Open letter to Prime Minister Lee expressing unhappiness at

Berries tan SG

Open letter to Prime Minister Lee expressing unhappiness at his pro-foreigner policy

Originally Posted by TEMASEK REVIEW

http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/11...eading-part-1/

By Tan Keng Leng, Guest Columnist

Mr. Prime Minister,

We are a group of concerned Singaporean netizens, and we are writing in to you to express our unhappiness at the direction the country has been heading towards since the last General Election.

As citizens, it is our birthright to decide the direction we want the country to take, to elect the national leaders who would lead the country in the direction we want, and to voice out our reservations if we are unhappy with the direction the country is headed. And now we strongly believe that the time has come for us to express our unhappiness to the government.

First and foremost, there should be an immediate freeze on the number of foreigners allowed into the country.

The country now has 5,000,000 residents give or take a few thousand, and the social infrastructure is now bursting at the seams.

Before taking in anymore foreigners, the country’s infrastructure such as public transportation should be upgraded at these new arrivals’ cost, not at locals’ expenses; if they want to come here to earn a living, then they should contribute something to improving the country instead of simply taking from it.

We are often told that foreigners are a buffer who will be the first to be retrenched in a recession. How true is that really? If anything, the reverse is true; tens of thousands of locals have lost their jobs, replaced by foreigners.

After all, in a recession, who would the employer retrench, the foreign scholar whose education he paid for, or the local who paid for his own education?

We are also told that it is in the country’s strategic interests that locals should work in such fields such as construction and shipbuilding instead of depending upon foreigners. Why is this so? Aren’t we always being told that foreigners do such jobs locals shun? And there’s a very good reason why locals shun such jobs too: they’re very dangerous, with high industrial accident rates.

Furthermore, why are foreigners employed in such a strategically vital field such as the utilities industry? Can anyone imagine what would happen to the country should disgruntled foreigners decide to shut the country’s waterworks down because Singapore got into a major diplomatic spat with their homeland? The entire country will grind to a halt from lack of freshwater if that should ever happen.

Next, the authorities should take a good hard look at the quality of the so-called foreign “talent” entering the country.

Nobody in his right mind would object to someone of the caliber of Professor Stephen Hawking being given a job as an NUS lecturer. However, it’s entirely another matter altogether when the country takes in foreigners to fill up posts that can easily be done by locals.

Why on Earth should the country take in HR managers from China, Malaysia or India when this is a post that any suitably qualified local can perform

Moreover, there have been many complaints from locals that these foreign managers discriminate against them at work; what guarantees do we have that they don’t discriminate against locals in favor of their own kind?

We are constantly being told that the country’s only resources are its people, so we should all continuously go for upgrading classes, almost always at our own expense.

Even retrenched people for whom cash flow is a major concern are told to upgrade their skills at their own cost to improve their marketability, but what is the use of skills upgrading when all the good jobs are going to foreigners?

Some of our national leaders have said that local professionals should seek their fortunes overseas as there are plenty of vacancies for them overseas, but good jobs available locally should be reserved for the foreigners as otherwise they would not want to come.

In the first place, doesn’t the government always claim that Singapore is a meritocracy? If it truly is one, then why should good jobs be reserved for foreigners, or even elite scholars for that matter?

Shouldn’t everyone compete for jobs on an equal footing instead? And for that matter, why should local professionals look for good jobs overseas so that foreigners can be enticed by good jobs that are reserved for them here?

Why can’t the foreigners seek their good job opportunities elsewhere instead of here? We are often told that we should allow our parents to move in with us to keep the family unit intact; doesn’t forcing us to seek better prospects overseas run contrary to this? Or are we supposed to uproot our parents from their friends and the land they call home to settle someplace they are unfamiliar with?

In the past, the government has often denounced locals who migrate in search of a better life elsewhere as quitters; that being the case aren’t the so-called foreign “talents” that the country is taking in also quitters? And why are our own people who seek greener pastures elsewhere being condemned as quitters when foreign quitters are welcomed with open arms, especially since it is government policies that are driving the locals out of the country?

Berries tan SG

November 13, 2009 by admin01

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By Tan Keng Leng, Guest Columnist

We are often told that the secret to the US’ success is its ability to attract the best talents from around the world, but even so, companies there that wish to employ foreigners are first required to prove that no American national is able to perform the job the foreigner is being recruited for.

Another frequent argument given is that foreigners bring in valuable experiences that locals lack. That is true only up to a certain point; a middle-aged foreign professional who has worked in a dozen or more countries certainly would fit this description.

However, a 20-something year old China national who has studied here at taxpayers’ expense since kindergarten up to PhD level definitely does not. Whatever knowledge he/she possesses, he/she studied it here, and whatever experience he/she possesses, he/she gained it here.

