I was born after World War Two. My father was an accounts clerk father and my mother, a homemaker. At 61, I’m considered a ‘senior’ Singaporean.
For the past weeks I have been thinking of Singapore, this place I call home.
As a child, I took the bus alone, from Jalan Bahagia to school at CHIJ in
Victoria Street. The frequent breakdowns of the buses were moments of stress
because it meant that the next bus would be jam packed, with some commuters even
hanging from the doors and the harrassed conductors scolding everyone.
Water rationing was common and I was thankful I had strong brothers to carry
those buckets of water home. The Orchard Road floods recently brought back
memories of our terrace home in Jalan Bahagia which became flooded at least once
every year and again my brothers proved useful. They helped Dad carry the
furniture and fridge upstairs. Sometimes the waters came up too fast and the
furniture had to be replaced. Jalan Bahagia then was a lovely place to stay.
Yet, the constant stresses of the flooding caused my Dad, who was the most
patient man I know, to say that he had enough! We later moved to a two-room flat
in Toa Payoh, all nine of us cramped in the flat.
I was in CHIJ secondary by then. One of the fun things we did was to help each
other in our studies. We did this naturally, no teachers tasked us to. But what
I loved most about school was helping out at the annual fun fairs. My friends
and I would go from class to class selling tickets to raffle a beautiful iced
cake baked by someone’s mum. I think the proceeds went to charity.
When we were growing up, we didn’t have dependable public transport, we
didn’t have a perfect water supply. We didn’t even have a dry house
sometimes. Except for my elder brother, all my siblings and I are now married
with children of our own. We live in our own homes with our children. Since
then, I have watched Singapore grow to what it is today – an impressive city
state with beautiful buildings and much greenery. There are gleaming trains and
good infrastructure.
Externally it is a very impressive country, even more so with the MRT, the
"Durian" and other structures. But sadly, within, I feel that the
country is not so impressive.
Being a multiracial society, it had taken us years to slowly become a united
people who see one another as Singaporeans first, race second. The increasing
number of foreigners is taking its toll and it is not only on crowded train
rides. I suddenly realised, some months ago that I no longer hear Singlish on
the trains. I feel like our Singaporean identity is being slowly chipped away by
the languages and presence of these throngs of people from other places.
The original striving for "excellence" has become
"competition" in all our schools. For students today competition has
become part of their education ¬- competition with foreign students and
competitions galore for most CCAs.
We have other social problems like the high cost of living and housing. Our
young people work long hours, yet they are told that Singapore does not have
enough talent. If that is so, then what is the purpose of all the expensive
education our Singaporeans have received?
What struck me most during the rallies was the reaction of the Singaporeans to
the speakers in the opposition parties. There was some rhetoric as can be
expected but the response of the crowds to me showed the true state of our
society – a people burdened, stifled and suffocated.
What has happened to our country? In my view, many wrong policies that focus
on raising the GDP are affecting our society and unless changes are made soon I
feel that Singapore will collapse. Our fellow citizens will either give up in
apathy or totally rebel. Either response is disastrous for this beautiful home
that we call Singapore.
One of my dreams is to see Singaporean children enjoying their childhood and
their education, like we did growing up in the 1960s. Where school is a place
where kids can be happy, not stressed and parents are able to come home from
work early enough so the family can spend time playing and talking.
Growing up during those post-war years, we shared our poverty in the sense that
we were all poor together. Since then, many of us have moved beyond poverty.
Another of my dreams is that as Singapore moves into an even richer future, we
will share our prosperity equally too.
As for myself, come 7th May, I will cast my vote so that my children and my
grandchildren to come can live in a future where there are legitimate avenues of
expression for them, a future where their voices matter when it comes to
steering the course of the nation and where every Singaporean is able to lead a
meaningful life. That is my final dream for this country I love and call home.
Gwen Pinto
The Online Citizen
20 Maxwell Road #09-17
Maxwell House
Singapore 069113
Be part of the community! Join our Facebook Page!
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.
Related posts:
May 5, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Thank you Gwen, That was such a beautiful and moving piece of writing. I am still tearing, reflecting on your words. My mum is also an old IJ girl and at 68, she always tells us about her childhood. I was born in the 60s and whenever my classmates and I meet up, we always reminisce about our wonderful childhood. None of us were rich yet we were able to have a great childhood. We studied and got decent grades. But life did not just revolve around school and studies. Today my children lead such a different life. Yes their schools are fanciful with the latest state of the art equipment. Yet they hardly have time to play and just relax. Even holidays are jam packed with homework, projects and competitions. Nobody ever does anything just for the fun of it. It’s always for a competition and mind you, nothing but getting a Gold matters. Thanks Gwen. I love your letter. May God bless you.
May 6, 2011 at 2:15 am
How childish is this kind of statement? Yes, everybody hope to have a less stressful life and a happy childhood. But unfortunately you are in this globalization age. If you are not able to be competitive, it is not just reduce a few point of GDP but you will loss your position in the global competition, at the same time your living standard. There are billions of people from China, India and elsewhere are eager to take over us for their better living standard, no matter they come to sg or not.
