordinary speed of development had given hope that it could have a faster momentum than others.
This now seems unlikely. Two global trends coupled with its top-down policies are slowing its people-bonding evolution.
The first is a changed mindset of Singapore's new generation, which sees the world as one without frontiers to work in, which dilutes its sense of belonging.
For mature nations, the movement of people in and out causes few ripples, but for a small state with a migrant background, it is serious.
In January, Lee Kuan Yew voiced his concerns when he met Singaporeans working in Qatar.
"If more Singaporeans worked abroad and their children forgot their roots, there will be no Singapore node to send them out ... They dissolve and disappear and there is no Singapore," the minister mentor said.
"They become citizens of the world. What does that mean? Lost!"
Singapore-born Prof Shirley Lim Geok-lin, who taught English at University of California, said Lee's concern was over the loss of the fourth generation of young citizens.
This preoccupation, she added, had taken over from his perceived threats of regional military hostility or global isolation.
Lee was concerned that Singaporean parents, in becoming international workers, had "opened to them a different identity".
Official statistics are not updated, but the number of overseas Singaporeans is put at 150,000, most of them temporarily.
What he did not mention was the problem of growing emigration of Singaporeans who settle down elsewhere and do not come back.
Some foreign NGOs have placed Singapore as one of the world's highest "outflow" countries on a per capita basis.
Nevertheless, Singapore remains a healthy "surplus" country, meaning it gets more foreign migrants than it "loses" through emigration and it is allowing its population to rise strongly.
It is on a good wicket because of its developed economy. Hordes of educated professionals from poorer Asian nations flock here to seek better salaries or a higher education, so in terms of numbers future expansion seems assured.
But in terms of quality or committed long-term immigrants, it is doing less well.
Many of the specially sought talents, especially from China and India, being offered scholarships here take them up but only as a stepping stone to migrate to the West.
Singapore's Linda Lim, a professor of strategy at the University of Michigan who has taught in the US for 20 years, in a recent lecture to Singaporean students said that in the past decade, she had got to know many Chinese and Indian nationals here.
They had come to study in schools and universities, often with government scholarships and later worked for a few years before applying for an MBA programme in America.
"To my knowledge, none has ever returned to Singapore after graduating with MBAs, their goal all along having been to use the place as a stepping stone to the US job market," she said.
To them, Singapore was just a place to study and work - like Ann Arbor, Chicago, New York, San Francisco or London - whereas their nation remained China or India or, for some, eventually the US.
"This is only to be expected of a place which is not a nation, at least not for those passing through," said Dr Lim.
They had opted to come because it offered a good job, lifestyle or good education for the children, and were only interested in Singapore as a place, not as a permanent home.
This twin force of domestic outflow and its transient nature makes it difficult for the people here to deepen roots in Singapore and strengthen their national identity.
Some believe that the evolution may take another one or two generations.
In recognition of its transition character, the government is defining its population as "residential" - which includes citizens and permanent residents - and "foreign".
This "residential" population totals about 3.5 million while foreign workers (about 750,000) are grouped separately.
Its workforce is similarly classified, so when the government talks about jobs for Singaporeans, it actually means citizens and permanent residents, which are, of course, technically different.
Permanent residents (PR) do not vote or do compulsory national service - although their children need to do both - but they enjoy cheaper public housing.
Previously, they had separate listings for Singaporean citizens and permanent residents. Lumping them together recognises the growing importance of PRs in Singapore's future role.
The birth rate here has fallen below what is needed to replace the population, and its ageing process is one of the region's fastest. Both put the republic's future at risk without the foreign influx.
Yet it is precisely this "foreign talent" policy that has upset Singaporeans, who see it as a threat to their livelihood.
Another obstacle towards deepening roots is the government's control of society and the public's resentment of it.
"People just feel they've lost ownership of their country and want it back," said a critic.
Dr Linda Lim agreed. "What is the way forward? Promote active civic and political participation and inculcate the 'sense of ownership'," she suggested. -
hi fellow peseants.
in case you dont understand.
The king and nobles dont gives a fark what u think and how you feel
they care for their coffers only. period waht are you to them u farking peseant? yo just another resource wating to be milked and sucked dry.......and you farking peaseants better keep to your place and continue to contribute to da king's coffer.
do u wat i mean? peseant scum
NOW FARKING GET BACK TO WORK!!! WORK UNTIL YOU DIE!!!! -
a farm.
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We r united nations
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I did a whole semester's work on place, memory and identity. Not going to write another long essay again..
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Singapore to me has never really been a country to begin with. I'm fond of it for a few reasons (like the food for example, plus some of my favourite haunts) but really consider it as more of a small city. And given the fast turnover of the population and ever shrinking birth rate, a national identity and cohesion is to me a lost cause. LKY worries about Singaporeans going overseas to work and not coming back. Well, if they can find better jobs overseas why should they come back, especially given the state of the job market? Sometimes I really don't understand our ruling party. Shrinking birth rates are directly related to the people's loss of confidence in being able to raise children, given rising costs, falling wages, poor outlook in general for Singapore. As well as the thought that their children will have to compete in a non-level playing field, thanks to the scholarships offered to foreigners and places reserved in our institutions of higher learning for this select group. A friend was telling me the school her kid is in(one of the top ranked schools), half the top class is reserved for the foreigners! And because of all these issues, parents and their children are now wondering about the value of serving national service. Singapore is a clean efficient and sucessful city/corporation. But it is not a country. And to a significant portion of the people living here, it is not home either.
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i'm sure if the lee family shared their spoils with the people, they wouldnt leave.
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Singapore can be a nation but it lacks the glue that binds people together.
