What happened in 1819 were
definitely different from the present day. In the past, migrants
and their descendent in Singapore "were forced to choose between
one of two education options." They experienced how the
british sanctioned their “exploration of their plural
identities and their interest in opening china commercially”, but
“the china orientation of the straits Chinese was being used to bar
them from political representation in the administration”. I can
imagine how the Chinese in Singaporean then must have felt when in
1930 Britian and China agreed that Chinese British subjects could
no longer claim British national status whilst visiting China, and
at the same time they are "being withheld from appointment to
higher positions in the colonial government." The Chinese
then were made to choose between a colonial master and their
motherland, they were
Today, we choose what kind of
Singaporean we want to be.
There is no dual nationality for
Singaporean, and we are protected by the constitution of Singapore,
not the queen in Buckingham palace or the emperor in the Forbidden
City.
Today, immigrants decide where they
want to go, in the past, their destination was decided by the
wind.
The predominantly English speaking
Straits Chinese represents a small part of the modern cosmopolitan
Singapore. Even among the Chinese Singaporean, there is still a
large portion who came to Singapore after 1949, from china (before
China became PRC), Malaysia, HK, Taiwan, Indonesia…and these are
authentic Singaporean.
What remains unchanged is that
Singaporean will have to continue to interact with new wave of
immigrants, and respond to new cultural and political ideas, from
PRC, India, the region, and even US, UK, and australia via the net.
Besides trading, there are plenty of joba for the economy to
expand. Of course, last time, the fruits of economy expansion went
to Buckingham palace, now it goes to Istana or MAS at Shenton
Way.
From 1918 to 1819...wha lau, Uncles..are u guys ok or not...you
want me to tell you what happen in 1719 or not...seibei cham one
leh.
Every layman on the street also know that in 1918, the
immigrants came here to suffer as coolies and slaves. Today,
immigrant come here with a silver plate infront of them...THAT IS
THE MAIN DIFFERENT YA!!!. Why are immigrants coming here today
enjoy the fruits of our forefathers and mothers hard, sweat and
blood works???? What right do they have??? That is what i want to
hear from you all, not about some foreign mama telling us what to
do while sitting in his posh NTU office waiting for the shit to
come out.
UNDERSTAND!!!