It is always beautiful when you look at things from far distant. The 1960 living standard. When you are recalling it from memory, it is always a nice memory. Like if you have a farm stay for a few days, you feel that it is fun. But how many of you is able to enjoy the life of a farmer, or enjoy the life without electricity and clean water supply for long run? If you tell me you are really enjoy it. then please move to inland of East Malaysia, or Western China, you will find back your beautiful 1960 living standard there. Good luck for you.
May 6, 2011 at 4:07 am
Yawn… She never said she wanted that la… she said she missed the spirit that the time embodied.. take a chillpill…
May 6, 2011 at 4:57 am
Liphuang, I do suspect that you hv an agenda and i wonder what it might be
Your comments seem reminimiscent of the dissing attitude we have seen from the ruling party – playing down people’s legitimate feedback, waving away people’s real heartfelt concerns, with awful choice of words like ‘childish’ akin to some MP’s use of the word ‘ignorant’ on their wards
If there’s anything childish in this post, it is yours. Good luck to you and the kind of Singapore you aspire to have. I think most of us, and for very valid reasons, aspire for things other than material wealth and a hectic lifestyle
May 6, 2011 at 8:42 pm
He is perhaps one the MIW.
May 6, 2011 at 6:43 am
NO Liphuang, it’s Good Luck to you! You will need it more to Gwen.
May 6, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Liphuang, are you a PAP lackey? Are you truly enjoying your life now?
May 7, 2011 at 3:08 pm
You are just like the PAP, so quick to defend aggressively. Listen, absorb and read in between the lines.
May 7, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Thank you Dana.
Let us keep in prayer for our country
God bless you too!
May 5, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Kudos to you Gwen, a very good story to share with us…
May 7, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Thank you!
May 5, 2011 at 6:04 pm
My dear fellow citizens,
If you want to cast a vote for President, then you have to vote opposition on Sat, May07.
If not, the coming election for President will be walk over again or assigned by the OMO. (one man operation)
So tell me do you or I got a say then. Just think for the last president election, what had happened ? Can you recall ?
May 5, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Thank you Gwen for such a beautiful letter. It brings me back to the days where I was attending a neighbourhood primary school. We had classmates of all races, I was invited to their homes (2 or 1 room flats in
Tanglin Halt) when its Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali etc. During those days, you hardly get to hear about infiltration of foreigner into our home. Though we were very young, we were very happy. Our parents too were always home to welcome our friends.
It dosen’t happen today. My daughter is a housewife and my son in law works night shift trying to make ends meet. Her subsidy in the childcare center is different from the working mothers. Is the housewife any less a mother?
I am not interested in politics but more interested in the warefare of my kids and grand children. I am coming to 55, you bet the withdrawl limit keep changing and I am wondering if I will get my due money?
Medical care is too costly, my husband had a stroke and lately had to get a minor operation done in SGH. Of course its “C” class, but after the subsidy, we still have to pay $3000+ , reason is that we can only us $450 per day and the surgeons had to use a special glue that cost almost $2000+. Why can’t the comsumable like the glue be included in the payment from the medisave? When you need your money from Medisave to save your life, you cannot use it. What good is Medisave to a DEAD person?
Come 7th May, I will cast my vote so that we have a voice, protect my kids and grand children’s rights and privileges as Singaporean before its gone .
To conclude, I still love to be a Singaporean and hope that my next generation can continue to love Singapore too.
May 5, 2011 at 6:48 pm
I truly agree Sir as i belong in the young generation of Singapore….MAJULAH SINGAPURA!!!
May 5, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Well written .. I can still remember the water rationing, the black-outs, the buses that were fulled to the steps, and yet the bus fare only 10cents etc. And there were No FT that I remembered – Malaysians are not counted hor… now – they the FT and the FW are EVERYWHERE. And in my condo – they have the cheek to come down and ask the stupid PAP MP (the table tennis person) questions! Singapore are taken as a spring board – as an insurance to other countries. Just like Canada for HongKong before 1997. The Chinese loves to come here (so does the Indians) and then get a PP to better life and then go to another country… those that can will go to US or Canada – those cannot just stay here….
May 5, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Dear sir I thank you I am a 28 year old Gentlement who has studied in a local university and worked for 3 years, as for your comments I would like to tell you I agree with you but unfortunately this is a world economy situation not only people in singapore don’t let the opposition take advantage of your worry and fear, the name of the game is still hardwork and capitalization if we not careful a socialism and welfare mentality will come in, please don’t expect the government pap or worker’s party to step in to correct family issues because it should have have been done years ago in a family nucleus do consider where u vote these are world problem higher cost of food over population cheap labour from overseas shortage of land high cost of land, these are times we live in hence I urge you to vote for an Experiance government things will sort itself out
May 6, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Benjamin, can you guarantee that one day a FT won’t take over your job?
May 7, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Ben,
The problem is that this “experienced” govt has made too many mistakes. They don’t have the calibre of leadership unlike the era when Gwen was growing up.
May 5, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Benjamin, I think if any government is left unchecked for too long, complacency will set in.. Competition can only be good and this is precisely what a responsible opposition should do… I certainly do not want to leave all major policies and decisions that will impact my and my loved ones lives into the hand of a single party who has ruled Singapore for too long, far too long for the good of Singapore. So, I welcome the oppositions with open arms and I believe having effective checks and balances can only make the ruling party more careful and responsible in the long run…We have seen PM acknowledging and apologising for some mistakes made in the not too distant fast… I believe if there is no opposition contesting this time, all these glaring mistakes will be brused aside and we will never progress and learn from mistakes.
