Daily Leightreature

So, the bf and I were walking home yesterday evening from Whitesands when every 5/10 meters, we encountered groups of Chinese nationals laughing and chatting amongst themselves.

Incredulous, i turned to him and said, "This is amazing" (looking pointedly at the Chinese group). "You know what's freaky? Instead of addressing the issue of this migration influx, the government is lumping all these different cultures and nationalities into ONE Singapore identity!" We shook our heads and carried on walking, part reminiscing the Singapore of old and part marveling at the stage this island has progressed to.

Now let me explain something. It's totally OK that foreign nationals like the Indians and Chinese are migrating to Singapore in search of work and a better standard of living. Look, long before the tech-industry sector explosion, we'd already welcomed Bengali, Indian, Thai, Burmese men to build the sturdy flats we now live in. I also remember when my secondary school had so many rich Indonesian kids. So really, the mish mash of foreigners is nothing new.

BUT.

What's happening now is that we have Chinese factory workers, Chinese cashiers and retail assistants, Chinese hawker stall servers and cleaners, Chinese prostitutes, Chinese people cycling on the pavements, Chinese people commuting by MRT....every 5 metres you meet a China-Chinese person!!! In Pasir Ris where I stay, I see these Chinese people cycling to work in the Loyang area; on some good mornings, it feels like I'm romantically in Shanghai but on bad days when they cycle so fast past the pedestrians and almost knock them down, I want to smash the daylight out of their pallid faces.

It's a love-hate relationship. I personally had a Chinese tuition teacher whom I adored. And at the coffeeshop near my workplace, the Chinese guys that make tea are happy-go-lucky people that are just part of the normal landscape. No issues there.

The ugly ones are those that step in front of the lady pushing a baby pram at the lift, or jostling in the MRT queue, or littering the HDB blocks with their cigarette butts and finished cups of instant noodles...The ugly ones are those that refuse to integrate into Singapore culture by respecting our people and property. Each time I encounter buffoons like them, I want to say, "You're a GUEST here. Behave or get out."

So back to the earlier comment to the bf. I just feel that the government has closed one eye about all these foreign nationals coming in without protecting the Singaporeans who have to share their land. Sharing's not the issue. It's just the taking without asking permission that's the problem.

As we approach Singapore's 43rd birthday, I'm asking myself, how much of Singapore is really genuinely local today? What part of our unique culture can we still retain if this uncontrollable influx continues?