Temasek review
Canadian permanent resident Eric Brooks which sparked a massive
outcry last year with his letter calling on Singaporeans to be
“grateful” to the PAP has stirred controversy again with his latest
letter to the Straits Times forum titled “Foreigners are not why we
don’t do well.”
In his letter, he chided Singaporeans’ frail sense of national
identity as the chief culprit behind their anxieties about the
presence of foreigners in Singapore.
“….many young Singaporeans think of themselves as Chinese,
Indian or Malay first, Singaporean second. Many Singaporeans feel
more comfortable speaking to someone of the same race from China or
India than a Singaporean of a different race. If anything, anxiety
about foreigners may come from the Singaporean’s frail sense of
national identity,” he wrote as if he knows a lot about
Singapore.
He next boasted about the “advantages” of being a foreigner from
his own personal experience:
“Foreigners have two important advantages. First, at age 13,
my first job was picking up rubbish at a carpark. This was followed
by cleaning toilets, stocking vegetables at supermarkets and
cooking smelly fish, among others. From my teenage years to
university graduation, everyone I knew did humble jobs during
school holidays and sometimes while studying too. By comparison, I
have met many young Singaporeans who are embarrassed to be seen
doing this type of work. Many parents say the same thing for their
children.”
Due to the PAP’s pro-foreigner and immigration policies,
foreigners now make up 36 percent of Singapore’s population, up
from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 percent who are
citizens, an increasing number are born overseas.
The PAP has been actively courting the newcomers by roping them
into the YPAP and grassroots organizations to boost its flagging
support base among native Singaporeans, many of whom are getting
sick and tired of its repressive one-party rule.
Being offered a chance to succeed in Singapore, these immigrants
are naturally hardcore supporters of the PAP. One of them, YPAP
leader and new citizen from India Mr Sinha Shekhar even insulted
Singaporeans publicly on the REACH Facebook by labeling PAP critics
as “DOGS”.
It is therefore hardly a surprise that Mr Eric Brooks has
stepped forth again to protect his own kind. In reality, he knows
nothing about Singapore’s “national identity.”
A Singapore Chinese has more in common with a Singapore Malay or
Indian than with a mainland Chinese. He/she is likely to eat Mee
Rebus or Roti Prata for breakfast than dumplings. The males also go
through the common experience of National Service which is alien to
outsiders like Mr Brooks.
Perhaps Mr Brooks may consider taking up Singapore citizenship
before opening his mouth again to “interfere” in domestic
politics.