May 5, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Once a Minister takes a salary that is so large that it looks like a heist in comparison with similar jobs in government across the Globe, he breaks the compact with the citizenry. His job becomes a commercial contract and should be gauged in a strictly commercial manner. There are standard methodologies for valuing jobs and the job of being Ministers is no exception. I suggest that if a substantial opposition gets elected in Parliament, it moves the motion to revalue the jobs done by the various Ministers. The parameters involved in such a valuation exercise includes estimating that portion of the GNP attributable to the Minister whose job is under appraisal. It also includes estimating a discount rate which consists of a risk free rate and a risk premium. Intuitively without doing the calculations now, you can see that the portion of attributable GNP is very different from the GNP itself. It has been touted by the PAP that they created the whole GNP, which is not correct because patently commercial, industrial and financial enterprises are the engines which brought the process of creating the GNP to completion. For instance the ministers do not operate, the finance houses, factories and every enterprise in the country. The share of the GNP created by each Minister is a sliver of the country’s GNP.
This sliver of GNP is then operated on by the discount rate to arrive at a figure of value of the job of each Minister..The risk premium ( which as mentioned above is a component of the discount rate) would be entirely absent in Ministerial jobs so that what remains is the risk free rate which name itself reveals the nature of Ministerial jobs- essentially risk free! You should find that the resulting figure of value of the job should bear comparison with figures of actual remunerations of the Parliamentarians in the first world countries, as Singapore prides itself to be first world. You will then see the utter absurdity of claiming that a Ministerial salary in Singapore is to be 6 to 10 times more than its comparable in the first world governments. Thus the present salaries of our Ministers would be found to be grossly wrong in fact. Whether they are also wrong in Law has to be investigated, given the fact that these Ministers in this one party Government of Singapore in effect drew up their own salaries scales and paid themselves from that self- serving blueprint..They are judges in their own cause. Moreover they went to war with the oppositions for 50 years using the legal apparatus of the State, destroying them and in the process remain the Ruling Party for all of 50 years and eradicating the concepts of Human Rights by unprincipled use of defamation Laws, ISD arrests etc.The next question is whether they should be asked to return the excess payment to the State, as many bankers and CEOs were asked to do so when it was found that they did not deserve such remunerations or such remunerations were extracted by false representations..
As citizens we should break up the nonsense of Million dollar salaries to Ministers on spurious claims of uniqueness.Singapore is on the same planet as New York, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Amman. None of the office holders in these countries demand such grotesque salaries. Not only do we support a big heist but we also engender a colossal greed in these supposedly exceptionally noble people. One of the most ludicrous deeds instigated by such salaries is the pump priming of the economy by overwhelming the country with foreign labour. We will be sitting ducks for the next get rich quick scheme for the benefit of the PAP.
May 5, 2011 at 9:14 pm
I can understand what she is feeling as I share her sentiments. No doubt the incumbents hve done very well for the last 5 decades and I am proud to announce I am a Singaporean when I travel, I now feel disappointed that GDP and growth is only what they are looking for.
I have just received a booklet on ‘Burning Issues’ that the PAP has sent. In it, they addressed their policies of the Cost of living,
healthcare, immigration & etc. However, they are pure explanatory of the policies which implies for Singaporeans to accept the policies. They do know these are issues we are facing but has made no attempt to rid them nor reduce them. Also, again the question arises ‘Why now?’
If you assess the situation, I thank the opposition for their voices even though we do not yet know if any of them will be elected to the Parliament but the opposition has done for us the last 2 weeks what Singaporeans have been trying to tell the government the last 3 years.
The last thing the incumbents have failed to grasp what Singaporeans want is an improvement of our quality of life as with any progressive nations. We want not just pursuing numbers relentlessly but pursuing numbers satisfactorily. Only will Singapore be able to progress to the next level if her citizens are fulfilled mentally.
May 5, 2011 at 9:24 pm
Dear Owen Pinto,
You will not be allowed to retain in any corner of Singapore any of the old Singapore you know because the Ruling Party is fast replicating a new population and new places stitched together out of material from all over the world hurriedly brought here to produce wealth for them in terms of raw GNP numbers. Then the mathematics will work on the GNP figure which will then exact Millions per annum in salary for each Minister. This is reason for a Singapore to exist. Yours and mine( I am 67) matters not in the least. I am hoping that the original Singapore population or what remains of it will be clear minded enough to take a stand to keep the old faces and places intact. let us see what happens on voting day.
May 5, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Dear Gwen Pito,you see in the pap context they and the FTs are talented singaporeans not ,if we are really talented let us show them on the 07.05.2011
May 5, 2011 at 9:29 pm
I am 61 and watch Singapore grew from a Dream to a nightmare, after 50 years now admitting the mistakes.That is very bad. How can I ever trust, or respect or even if I do it is too late for me except ride the tide and regret the mistake I made and hope the younger generation make a better decision than me, before I die. Be brave and make the change.Nothing to lose and more to gain.Try it.
