Originally posted by ProudSGChinese:
After reading these few posts, i found out that there are many "traitor" chinese as there are Singaporean Chinese. But after looking at posts by AzRaeL and CX, i can't help but notice why Chinese are always dragged to the topic on how China Chinese behaves and that their attitude erks Singaporean Chinese.
now, i DID say that not all are like that... and its not a distinctly chinese problem as well... try asking a local indian what they think of the foreign workers...
and its not so much a matter of issue of dragging this issue into the discussion unecessarily... it was to illustrate another point: Sg chinese are confident enough of their identity to assert it and identify AGAINST what they see as uncivilised behavior.
china was civilised and prospering when europe was still crawling out of the middle ages. this shows that civilisation is NOT a western monopoly. so WHY do people persist in disregarding their heritage of civilisation and adopt barbarism instead? of course we abhore them! not because they're mainlanders, but because they're not behaving according to our standards of civility.
I feel that Singaporean Chinese are definately different from China Chinese. Hence the way they behaves should'nt have a negative impact on us.
if we're different from them, then wats your complaint? of course we don't speak, think and act like them and of course we won't mindlessly support china in a war and of course we won't like them if we find their behavior offensive.
strictly speaking, we're not
really chinese chinese... we're descendents of
overseas chinese. that makes a world of a difference.
stop thinking of chinese as a monolithic culture...
.....But in Singapore, there is no form of a national language, hence the language we take is our Race's Language, which is Chinese. Hence our case is much different from them.
who say? the language of administration is ENGLISH while the national language is MALAY. mother tongue is taught as a 2nd language. so whats the first language taught in school??? so whats the difference? u're not banned from learning the language, but u can't exactly embrace it to the same fervert extent. think: nantah... chinese educated unemployed graduates... so would u ask your kid to be mono-lingual in mandarin?
What i do like to know is the public stand on the PAP's approach to the Chinese race. Most of the cabinet are Chinese, but many of them can't even speak Chinese as fluently as a Sec4 O Level student. They do not agree with Chinese in Singapore being too closely related to China in the past, as they were scared we would be "brain-washed" into a communist puppet. Now, even with the Chinese-Dragon rising, Singapore's Government ain't really taking the chance to revive the "Speak Mandarin" campaign for us chinese, and instead embark on an idiotic speak PROPER english campaign.
u make your stand too public, u get race riots all over again... 'nuff said. concern over political subvertion sponsored by communist china in the 60s was an extremely valid fear. the cultural revolution was in full swing, the moderates were being persecuted and the Red Guards would've loved to inflame revolutionary fervour in overseas chinese communities.
and why should we be so reactionary and suddenly switch to mandarin just to do business in china? bear in mind that the main economic engines in the world is not china... china is at least 50 years away from getting there. there are opportunities abound there... but it takes a really blind person to believe that investments there guarantees profits just cos of the hype... u think the PAP dunno this meh?
I'm not against the use of Singlish. In fact i'm from it. The fact that the PAP is trying so hard to stamp out Singlish is just the way they want to make Singaporean's culture zero.
singlish is not culture... its just bad english.
Singlish has been a part of our language since the many races mingled together. But have since been put down by the PAP government. This method of stamping our culture out is based on insecurity of our PAP government. New blood should go in i feel, the old guards are losing their touch, so afraid of losing the majority of votes they have managed to win since 1965.
and they did not "stamp" it out... they merely brought awareness to the issues raised and some of them ARE really real issues. we had a discussion on this topic last month i think... go find the thread.
Japanese: This is really ashamed. What is so good about the Japanese i ask? Talking bout Economics, they are being overthrown by the Chinese. Talking bout Polictics, they are in a mess as in a spagetthi. They have nothing worth for us to look up to.
thats just cultural chauvinism talking... every culture has something to teach. we shouldn't be shallo and dismiss them outright based on superficial factors.
why wanna be jap? the answer is
soft power. jap technology, jap products, jap films, jap music, jap pop personalities have succeeded in gaining mainstream appeal.
there must be something they're doing right in order to achieve this. so how come china didn't spawn sony? and why is creative tech born here, of an overseas chinese instead of in china?
But why are we Chinese so ashamed of our race but adore the Jap. They had invaded China and killed many. It was our ancestor's homeland for goodness sake. yet many Chinese nowadays no longer remember that fact.
nobody forgets nanking... i don't. but what were the circumstances surrounding japan when they went to war in 1937? the situation is very different today. its nuts to see them in the same way.
I am very much disappointed with the current government and the view on the Japanese issue. I really hope one day, SIngaporean Chinese will be come a race which is proud of their Country and their Race.
hey... look around u... this is a rabid, pro-sg forum! (but if its china u meant with regards to "country" then u're obviously in the wrong place.)
as for their ethnicity, u're just looking at the worst examples. my point remains. u do not stop belonging or not deserve to belong to an ethnicity just because u do not speak the language well or disagree with commonly held values.
ways change.