I am not a PAP supporter.
The discussions you guys are having now and the points brought up were brought up back in 2004 when I was on this forum writing the same things.
At that time I was in the "evangelistic" phase thinking the more I write, the more I can show people the "truth" about PAP, the bad things about government etc etc.
The GE came and went. Nothing happened. I kept talking to friends, relatives thinking to myself, they don't know, if they know they will realize the truth and we can make things better.
One day my cousin told me off at a family dinner. You talk so much.....in the end there are 3 things you can DO
1. Take action and do something to make Singapore better. Join politics. Join grassroots. Be an activist.
2. Migrate to a place where things are how you want them to be.
3. Shut up.
I was taken aback for a while. Then I reflected on his words. I thought seriously about what Singapore's problems were and what some of the solutions might be. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the real truth. There was no point in getting hung up with the past mistakes of the government. It is done. How do you fix it? If you were put into power, elected to government how would you fix it? Would the people like the solution? Would they support the solution? I reached the conclusion that what I would propose would require sacrifices and the people would not support it. Singaporeans wanted things to be perfect everybody wanted their way. You can blame the PAP for doing that, you can say this and that about it. But the job at hand is not to continue being a cheerleader on the complaint bandwagon and evangelize. Real solutions might take a long time and lots of sacrifice. Who would want that? No one.
hence I chose option 2 and 3. I am now no longer living in Singapore and am very thankful for making that decision. Migrating was tough. very tough. Nothing like what people make it out to be. It is a real struggle at the beginning and required sacrifice and sweat. Mind you a lot of people talk about migrating, changing government etc. But it is all hot air and just talk. No action no sacrifice willing to be made.
I will tell you from the bottom of my heart that the day I believe Singapore might be able to emulate countries like Finland, Sweden and Switzerland is the day when most households no longer have maids.
It is a simple issue. Domestic maids. People can argue they don't want FTs in the face in the MRT, on the bus, at the shopping centre, at their workplace etc etc. They can argue that businesses should hire more locals, be willing to pay locals more etc etc.
But once you talk about domestic maids. They will say oh I work so long hours, no maid how to work? who will take care of my kids? Where got time to do housework? Why should I do housework when I can hire a maid to do it and spend the time doing housework earning more money at work?
All the above excuses the businessmen people criticize and the government they criticize for bringing in FTs can cite as well. There are essentially FTs in a very large proportion of Singapore households that they see EVERYDAY. Domestic Foreign Maids.
Are the number of domestic foreign maids dropping in Singapore? Have they all gone home? The first FTs that should go home should be the domestic maids if you ask me.
In all the countries Singapore emulates to be, few people have a 24h live in caregiver at home. It is reserved for the extremely wealthy who have huge mansions and do need a team of staff to maintain the property. Singaporeans live in tiny flats and apartments for the most part but they NEED maids.
Most Singaporeans and the PAP actually are the perfect fit for each other. The ones who totally disagree and stand by their principles simply will be unable to live in Singapore and among other Singaporeans. The kiasu kiasee mentality, everybody is doing this and that so should do the same (read tuition classes for kids, enrichment classes, dance classes, mind gym classes etc), everyone has maid why not us?
Try not having a maid and see how many of your friends will frown and try to convince you to have a maid. Cos if you can live without a maid how come they cannot? They have to justify their actions by convincing you to do the same. Same with the kids classes. And many other things. I know this because I never had a maid after I got married and raised a family. We never sent out kids to all these crazy enrichment classes either.
For a while I read some people trying to convince others to migrate as well. Then you have those trying to portray those people who migrated as losers and quitters etc. everyone wants to justify their actions as the best, most correct etc. Insecurities.
Everyone should do what they feel is right for them. There is a way of life in Singapore that is unique. Is it right or wrong? There is no right or wrong. It just is. However, I do take issue when people criticize others for merely doing the same as them. (eg exploitation of cheap FT labor be it at home for housework or business, construction, janitor work, etc etc) That is something I have observed among many Singaporeans as I have illustrated above.
The massive influx of migration during the great financial crisis helped to prop the Singapore economy. Good or bad? Depends how you look at it.
Can Singapore change? Sure. But people will have to make sacrifices and from my interactions with friends and relatives I would say Singaporeans are far from ready and far from willing to make real change. What would make them willing to change? When things get worse. A LOT WORSE. It is when things are so bad that they are willing to sacrifice for the better that is when things will change. I shudder to think when that happens though.
I wonder why PAP has never brought up the maid issue when faced with criticism from the opposition about FTs and minimum wage. Challenge the detractors when they ask for minimum wage and less reliance on FTs with the issue "What about domestic maids". I won't be surprised if you start seeing the public support the PAP in fear that they might lose their maids or have to pay $10/hr x 18-24h x 26-30 per month ($4680-$7200) for each maid they have.
Just curious how many forumers here have maids at home? And how many know people who have maids at home? Maids are all FTs fundamentally and all these people benefit from the FT policy just like that.
nayr69sg