May 5, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Benjamin, u and I have similar background – I’m 28 yrs old, graduated from local uni and have worked 3-4 yrs. Additionally, I have been married for 2 yrs and work in a bank. Not sure where u are working, but I can certainly feel the heat due to the massive influx of FTs (many high pay but cmi) slowly phasing out a lot of Singaporeans.
One day u and I will grow old and it is understandable why citizens are defending their ricebowls – not because they are incompetent and want govt to spoonfeed them, but is because of the ‘elite’ policies that are beneficial to the incumbents for their insatiable greed and does not spare any thought for the commoners.
As future leaders of Singapore, I urge all to be discerning and be able to see beyond surface of things. Analyse and think through but not take everything you see (esp state-controlled mainstream media) wholesale without digesting the information. Lastly, vote not for yourself only but for the greater good of Singapore. As we progress as a nation, let’s not forget those who had fallen through the cracks to make Singapore a more gracious and compassionate society.
May 6, 2011 at 2:05 am
I am concerned that in the last 20 years of the PAP rule a number of anti-citizen developments have arisen in our Society. This has mostly occurred in our social-legal-police institutions because it is in such arena that societal conflicts are played out.
1)An alarming phenomenon in Singapore is the too close association between elites or elite firms with State Institutions. It has come to my notice that some Law firms close to the Government are able to commandeer State Institutions to hound their clients’ enemies so as to ensure victory in the Courts. This is because with the hounding the other side gets acquainted with the corrupt power of State support and softens its resolve to get justice. The State Institutions that partake in this oppression are the social/police/law organizations like AG, MCYS, MUIS, ICA and famously the ISD. The ISD in particular seems of late years to have left off focusing on Enemies of the State but now go after enemies of their elite friends. ISD faceless police are ubiquitous even in divorce cases. It is no wonder that they can’t even keep Mas Selamat in his place because of their varied errands for their friends.
2) Many elite professionals in the private sector also hold significant decision making positions in the public sector. These people have a leg in a Law firm and the other leg in Social/Police State Institutions. It seems that the legal/social/police entities indulge most often in such symbiotic relationships for mutual benefits and competitative advantage. Thus you have a Shari’ah lawyer who also sat in the Council of MUIS. He will thus be able to use his Statutory position to aid his fee earning efforts. Again there are cases of lawyers who are also members of Parliament. An MP is supposed to serve the citizenry at large, not a client against his opponent whenever a fee is paid to him by one side. Conflict of interest is no longer of interest in Singapore. Dopplegangers are everywhere. The examples I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg.
3)Fifty years have seen shameful oppression against opposition personalities, a number of whom have been broken badly by thuggish legal manoeuvres by the Ruling Party and have left politics in Singapore, exiling themselves beyond the reach of the Singapore menace.. The end result is that the ratio of Ruling Party to opposition is about 80: 2. Which shows the efficacy of the mafia in the House.
4)Aside from many other adverse consequences to the citizenry, I tend to think that the singlemost adverse result is the inordinate salaries now received by Ministers because there is no countervailing voices in Parliament because the voices have been killed by the purposeful premeditated repressive acts of the Ruling Party on the oppositions during a 40 to 50 year duration. Can you make a case about this to the appropriate International Tribunal, for crime against Humanity?
5) I feel crowded in these days by massive numbers of foreigners working or staying as citizens. This also is a consequence of a non existent or weak opposition voice in Parliament, the very result of the extra-ordinary witch hunt against opposition individuals carried out decade after decade by the PAP. Our country has been sold off from under our feet without our consent. Because consent making was killed. Can this be formulated as an abuse of Human Rights?
There is an urgency to end this state of the Regime. We happen to live in an era where crime against Humanity has been brought to book in many instances. I know that such crimes are usually the deadly ones like wholesale violent taking over of state resources, rape and genocide. For these latter, the present day response is Egypt and Tunisia with Libya coming up for reckoning.
But in Singapore we have to contend with the Rule of Law (famously declared by K Shanmugam to the International Community as the guiding light of our Society) which gags us, arrests us, sues us and leave the unfortunate as a financial wreck and wasted human. How do we the citizenry deal with this?.
May 6, 2011 at 3:11 am
Are you trying to suggest lawyer shall be banned for joining the election? The opposition MP candidate in my constituency is a lawyer, are you suggest me to vote against her. Is it your meaning?
Foreign origins joining Singapore citizen is being understood by you as a selling of your nation and linked to abuse of human right. It is not unusual that pp complains on the competition from foreigners but linking it to sold off of nation or abuse human right is obviously symptoms of paranoid persecution. 3 generation earlier, all of us were from other countries, can be China, India or Indonesia. Now there are people giving up their citizenship to join us as Singaporean, because they believe that Singapore will have better future than their own country. Because they believe that Singapore is a better place to gowth up their children. Because they believe Singapore is providing equal opportunity for their talent. We shall be proud to be Singaporean, to be in a nation that recognized by the world. it shows that how effective is our system, and how successful is our national development.
