This is the concluding part to the earlier article where myself and a few other Facebook readers engaged in a debate with a Caucasian named Terry Knight. In essence he says that Singaporeans are whiners and moaners who refuse to work as hard as foreign talents (FTs) when there are ample opportunities to better ones'self here. He says we expect hand outs from the Govt and if FTs all leave tomorrow, we are doomed because no one who do certain jobs like being a public bus driver (the topic that started this debate).
In this part, I shall not go into the debate itself but offer my views as to why his perceptions (and that of many Caucasian FTs) are wrong. Here's another view from a person named Jorg Dietzl, who flew into Singapore over the weekend from Seoul. His argument is that having worked and travelled across major Asian cities the past decade, he's better able to make comparisons.
Here's my replies made on FB to these arguments:
'I've met many well educated and highly paid expatriate executives working in Singapore. Most of them are from the West but some are from Asian countries like China, India, even ASEAN countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. 1 common refrain is - 'Singapore is such a well run country, your Govt is every effective and good, maybe our home countries should have this kind of Govt, so our problems will disappear.' And of course there's valid reasons in their remarks.' Having travelled the world and working abroad they appear to have some knowledge about how good or bad a country is run. But when questioned deeper, you realise that such knowledge and experience is limited only the areas/fields where they work and the kind (or few) of locals they interact with. Some only interact with fellow expatriates, all of whom come from the upper bracket of well paid workers in these countries.'
(Expatriates enjoying the nightlife at popular Clark Quay joint - Attica. With a generous salary, accommodation and entertainment allowances, life in Singapore is great)
To these expatriates who have firms here that employ a workforce which inevitably has problems finding Singaporeans, the reasons can be looked in this reply:
'Everything was going on smoothly with markets forces dictating salary. Salary kept pace with rising cost of living. Foreign workers were only allowed in certain industries, blue collar or lower end jobs based on nationality and qualifications. Eg: Only Malaysians were allowed to work in restaurants or as bus drivers, to meet any shortfall. Pinoys restricted to jobs like music/entertainment, service sectors and nursing. Then what happened - in 2002 the Govt decided to remove all these restrictions with a total open door policy. Guess what - lower skilled or qualified foreign workers became accessible to every firm. A cleaner was paid anywhere from $1200 to $1500 found himself out of a job if he refused to work at $800-$1000. Even old women doing menial jobs found themselves replaced by foreigners because at their salary (low as it was) still allowed firms to hire 2 foreigners willing to accept such impossible terms. Can you imagine a salary in the hundreds in the present century in modern day Singapore?
(An elderly cleaner in Singapore. The salary range was around $40 a day a decade ago, with the floodgates opened, this has dipped to $30 or less today)
Public bus drivers driven by Malaysians and Singaporeans (who were paid slightly more) were paid anywhere from $1700-$2000 and above. But these same jobs were now offered to PRCs willing to accept a salary at around $1100-$1400. Were these Singaporeans lazy? I think not. Even those Malaysians were replaced by a new batch prepared to work for lesser. We are not talking about skilled or upper management jobs that should be given to the most ably qualified from whichever country, we are talking about ordinary jobs, that forced the poorer and less well off to be involved in a competition they simply could not win. Look at McDonalds, you know how much they are paying those old aunties working there? Anywhere from like $3.20 an hour to just under $5. Why? Because foreigners from Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia could accept these terms. And McDonalds is not some small firm struggling to get by, they earn millions, but why are they doing this? Simple - because they can.
(Why does McDonalds and other firms offer people like this lady less than $5 an hour? Because they can - if she don't want to accept this 1990s rate, there's 2 or 3 FTs willing to)
Obviously all these is incomprehensible to you. And the Govt turns a blind eye because they can still collect levies and taxes from both the worker and firms. And they are unwilling to spend these monies on improving people's lives, instead they go and increase rates like train fares and utilities using global trends as the reason. When it suits them, they will quote things happening in the West and the rest of the world and saying Singapore must follow suit or we'll lose our way. But when it comes to giving more freedoms like free press, free speech and a fairer voting system, they turn around and say - Oh No, No way we can do these things that the West are doing - we must do things our own way and what we think right and not be swayed by events elsewhere.'
So when an expatriate firm grumbles about lazy Singaporeans, ask them this question - 'How fair is your salary in relation to living costs?' Would you be able to hire a local in your country at these terms? Or would you accept these kind of salaries and working hours if you were working in these jobs back home?'
And for those who sing praises of the way Singapore is governed or how they wish their governments back home ran their countries in the same manner - let's put this reply to them :
'However when you challenge/rebut or inform them about the reality on the ground, and then ask them if they are prepared to accept the same terms back in their home lands? - the answer again is almost unanimous - they would not tolerate such policies.
No such thing as locking away your pension funds and limiting the amount you can take out, or returning it piece-meal with monthly instalments. No such thing as runaway skyrocketing public housing (not private) that runs into several hundred thousands, which you can only pay with your pension funds until 55, thereafter you have to come up with the cash or wait until 62 before the Govt 'rebuys or let's you sell the flat' and force you into tiny pigeon hole apartments for which you must purchase for over $100k with no instalments allowed.
(The quagmire that is the CPF - ask an expatriate how they like the idea of not being able to touch their hard-earned monies once they reach retirement age)
They also will not tolerate rising costs of basic amenities like utilities, transport and health care, when the state boards running them are turning in millions of profits each year. They do not appreciate GST at 7% with a potential to go further up. They do not accept GRC systems in their voting papers. They do not accept a restricted press. They do not accept laws that provide detention without trial. They do not accept stifling laws that are geared to extract monies away from citizens. They do not accept the logic that the world's highest paid Ministers demand that you support them at the polling booth or risk having your estate go to the bottom of the queue.
They don't accept the Govt treating them like kids and demanding you come up with ideas to rebut them (which they will ignore anyway), when it's they that are paid to do that very job. They don't accept the Govt or Civil Service becoming like masters and not servants of the public. They will also not accept foreigners coming to take jobs that their children could work in because they are prepared to accept even below 50% of what they children need in order to survive. And they don't accept conscription or reserve duty that impedes their children's chances in getting or staying in a job. And the list can go on further.
When all these are put to them and asked whether they would be still prepared to forgo all these rights or stomach all these policies, or return to their 'supposedly poor managed countries', there's no doubt which they will choose - their own countries.'
(Ask an expatriate how long would they tolerate a Prime Minister like Lee Hsien Loong running their country - I doubt they would even tolerate 1 full term if he enacted the same policies in their homelands).
And that's the bottom line folks - no matter how much a German, Briton, American, French, Dutch, Australian even Japanese complain about the politicians running the country back home - I have yet to meet 1 who's prepared to forego all the liberties they enjoy as citizens in order to have imposed on them a Govt like ours. They may say wonderful things about life here, how clean, how safe and how beautiful it is here, they will concede that they would never be able to stomach the policies listed above and the restrictions such a Govt will impose on them.
So next time a Caucasian tells you to be thankful and stop whining, please advise him to put his money where his mouth is, cut off all ties with his homeland and migrate here permanently and experience the wonderful we live here under the yoke of autocratic rule.
Sir Nelspruit
*The writer blogs at http://anyhowhantam.blogspot.com/