(1) We are seperated by less than a meter thick concret to our neighbours and it might as well be the berlin wall. Yet, we are closer to people online.
(2) I guess we don't have that big a Singapore spirit. Ask yourself this, if Singapore is to be invaded, will you stay and fight or cut your losses and go to johor.
(3) I would like to bet that we got more foreigners than locals here. -
Why dun you put it up in the net and give us a link to it. Maybe someone wants to view it... juz my viewOriginally posted by LazerLordz:I did a whole semester's work on place, memory and identity. Not going to write another long essay again.. -
(1) point agreed.Originally posted by MohamedF:Singapore can be a nation but it lacks the glue that binds people together.
(1) We are seperated by less than a meter thick concret to our neighbours and it might as well be the berlin wall. Yet, we are closer to people online.
(2) I guess we don't have that big a Singapore spirit. Ask yourself this, if Singapore is to be invaded, will you stay and fight or cut your losses and go to johor.
(3) I would like to bet that we got more foreigners than locals here.
(2) national defence is a unique policy, only those who voted pap should fight.
(3) not yet, but close. -
wrong, right now foreigners only form a quarter of the population. But by year 2030 it would be roughly 1 local to 2 or 3 foreigners.Originally posted by MohamedF:(3) I would like to bet that we got more foreigners than locals here. -
The rules are so simple...
You start the game you play; you end it...
If we think something's wrong but we do nothing / can't do anything about it, we suffer the consequences... -
Where is the value of NS? i cant c wat is national identity anymore
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Mine's more on the aspects of heritage. And I won't publish it, lest others use it as their own. Plagiarism is rampant these days..Originally posted by diggo:Why dun you put it up in the net and give us a link to it. Maybe someone wants to view it... juz my view -
so the lee family can have a cheap supply of human bullet shields to protect their interests?Originally posted by Wind6:Where is the value of NS? -
"People just feel they've lost ownership of their country and want it back," said a critic
this is very true for me -
Not only that, let Tamasek, GIC share all their earnings with the people, and they will not leave, but when the money is used up?? then what? money faceOriginally posted by vito_corleone:i'm sure if the lee family shared their spoils with the people, they wouldnt leave. 
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Contrary to popular belief, 40 years is not a short time in nation building.
At no point in time have we had a more concentrated period of time with a stable government that was consistent in nation building. Look at the history of many other nations.
The author identified many factors for Singaproeans to feel that their own country had perhaps made many policies that rendered them less valued in their own country ... that is why many are wondering what is the cost of selfless service to nation when the spiritual and tangible rewards are few.
We espoused ideals but we put so many roadblocks to them.
We say liberty and democracy but many do not get a chance to vote or speak freely - however wrong their thoughts are.
We say prosperity but in many instances due to land and geographical constraints, governmental policies caused Singaporeans to lose ownership of land, and allocation of land resources for things that matter most to them - parks, forests, sea access, river access, more land for roads and cars, larger homes, permanent freehold housing etc.
We say Singaporean participation, but when your child dreams to become president, you have to tell him he cannot because he was not CEO of some whatever million dollar company, some top exec in some GLC etc. So you cannot dream - your dreams get stifled even before it can even start. Look to the US even Arnold Schwarzzie, an Austrian immigrant (land of Germans and Nazis) defeated in WW II, can immigrate, become a top movie star, and now is Governor of California (most populous State in USA), and some now even say he may try for the US presidency some day. That may be debatable since the Constitution says only natural born Americans can be President.
Singaporeans who were born in and around self rule and full independence know who they are and what they are but can't help but feel cheated that their parents and grandparents' sacrifices are not benefiting their descendents. Singaporeans are descendents of immigrants but bloody hell, we were here first!!
Give us back our land, give us back our country. -
Originally posted by MohamedF:
If invaded - that already is too late.
Singapore can be a nation but it lacks the glue that binds people together.
(1) We are seperated by less than a meter thick concret to our neighbours and it might as well be the berlin wall. Yet, we are closer to people online.
(2) I guess we don't have that big a Singapore spirit. Ask yourself this, if Singapore is to be invaded, will you stay and fight or cut your losses and go to johor.
(3) I would like to bet that we got more foreigners than locals here.
Hypothetically speaking, a more aggressive foreign policy is more helpful in Singapore's (actually Singaporeans') context.
If southern neighbour is having internal problems, ie, weak, and northern neighbour threatens water cut - immediate mobilization, Singapore expeditionary force --- hard, fast, no stone unturn, no building standing, no grass unburnt, they never existed.
Change National doctrine to manifest destiny ie, Singapore's destiny is to unify and rule the region.
Change constitution allowing citizens right to bear arms.
Allow private Singaporean companies with large vested commercial interests to employ and deploy armed Singaporeans quickly to maintain their commercial interests in neighouring regions.(think American occupation, intervention and dispositon of Hawaiian monarchy, British East India Company policies etc.)
Form reservations for aborigines. Assimilate or perish in abject poverty.
But Singaporeans are probably too nice, too soft, not hungry enough, listen to government too much to be able to pull this off.
SO join other countries where all this has all been done - Australia, Canada, America, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, etc. EMIGRATE
That's why Singaporeans lose out - they suffer in silence and don't fight for themselves, not a bad life, but not the greatest either.
High standard of living but poor quality of life. -
The largest roadblock to Singapore as a Nation, and not just a Place, is the presence of a climate that prevents self-actualisation of her people.
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if money use up so fast they wont be called the Pay and Pay already..sure got ways to pilfer wealth oneOriginally posted by sgdiehard:Not only that, let Tamasek, GIC share all their earnings with the people, and they will not leave, but when the money is used up?? then what? money face