Come to this point, I want to call for everyone to think of it. What is the reason that so many foreigners are willing to come to Singapore? At the same time, why there are so many Singaporeans in this website think that life in Singapore is so terrible? Some pp may think that because foreigners want to improve living standard. But there are pp like Jack Li or Gong Li who are rich enough to get citizenship in any western countries but they choose Singapore. Recently, the Taiwanese boss of the world’s second largest wafer company UMC corvets to Singapore citizen? Great investor Jim Rogers moved to SG from USA!!! Why this billionaires and talents think that here is a better place for their children. They are so rich to get any citizenship why they choose Singapore? Are they stupid? Are they ignorant? Surely no? Pp like Jim Rogers is widely recognized as most clever pp in the highly competitive finance ind. He chooses SG for his 2 daugthers’ future. Ask yourself what is the reason of their choice? It is because of the highly effective and efficient (maybe stressful for some) system in Singapore. It is because the openness of the Singaproean and Singapore government. We shall be proud that the tiny red spot like Singapore is being recognized by foreigner to be better than USA, Canada, Australia and other big developed countries. Please appreiate it as Singaporean.
Think of the bigger picture. if a people like Jim Rogers, who is very strong in predicting economic development trend give up a lot of things in USA to move to Singapore. There must be some valid reasons for him to make this decision. It proved that we are on the correct direction of national development. Forget about the empty promise and beautiful slogan made by the opposition, support the proved policy, for your future, for your children, for your family
May 6, 2011 at 7:57 pm
By the way, this Jim Rogers, you’re talking about, he is a FT?
May 6, 2011 at 9:40 pm
You talk of high profile FT being getting their Singapore citizenship. But do you realize how much less taxes this Taiwanese boss would be paying and how much he would be reaping in return.
It is all good to have FT join our growing population, but what of our existing citizens. Sweep aside those who are not up to the mark? Many of these seniors are hardworking people who contributed to the building this small nation. Although they are not movers & shakers in this nation building, should they be left behind while this government pays themselves obscene salaries to retain talent?
May 7, 2011 at 1:23 am
Liphuang,
Let me talk about Jim Rogers, an icon that I respect for his foresight and his insights into the future of the ever changing world, economically and finacially.
Why does he move to Singapore? His aim is to move to Asia, to be near China, which he believes to be the country of the 21st century (like the British which rules the era of the 19th century and the Amreicans for the 20th century). And thus, the importance of Chinese language in this new era.
So why not HK, which is the closest China?
Did you know his first choice was HK, for obvious reason being nearest to China?
So why not HK? Because of pollution. And need I mention the reason for the pollution of HK, which is unfavourable to his family and children?
Hence, he picked Singapore. Of course, the economic achievements of Singapore plays a significant part, and the ‘clean environment’ that we have, credit of the government.
But clearly, Singapore was not his first choice.
Please get your facts right.
And sincerely looking into the rationale of Jim moved to Asia – to be near China, its importance in this near era, how is Singapore placed to compete in this era?
Yes, we are economically strong, so far. We have moved with the evolving world, so far. If Jim Roger’s prediction of the 21st century does carry weight and turn true, which I believe will likely be, and you will certainly agree given that you highlighted him several times, how is Singapore placed in a world with China taking increasing importance, to say the least? Do our education for the young and their literacy in the Chinese language equip them for the new world order?
May 29, 2011 at 12:07 am
Liphuang, in reply to your questions…”But there are pp like Jack Li or Gong Li who are rich enough to get citizenship in any western countries but they choose Singapore. Recently, the Taiwanese boss of the world’s second largest wafer company UMC corvets to Singapore citizen? Great investor Jim Rogers moved to SG from USA!!! Why this billionaires and talents think that here is a better place for their children. They are so rich to get any citizenship why they choose Singapore? Are they stupid? Are they ignorant? Surely no?” Reason is they are rich… i feel with the current government policies, Singapore is a place for the rich who can afford affluent living. Our ministers are rich also being the highest paid political leaders in the world…. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening…
May 6, 2011 at 6:37 am
I’m so tired of reading your same identical long post on every topic. Even If I had any initial interest, it has all been murdered by your indifferent repetition posting.
May 6, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Ignore this troll [liphuang], Lost marbles.
May 6, 2011 at 6:41 am
Gwen, thank you for the letter. It is a sweet dream that we should all be able to have though perhaps only realistic possible with some major tweaking like doing away with rationing and kampung flavor but more with comfy conducive ambience. thank you.
May 6, 2011 at 9:49 am
Gwen, thank you for this letter, my father was born around time as you and he expressed the same dreams and lost when reviewing the present states of what we are living through.
Although now he is in semi-retired state, not due to poor health but employer complaining that they wanted younger and cheaper workers.
As for myself, I had only experience water rationing once in my short 28 years of living only in Singapore. As I work closely with kids from different sectors of educations level, personally I do agree that these kids are no longer striving for good academics due to the thirst and hunger for knowledge. Instead a lot of the kids mention that the reason they had to work hard was no longer the ‘kaisu’ factors from the parents but more like ‘kaisi’ as they feared for their own future. As a lot of their foreign classmates who are more senior to them in ages and in some cases academics were able to score much better than them. In order for them to achieve their dreams or goals, they had to ensure that they are able to won against these foreign classmates in academics before they can considered things like dreams or ambition.
Quite a numbers of my primary school and secondary school friends that had received further studies overseas, had decided to pursue their careers in other foreign countries. In those cases, majority had experienced working in Singapore for a minimum of 3 years before they decided to go overseas and explored their potential. Reasons for leaving? According to them, the so-call high level of educations we received are not as good as the foreign workers, since being a foreign talents sound more money worth, they decided to be a foreign talent too.