So what valuable experience does he/she have to contribute to the betterment of the country? And for that matter, is the country even attracting truly talented foreigners at all? We would like to draw your attention to the following GeBiz tenders below:

moetender01

moetender02

Proposal for 2009 EL Bridging Course (Tanjong Katong Girls’ School)

Objectives:

To help the foreign scholars develop proficiency and confidence in EL so as to be able to adapt to Secondary 3 lessons in English in the lead up to the ‘O’ Levels.

Desired Outcomes/Deliverables

Course Outline

Commencement date of course

Mid November 2009 – End December 2009

Resources

Details of quote to include:

Cost per scholar per hour: $6.00 per hour

Number of hours per course: 250hrs

Number of scholars: 28 – 34

Number of students per class: 14-17

Curriculum Vitae of the Course Trainers (please attach)

moetender03

ENGLISH LANGUAGE BRIDGING PROGRAM FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS

ENTERING SEC 3 IN 2010

SPECIFICATION OF DETAILS OF PROGRAM

Are we the only ones, or have others noticed the contradiction in the tenders as well? We are always being told that Singapore is a meritocracy, and that scholarships are handed out only to the best students. Is this really the case here?

After all, if the PRC students benefiting from these programs are truly of scholarly caliber, then shouldn’t they already be sufficiently proficient in English so as not to require these additional lessons?

Conversely, if they require such extensive English lessons just to keep up with locals as implied by the term “bridging program”, then doesn’t it prove that they are unworthy of their scholarships?

Moreover, local students who are good in all subjects except for one or two have to undergo additional tuition lessons paid for by their own parents; why then shouldn’t these PRC students have to pay for their own English tuition lessons as well?

Why should we taxpayers have to foot the bill for them, when we would much rather have the money put to much better use by nurturing talented local students to their fullest potential instead?

Instead of paying for additional English lessons for these PRC nationals, shouldn’t the government provide more bursaries for needy local children?

Berries tan SG

longjiangpass SG

Ya, you see how proud these Filipinos are now? See what they say in their forum here. Why should our Singapore government be so nice to them when they are going to bite back in the end?

4sg SG

Sorry Sinkies or Sillyporeans, the only way the pinky prince will listen is through the ballot box.

But given the state of affair as it is now, p p has handed enought citizenships to the FT to vote him and his gang into Office for another term.

And if this is not enough, he will grease your hands during the coming election so that some blur cocks will continue to vote p p and his gang.

Medicated Oil SG

The hard core supporters have already suffered enough through the years under the dragon prince.

As for the foreigners, they are here to make use of the loopholes of the system so that they can move on to the country of the bald eagle.

It is the simple minded and short sightedness of the cronies that the dragon prince have employed that have created such disadvantages to the local.

The cronies are the same gene as the recent glass-root leaders who are all self-serving and self-interest.

With the candy, the cronies would have left long time ago.

Every one tried to milk the system dry during their term of service.

So, you will get more rats and more crimes in the near future.

There are still some naive forumers who keep hoping that some dark knight will come forward to save them through the election.

This will never happened and that is why the cronies are so confident.

Just look at the Japanese occupation for reference.

charlize SG

These letters were really sent?

Or just hypothetically "sent" via venting in the forums?

Anyway, I think not much difference even if the top officials do read it.

Probably deleted from their emails the next minute.

ztreyier SG

As long as PAP doesn't suffer a defeat in elections, they will never care about public opinion.

Fugazzi SG

Yes, Singaporeans have been for much too long deluding themselves they have a responsible, accountable and transparent govt. It is a myth - the reality is that it stinks from all quarters! If they really listened and not hear they would have made a big difference to many lives and Singaporeans would be proud of them as a government or what-have-u.

The undoing of Singaporeans is the fact that we are mired with a leadership that purports to be a democracy but in reality it is far from it. It is a pseudo-democracy and it is in actuality a dictatorship.
Also, the incumbent ruling party keep harping on this: that other models or so-called political models is unsuited for Singapore and it must be discouraged at any cost – is utter rubbish and crap! Beware, it is a ploy to stay in power and the rationalize and argument put forth is at best hollow and dubious. Citizens ought to be able to decide and it is thro wise voting. To be dictated to as to what is 'good' for the citizens is not being democratic but telling people that u are not wise, u are immature - 'let me decide'. They have decided enough and ENOUGH IS ENOUGH lar.

Is not this being enslaved to a system (one-party state) that is choking us in many ways.

This bullshit about 'Swiss standards' or 'good' years - aiyoh, what an insult! Why is there no longer this mention of attaining Swiss standards. 'It was talking cock' during elections.

