The article, obtained from the New Paper Website
China students lash out S'pore's been good to you
By Dawn Chia
THIS China student wants to tell Singapore's youth to wake up, stop
being so proud and stop feeding on pigswill.
And other China students studying in Singapore are apparently
nodding in agreement, at least on a website forum.
'Singaporeans' brains are fed with pigswill, fat, have no
intelligence, feel complacent even though they've only accomplished
something small,' wrote this China student. Calling one of his
Singaporean project mates 'stupid', he claimed that he could finish
in a day what took that student four weeks to complete.
Is this merely teenage ranting?
Not really. The comment comes from an 18-year-old from China
studying at a local polytechnic on a tuition fee grant for foreign
students. He left these scathing remarks on a public forum on the
sgchinese.com website.
He was one of 13 forum members who chided Singaporeans for
forgetting their roots.
Others were less polite.
SLAMMING
SINGAPORE One said: '...The money for my school fees is given by
their Government, and I'll be gone after I complete my
studies.'
Another wrote: 'I really don't like Singapore and I really don't
want to stay. No-one asked the Singapore Government to be so cheap,
to pay our school fees for us to stay.
'...Rest assured that we will not stay after we complete our
studies. I will not return to Singapore even if you ask me
to.'
The New Paper on Sunday got in touch with the writer of the
'pigswill' posting and found him quick to stand by his views.
And he did not hesitate to lay out his demands.
No names, no pictures, and no face-to-face interviews, he
specified.
He preferred to hide behind his user name on the forum - diablo3434
- and only consented to speak to us over the phone.
diablo3434 is a nickname he picked out of his love for the computer
game, Diablo.
The second-year electronics student said that at first he did not
have a bad impression of Singaporeans.
He has been in Singapore for two years, and recalled the first few
months of his life as filled with many happy memories.
He said in Mandarin: 'When I had problems, Singaporeans were very
helpful, and I liked them.
'But as I got to know them, I discovered a side of them that I
didn't like.
'They look down on China and its people for no reason and I think
that makes them very narrow-minded and misinformed.'
The outspoken teenager has no regrets at lashing out at his
project-mate and Singaporeans on the Mar 7 Internet posting.
He said, with a hint of arrogance in his tone: 'I was frustrated
when I wrote it - my project mate wasn't contributing, and was
causing a delay in our group's progress.
'He was lazy and spent his time playing computer games.
'Sometimes I get angry and will say nasty things on the spur of the
moment. I'm only human, like everyone else.'
He visits this particular website daily, or once a week, depending
on his workload.
He doesn't think that it was wrong of him to have expressed his
views - negative and blistering as they were.
The only son of two teachers, his monthly expenses are about $600 -
$300 for his own expenditure and another $300 for rent.
He gets his pocket money from his parents, he said.
He lives in the East.
His criticism of Singapore and its youth have angered some
Singaporean students and his classmates.
But the China student retorted: 'It's on the Internet, and people
say all sorts of things on the Net.
'Even though I'm on a Singapore Government scholarship, I'm
entitled to an opinion of my own.
'This is not defamatory.
'Moreover, Singaporeans hardly go to that website. It's mostly
China students, and we share our views there.'
He claimed that it was the first time he had criticised
Singaporeans so strongly.
The teenager, who is from the north-east region of China, heard
about this forum from some friends in February.
The date accompanying this particular posting showed that he had
registered his membership on Feb 20.
He was looking for a second-hand piano and went to the website to
see if there was one for sale.
He found more than what he was looking for.
Besides being connected to some 40,000 members - mostly China
students in Singapore - he could freely air his views on topics he
is passionate about.
HELPING CHINA STUDENTS
He said he liked helping fellow China students who, like him, had
faced problems such as finding their way around, or what to do if
they lose their student pass.
IT programmer Patrick Li, a China national, set up the website in
June 2001 to help China students cope with problems.
A few friends are helping him manage the website.
Mr Li, 26, estimates that at least 60 per cent of the 40,000
members are students from China studying in Singapore.
The rest are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada and even the
US.
As much as the site allows members to voice their opinions freely,
the webmaster stresses that strict rules apply.
He explained: 'We're very strict about monitoring content. There
are about 80 moderators, including myself, who help monitor the
forums. Messages which indulge in personal attacks, criticisms of
any Government, or selling illegal stuff, will be taken down
immediately.'
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Don't forget your roots
THE China teenager isn't the only one with strong views on
Singaporeans.
His was the fifth response to a posting started by a forum member
called Volts.
At least 95 responses were posted under the topic of
Singaporeans.
Volts, who has been in Singapore for five years, criticised
Singaporeans for thinking the world of themselves. He also wrote
about what he felt as a scholarship student.
'When the teachers see me, they look as if I owe them something,
like they are our providers and we should be grateful and slog for
them willingly.'
Sean21 chided Singaporeans for forgetting that their ancestors came
from the Fujian and Guangdong provinces, and also for being
culturally barren.
'The TV programmes are boring and there are errors in the
newspapers and magazines! Apart from 'good food', it's 'keeping a
mistress', even a tree being struck by lightning can make the
headlines in a newspaper...!'
The 35th posting said curtly: 'It doesn't matter to me. After all,
the money for my school fees is given by their Government, and I'll
be gone after I complete my studies.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are in my country, respect it please
UNGRATEFUL. Out of line. Uncalled for.
These are some of the responses to the China teenager's words from
his Singaporean classmates.
The question they raised: Shouldn't he be more respectful of
Singaporeans since he's on a tuition grant sponsored by the
Singapore Government?
They spoke on the condition of anonymity as they did not want to
strain their relationship with China students.
Ben, for instance, claims he couldn't sleep after he heard about
the scathing Internet posting from his girlfriend on Apr 4.
He said: 'I don't really like the fast pace in Singapore but I'm
still a Singaporean, and deep down, I love my country. It really
bothered me and I decided to have a good talk with him about
it.'
But it was in vain.
He recalled that even though the teenager agreed that he did not
hate all Singaporeans, he stood by his opinion.
Ben said: 'He said it was only natural for him to have his own
opinion, which I agree. But I told him he should think more before
putting it into words as they could have serious
repercussions.'
For Ben, the repercussions are already apparent.
The posting, and his confronting the teenager, have created a rift
between him and his China-born girlfriend of more than a
year.
She was unhappy that he had taken the matter so seriously.
But Ben is unwilling to back down.
He said: 'She felt that I should let it go, but I can't, and won't.
I asked if she would be upset if I said such things about her
country and people, and she got angry with me.
'We did not speak for four days after that.'
Another classmate also felt the remarks were unwarranted and
unfounded.
The 18-year-old said: 'He's only lived here for a short while, and
can't have seen much of Singapore or our way of living.
'What he's seen is only a small part, so how much does he really
know?
'It doesn't seem very fair for him to be making these
accusations.'
Some believe that this is an isolated case, saying that there are
bound to be 'some bad apples in every basket'.
One student said that even if the teenager did not like Singapore,
he should not make such an all-embracing statement, condemning its
people.
He felt the posting began as a personal attack on one person, but
got out of hand and became an attack on all Singaporeans.
He said: 'You don't have to like everything, but you must respect
people and things you disagree with.
'Moreover, you have to respect the authorities and people who are
making your tuition grant possible.'
Ben said that the more he read, the more incensed he got.
'I never expected these students to be so undiscerning, and
unappreciative of what our Government has done for them,' he said
grimly.