I do agree on missing out the Singlish, however not only the Singlish is missing; our mother tongue was also slowing dissolving away. I understand that some may view it as a positive view, which our standard of English had improved. Yet this is wrong, these days on the MRT or buses all I can hear are natives’ mother tongue from our foreign talents. In the past, I always complained to my mother as when I was on my way home from NP on the MRT, I could hear those ‘Ah Beng’, ‘Ah Seng’, ‘Ah Lian’ and ‘Ah hua’ talking loudly and disturb the others passengers. But these past 4 years, when I was on the MRT, it was no longer those ‘Beng, Seng, Lian, Hua’ groupies, instead it was those foreign talents that speak loudly either face-to-face or on the handphone. On numerous occasions, I can clearly hear their conservation about 1 cabin away in a squeeze compact MRT.
Since young, we are educated to give our seats out to those who need it. Just counting this year, 2011, on more than 4 occasions, when I was preparing to give my seats to either an elderly or a pregnant lady, the moment I stand up, the foreign talents would take the seats before the intended had walk near. When I approached them and mentioned that I had given up my seats for those intended and ask them to excuse themselves, some who are polite will move. However in 2 cases, when I asked them nicely to return the seats to those who needed it, I was scolded by them, they mentioned that once I leave my seats, it free for others to take. For those who had viewed these comments of mine will jump to their defence and asked why I was sure that they were the foreign talents. As we speak, there is the accent in our language, and on these occasions, when I spoke to them in English, they would either ignored me first and spoke in their native mother tongue mentioning they don’t understand my questions or when they do reply, their English was with an accent different from ours.
All these are just the peak of an iceberg of the problems that we, native, locally born Singaporean had experienced.
I understand last year the question of lost of ownership was brought up by a NTU student. At that moment, a lot of my friends we question ourselves too. We understand the needs for the new bloods as we native Singaporeans were not producing effectively and the government argument was that the tax these new bloods are paying help to provide toward the funding for the future growing and ageing generation. But we must consider this element, these so-call new blood, they are the same age groups as us, and those so-call funds saved for the future ageing generation will also be used by them. A friend of mine, who work in sourcing for manpower in different employment level, mentioned that a lot of the new immigrants don’t mind seeking lower pay jobs, as they mentioned on the possibilities of seeking financial assistance. For example, if they had kids, they can ask for financial assistance from the school, and the textbooks can be free, daily pocket money funds, transportation funds for the kids. To speak the truth, I had never known there was so many different funds available for us to apply and for those had their salary slightly above the cut-off pay. They will go appeal and mentioned different kinds of needs. Locally, I’m sure most of us know if our pay was less than $2.5k or annual income was below $30k, we are not taxable. However if these so-call new blood only select job that pay less than $30k per annual, they are still not contributing to those so-call taxes that are being saved for the future ageing generation instead when they reach the ‘silver’ age, those funds are also used on them. Instead of building on the funds, we are creating more burdens for this so-call fund.
These days when reviewing what possibilities I can have in Singapore, I always questioned myself, do I want free time with my family and earn the minimum wages or had a high flyer income and missed out those precious times with my family? When I was a fresh graduate from Polytechnic in 2005, on my resume I had requested for a recommended wage by the lecturers, $1.8k. When I was going through the interview, the interviewer asked me if I can seek a minimum wage of $1.3k. I asked for a reason for a cut of five hundreds dollars, the reason given shocked me as he said, the first few interviewees before me, 2 from China, 1 from Philippines and 1 from India had requested for $1.1k to $1.25k. Imagined, that was in year 2005, I really wondered what the situation is for now.
We are so used to the phrase ‘ask not what we can get but what we can give’. Should our government start asking themselves this phrase before asking for our understanding and apologies for their mistakes?
May 6, 2011 at 10:35 am
I would like leaders who are compassionate. Who understand what it means to be struggling, and not just through paying lip service. the below is a repost from comments on an article in http://www.temasekreview.com
“The sector of PAP diehard supporters choose to be blind to the lack of democracy in Singapore, the increasing gap between rich and poor and the growing number of Singaporeans being left behind due to PAP’s GDP-focused policies.
They are employed, fairly comfortable, likely have their own nest (not too worried that it is only 99 years lease because they’ll be six-feet underground by then), and not likely needing long-term / chronic medical care.
I want to appeal to this group. Think not just for yourselves. Yes, you are comfortable today. There are many old, sick and poor who are suffering more today than 5 years ago. They are not given a helping hand because PAP doesn’t want any Singaporean to develop a “crutch mentality” even if a crutch is what you sometimes need just to give you that extra boost to stand up again.
PAP’s dogged determination to achieve a high GDP means it would not allow itself to be diverted or distracted by anything else, even if it is the cries of helpless citizens.
There are many real-life examples of the old not having enough to live their last days in dignity, the sick not getting the medical care they need because they cannot, the poor in Singapore not even having basic needs of food, shelter and clothing met. Singapore has become a cold, heartless and sterile society void of compassion, love for others, selflessness and passion for life.
You are not there…yet…The day may come when healthcare become unaffordable for you or your family, when your children become lame but there is no crutch or helping hand, when you are 40s and retrenched, or 50 and unemployable ot 60s and frail, or 70s and sick, or 80s and lonely. What is savings run out, CPF is tied up due to minimum sum, flat that has no water or electricity because you could not pay the bills?