Frankly, today Singaporeans are in a relatively unfavorable state in many ways – eg, high cost of living has been oversold as high standard of livng, subsidized HDB flats though claimed to be offered at reasonable prices is in fact most likely untrue and no independent source(s) have yet verified or HDB has never till today released the actual costing or how they came about with this pricing.
One can add on – medical, transport – all one way traffice. Who are these people who sit in committees or bodies that make recommendations or … people who are yes-man/woman.
Why? Simply, one-party system is in the favour of the ruling party or govt. It is NEVER AND WILL NEVER be transparent or accoutable to the people(citizens).
Does Singapore ministries or govt depts have an OMBUDSMEN? Do we have checks n balances? Who is checking whom? Imagine an independent organisation or an oppostion party - it would make a BIG difference.
These are questions that Singaporeans need to seriously consdier when they vote and not be simply be swayed by short-term money handouts or rebates. All of us know , ti will eventaully be included (hidden) though in price escalation/increases in medical,tranport, …. add on
Also, the FT (foreign 'talent' in quotes cos they defined and decided which seems so shallow) policy is not in the favour of SIngaporeans but to the advantage of the govt. Do other countries allow foreigners to take up PR/citizenship so VERY easily and facilitate them and what is worse is that Singaporeans who were born here and in some ways directy/indirectly conytributed to the country have to COMPETE for jobs, schools and who knows what else is to come. Utter shame that it has come to this.
The benefit to the citizens is a mere trickle effect. It is more of a political tool to leverage (and benefit) during elections. Singaporeans have been sacrificed and are being used as pawns for political expediency.
By ignoring the realities we are unwittingly perpetuating' tyranny'. The crime of 'tyranny' would persist as long as we are complicit and stay non-chalant to this charade.

Singaporeans, need to wake up and disallow these state of affairs to persist and seriously consider a two-party system or multi-party system.

Vote and vote for a CHANGE, BIG changes.

Fantagf SG

Dear pm lhl

Please do us all a favour, please step down asap. REason: ever since you become pm, life has been tough and it is not getting better, it has gotten from worse to worst.

Please be kind to us, please step down to allow us happiness.

zenden9 SG

Next year is 2011... One more year to go.

I hope more contender can really form up and challenge all GRC area. I sure all local citizen will give their best choice of candidate.

ztreyier SG

Is not this being enslaved to a system (one-party state) that is choking us in many ways.

This bullshit about 'Swiss standards' or 'good' years - aiyoh, what an insult! Why is there no longer this mention of attaining Swiss standards. 'It was talking cock' during elections.

Singaporeans, need to wake up and disallow these state of affairs to persist and seriously consider a two-party system or multi-party system.

Vote and vote for a CHANGE, BIG changes.

You have a clear mind about PAP. You don't have any sort of illusions about PAP.

That is good. What influenced you to have such level of clarity about PAP Fugazzi? Some people who dislike PAP still have illusions. They think that if we vote in some opposition, that will be okay or PAP voter percentage should drop.

That is naive.

That is like saying give a verbal warning to a spammer on sgforums and the spammer will stop spamming.

The only way is to destroy the spammer.

4sg SG

Is not this being enslaved to a system (one-party state) that is choking us in many ways.

This bullshit about 'Swiss standards' or 'good' years - aiyoh, what an insult! Why is there no longer this mention of attaining Swiss standards. 'It was talking cock' during elections.

Singaporeans, need to wake up and disallow these state of affairs to persist and seriously consider a two-party system or multi-party system.

Vote and vote for a CHANGE, BIG changes.

We started with a social contract with PAP. We scratched PAP's back and PAP scratched our backs.

Along the way, PAP realized that the scratching need not go both ways, PAP only need to ensure we continue to scratch its back - enough.

Just see how Lim Sway Sway talked in Insead can make one's blood boil - businessmen first, 20% foreigners as union members, no to retrenchment of foreigners as a first resort and blah blah.

Fugazzi SG

ztreyier

cos they are no longer leaders but pretending to be one now. honestly - 10 or 15 years ago PAP was a party that was trustworthy and sincere. They were not perfect but they were listening and were willing to talk to citizens of all levels. Now they talk down, dictate and arrogate ability and moreover assume that only they are clever. Well, cleverness is not intelligence lar. It is their elitism - their nemesis

Today, sadly it is simply a 'wayang party' (i borrowed this) - which i interpret as no longer trustworthy, reliable and simply out of touch with the common man. When one alienates the masses and try to hoodwink by short-sighted policies/legislation or .... n suppress the lies by controlled propaganda,the truth of ... will sooner or later surface.

What goes up must come down.

The inexorable slide is happening on the slippery side of truth!

PS: one need not rely or trust the mainstream media - in many ways one can be the media

charlize SG

These days, the government will say they favour citizens 1 year before elections.

And after the elections, go back to favouring foreigners until the next election.

It's a cycle.