It may all now be fantasy or unreal but for many thousands of Singaporeans, it is reality today! The PAP government has failed Singaporeans big-time!
As a social worker, I had an MP telling me to ask my unemployed clients to look for work overseas because Singapore has no jobs for them, another MP telling my client, a middle-aged kidney patient to sell his flat to pay for his dialysis treatment, another MP telling my client he asked to be cheated since he handed over his vehicle to a salesman willingly therefore he still had to pay his road tax to LTA even though his car was stolen (the salesman took his car, paid him a small deposit and gave him a receipt for the car saying he would pay the rest the next day but completely disappeared after that with the car. My client had on that same day gone to cancel his car insurance thiking he has “sold” it already and had a receipt to prove). This client first went to the police who also said it was his own fault and that it was a civil case rather than crimnial case. His last resort was the MP thinking an educated MP would understand the system and help him find help but was given this big slap on his face and the MP was rude and arrogant, adding insult to injury!
The most heartbreaking case was a single mother whose young daughter was diagnosed with a serious inflammation affecting her heart but because she was referred to the hospital from the GP rather than polyclinic, had to pay “private charges” which the mum could not afford. The MP said she should have gone to polyclinic instead. How was this mum to know the illness would become so serious needing long term hospital care and treatment? She could afford ome GP visit but that doesn’t mean she could afford private charges at the public hospital!
The above are all different PAP MPs. These elites know nothing of the sufferings of the poor, sick and elderly, the same way PAP diehard supporters are clueless about this segment of society because they don’t experience it themselves.
Please, vote for your fellow Singaporeans. You never know when you, your child, your parent or your friend will some day need a temporary crutch so they can stand up again. Without that temporary help, it is driving desparate people to suicide.”
May 6, 2011 at 10:53 am
Hi Gwen,
I’ve just settled down for my cup of morning coffee and I’ve just read your lovely note. I’m 64 this year so I guess we’re from the same era.
Thank you so much for jolting my memory. My thoughts went back to those wonderful years and the great time I had then. Yes, our life was simpler then, and we were poorer too. But we were happy, and we learned to share. We never really felt stressed, even in our studies, and we never really felt the need to compete. Singapore was not as “perfect” then, with constant blackouts and frequent water rationing. Yet somehow, we happily made it through.
Now, fast forward to 2011. The Singapore I see today is supposed to be “better”. We have a better standard of living, better housing, better educational system, and many other “better”. But are we happier? Are we richer (really)? Are we friendlier with our neighbours? Is the government more caring towards it’s own citizens? Strangely, all the answers seem to be NO, even though it is the same government and the same ruling party in power, as it was then.
So something is not right here. And something has to be done, for the sake of my children and their children.
I know what I have to do come May 7.
May 6, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Liphuang, after reading your comments, I’m sure you’re going for pay and pay. Gd luck to you.
May 6, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Obviously, Liphuang is reaping and enjoying all the benefits to care about the poor and less fortunate and living in an ivory tower.
May 6, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Im 29 this yr, just got married and waiting for my bto flat. I totally respect MM and how he had transformed sg to a modern, vibrant, multinational state. However, i feel that the ruling party is running this country like an mnc. Economic growth is of course a good thing, but in d midst of chasing this goal, subconciously, singaporeans are turned into selfish and uncompassionate human beings. I have got plans on my own n if d ruling party stays as d ruling party, im moving out of this country which i hold so many memories of and lead a new happier life elsewhere. Many will not agree but im merely looking out for my family. An ordinary man can do so much. Singapore will definitely be rich and prosperous under d ruling party but this form of government will only work for d wealthy or filthy rich. NOT for a commoner. That is why ppl like jet li would love it here due to d economic stability and national security albeit it comes with a price but they can afford. As a commoner, just like many hdb dwellers, id rather lead a happy frutfuil life and cherish every second with my family than to strive for a higher income just to subsidise a flat which is not rightfully ours even after spending 30 yrs of our life workin our ass off to pay d mortgage. The words i employed here are my point of view and for all to ponder. Happy voting and thanks gwen for a beautiful peek into how it used to be.
May 7, 2011 at 2:42 am
I am shocked by the amount of xenophobia that is present in this country. I am Singaporean myself. You folks should try to live overseas and tha you can see how unfair you folks are. By the way if your mun and dad are not orang alis then you are not privileged to claim this land is yours. The DNA of singapore is migrant, to see you folks blaming foreigners is like scolding your own ancestors. Any by yr 2015, the hinterland pf Singapore is ASEAN (ASEAN Economical community will come in force). My SINGAPORE is not a bigotted nation that is xenophobic; to be bigotted is unethical and unacceptable, period.
May 7, 2011 at 10:17 am
Nice piece..hope for the better , pray for the future.
May 7, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Yeah, I have cast my vote.
The polling took me less than 1 minute. So well organised. I see couples, families leaving the polling stations, quiet as election is not something you should discuss loudly. But I can see the message from their facial expression : “Same old routine, same govt, same opposition, let’s get over it and go for breakfast. What is there to change when we have what we want.”
I wonder which other country’s election day can be as peaceful as ours. Visitors will not know that it is our polling day if you don’t tell them.
I will hate to live in a country where every election turns into a battle of words, accusations, defamation and drama that affects the people’s daily lives. I will hate to live in a country where the Parliament turns into a market or boxing ring every now and then.
For those who have not made up your mind, I will advise you to vote for Peace and Prosperity.
May 7, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Hi Gwen and Kwek, I am younger than you but I have also gone through the days of living in a kampong and collecting water from a well. I understand what you mean by the simple happiness. We were poor, we did not have material needs but we were happy.
“Simple happiness” is exactly what is missing among our younger generations. They are born with everything provided for them, so happiness to them is to have more, more $$, more luxury items, more freedom to talk and to do whatever they want. The shortage of any makes them unhappy. That is why you feel that people are less happier. They forgot to derive satisfaction from the simple things in life – the simple meals we have, a sip of the coffee at the coffeeshop, the air-con in our buses and MRTs, the neatly planted trees in our estates, the space we can move about in our homes.
Every nation needs to progress. I have advanced together with Singapore. Until today, I still derive happiness from the simple things in my life. I don’t earn much, I don’t ask for luxury. I just ask for peace and prosperity for my beloved country.
Though everything around me has changed, I am as happy as I was when I was staying in the kampong. If you don’t learn to be happy, you will not be even if you change the govt one hundred times.
May 7, 2011 at 4:15 pm
God, please help all the lost Singaporeans realise how blessed and fortunate they are to be born in Singapore.
God, please give these people wisdom to walk the right path.
God, please prevent my beloved country from falling into the wrong hands.
May 8, 2011 at 1:57 am
Write so much for what! More & more Singaporean will be suffering for the next 5 years! Guarantee those pro PAP voters will regret when they are old. By then I ‘ll migrate to heaven already!
Enjoy your hell life here! I bet you will.
May 8, 2011 at 2:48 am
Dear Gwen,
Although i was born shortly after independence, I too had a great childhood. Unfortunately, we were also the generation who was used as guinea pigs for many of the policies.
I have excercised my right to speak on the 7th but courage to accept change is not for everyone.
Today, Singapore is once again enslaved by PAP and to make matters worse, we have to condone with imbeciles like Tin Pei Ling and Corporate back stabbers like Foo Mee Har.
For the next 5 years, we will suffer again.
PM lee promised not 10% GST but 9% is still ok!
No Foreigners, we will wait and see. Like you, i miss Singlish although I dont speak it.
Today, we as Singaporeans have to adapt to these so called talents. In hawker centres and malls, we have to speak mandarin as our foreign ‘ talents’ from China do not speak English.
We have to let the Pinoys dance in our world class malls and hire the tongue twisting foreigners into our local banks and havea white guy run our country reserves in Temasek!
Dear Singaporeans, if after this election you continue to stick your head in the ground like an ostrich, then the day will come that like the ostrich, you will be eaten by the foreigners!
May 8, 2011 at 8:34 am
It is with a saddened heart that i write. I am proud of all those who took the the trouble to reflect very carefully and vote for the right reasons. I guess this bunch is still a small bunch. What else must we suffer before we cry, ‘enough is enough’
Is it not enough to see our old citizens who worked so hard to build this nation relegated to doing cleaning jobs. Is it not enough that they are treated worse than the FDWs. Do not get me wrong. FDWs must be treated properly. But Is it not enough that the lot of our old nation builders has gone to the dogs. Is it not enough that they work such long pathetic hours and are given a meagre pay that hardly pays for their daily meals nor for that tattered roof over their heads while the FDWs still have their 3 meals and a room to sleep in and people to fight their cause? Is it not enough to see them scratch a living by collecting tin cans and cardboards because their cause is not worth the fight as there is no human rights record card to uphold as versus fighting for the FDWs.Is it not enough that even the cleaning jobs are snatched away from them and they are in the process stripped of dignity and pride when they for all these years stood with pride and worked with dignity to build the nation to what it is today?Is it not enough to even hear suggestions that we should consider treating them across the causeway away from their families and friends when they fall ill.
Is it not enough to see our children, the future builders of our country relegated to crammed classrooms when a rich nation like ours can easily afford smaller class numbers. Is it not enough that we have enough money to provide small class environment and yet we were often told time and again it cannot be done. Is it not enough than that it is our children who have to suffer with over stretched teachers and an over stretched syllabus.Is it not enough to see our children, the future of this nation struggling with over the top exam questions which are never actually dealt with in the syllabus in the first place.Is it not enough that we have to spend a lot of our hard earned money on tuition so that they learn elsewhere what they should rightfully learn in schools? Is it not enough that these nation builders are being deprived of a sound education with their crammed schedule, classrooms and over worked teachers.Is it not enough to see that they have a miserable seat in the class. Is it not enough to see even that miserable seat in schools near their homes snatched away.
These two groups of any a nation is considered as the most valuable and the most vulnerable groups. Valuable because we owe one group our gratitude because they helped to build this nation while we owe the other group our guidance because this group will help to build.the same nation. Vulnerable because one group is old and in need of care and help which is long overdue while the latter is young and need to be nurtured right. Shouldn’t this have been the time that we thought about them seriously and carefully? Isn’t that the duty of the citizenry? Gosh what else must this electorate be put through?