Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore has been trying to attract more qualified immigrants to the island.
Reasons are, increasing numbers of educated citizens leaving the country to settle elsewhere like Australia and New Zealand, and second, insufficient babies being born. The birth rate in Singapore Island is the lowest in the world!
This is not because there is famine or civil war in the island. It is because many Singaporeans do not want to live in a politically repressive society, which Singapore is. They want to be free. So they leave Singapore in ever increasing numbers.
Except for the family of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s ruler, and those politically connected to them, those remaining in Singapore are unhappy. So they refuse to have children.
So in order to replace those Singaporean citizens who leave, they try to bring in people like you.
Let me tell you why these problems exist and warn you against immigrating to Singapore. Singapore is not a good place to live for you and for your family.
You may not be able to know this and think there is nothing wrong with the place. This is because the government carefully tries to paint a picture of goodness to foreigners in the hope you will not see the truth beneath the surface.
Here is the truth. I was born and lived in Singapore. I know.
1. Singapore is a brutal society with brutal laws.
It is lawful punishment to beat criminals who have committed crimes.
The painful and brutal beating causes them to have permanent injuries for the rest of their lives.
Hundreds and thousands of people in the island have been beaten in this fashion.
It also has the highest execution rate in the world where hundreds of people are executed each year by hanging for even petty crimes such as minor drug offenses.
Even teenagers are executed.
I am sure you would not want to bring up a family in such a society and in the midst of many people who have been brutalized, tortured and hanged. It is not a society that good people with good family values would want to associate with.
2. It is a country which does not have the rule of law. The judges are corrupt and decide cases to please the Lee Kuan Yew family, the rulers of Singapore. This means if you have a dispute in the courts, without government connections, you will lose.
The government uses the courts and their judges to punish government opponents. You cannot criticize the government. If you do, you will be punished.
You are expected each day to do your work and go home quietly. You are not supposed to think about government policies. You are not allowed to question, or criticize. This applies to all, both immigrants and citizens.
You would not want yourselves and your families to live in a society where you have to completely submit to the orders of the government. If you or your family has a dispute with the government and it is not what they want, you cannot win. In other words, you and your family will live literally as slaves in Singapore.
3. There is no independent press in Singapore. All newspapers are owned by the government.
It means you will never be able to know what the truth in the island is. You will only know what is told to you by the government owned newspapers which is nothing more than propaganda.
It is possible for you to read the Internet but you never still know whether it is the truth or not, as most writers on the Internet are themselves afraid of being caught and punished by Lee Kuan Yew.
I don't think you would want your children to live in a society where they cannot find the truth that goes on in the island.
4. Your children would not get a good education. This is because the teaches are afraid to teach their children to speak the truth. For instance, they would tell your children not to criticize the government even if they were wrong.
The teachers would be punished if they taught their students to speak their minds openly without fear.
Lee Kuan Yew demands that the teachers teach their children to submit to government’s authority, regardless of what you think. I am sure you would not want your child to grow up as fearful as a mouse, because that is what the people are in that island today.
5. Singaporeans are a people of fear. They fear everyday of their lives. They fear that the government is watching them. If you bring your child to this island, they will grow up such timid souls which I am sure you do not want.
6. It is a criminal offense to publicly criticize the government. Even if you are alone and peacefully protested in public, you would be arrested.
Singapore government demands that everyone in the island simply obey whatever they say without complaint. This sort of existence is bad no matter where you are from. It is also bad for your family and your children.
7. There is no social security at all in Singapore. If you have a job you can feed your children. If not you will be a destitute.
Those who have lost their jobs have to line up at the government officer's premises and beg for money. There is no guarantee that you will get anything. If you don’t you and your children will have nothing to eat.
8. Coming to Singapore is all right for bachelors and single people coming for a short time to earn a little money and return. If you are from the People’s Republic of China, Burma, India, Philippines or Sri Lanka, and you think you can earn more than you can in your native country, it is a good idea to come temporarily.
If you lose your job, you can always go back and your family will not suffer by being here.
9. There is no guaranteed tenure for your stay in Singapore. If you are a temporary worker or a permanent resident, as they have no set laws about any of this, they could in fact send you home any time.
You should not put you wife and children through this uncertainty, not knowing when you will be kicked out.
10. Even if you were given citizenship, it is not permanent. They can anytime strip you of your citizenship and send you home.
11. Unless you are a single person, the cost of living in Singapore is too high for a family and you would hardly make any money. In many cases, because of the lower cost of living in your native countries, you are better off staying at home.
In Singapore, transportation costs, apartment rental, food and other items are more expensive than back home.
If you are single bachelor, and are prepared to live rough and cheaply, you could save some money.
12. Singapore’s crime rate is high. Today there are numerous daily cases of people held up at knife point or snatch thieves who steal your purse and necklace. The Singapore courts punish hundreds of these criminals daily but only few of these crimes are reported in the local newspapers.
As the crime rate is increasing so much, I believe the state controlled newspapers are not reporting most of them so as not to alarm the public. But the truth is, Singapore is becoming increasingly dangerous.
13. It is also too crowded. The island is only 16 miles from north to south and 26 miles east to west. Yet, in it presently already live 4.8 million people!
Life in such crowded conditions is not only unhealthy; it is not conducive to living.
14. Singapore today is finding it extremely difficult to attract good educated people to live there permanently. Many have already known the bad side of Singapore and others have even personally experienced it.
As time goes on, they would find it almost impossible to get things done, because of the lack of qualified people. They have got a bad name and it is spreading.
15. There is severe and serious racial discrimination against non- Chinese. If you are from India or from other countries other than China, my advice is not to come to Singapore.
There is an official housing policy not to let people who are not Chinese live anywhere they want. You will required to live in certain designated areas in government housing known as HDB.
You will also be discriminated in jobs, as many employers will advertise specifically for Chinese only and even if they don’t when they see you, they will turn you away.
Since there are no laws against racial discrimination and since the government themselves do it, you have no recourse against this unfairness. You and your children would be very disappointed.
16. It is an island that heavily relies on prostitution to survive. There is a large swathe of area specially set aside for this. It is called Geylang. There on a daily basis prostitutes can be seen glaringly for all to see, walking the streets and calling out at men for business.
It is almost impossible for good people to avoid this place altogether. If you are from a good moral background, you would not want your children to live in a society as immoral as this. This is shameless vulgarity.
17. If you can, there are other countries such as Australia and New Zealand which are true democracies. There your children will have good schools with good teachers and they will not have to live in this environment of fear in Singapore. They are true democracies. Also there will not be such official brutality and cruelty in the country with government beatings and hangings amongst you.
If you want to live in a civilized society for you and your family, my advice is to avoid Singapore.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
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23 comments:
It is an island that heavily relies on prostitution to survive. There is a large swathe of area specially set aside for this. It is called Geylang. There on a daily basis prostitutes can be seen glaringly for all to see, walking the streets and calling out at men for business.
- until today I had not thought of that perspective, we're so used to the fact that Geylang's so full of whores that it doesn't even register that something is terribly wrong. Plato's Cave is what's going on.
There is severe and serious racial discrimination against non- Chinese. If you are from India or from other countries other than China, my advice is not to come to Singapore.
- I remember when I was in kindergarten as a child, we were all made to learn mandarin as a second language (apparently there weren't enough teachers for other languages). Even then, the chinese kids would keep well away from me. They'd say nasty things like 'Are you black because you don't wash?' and 'Don't come near me, you smell bad' If we had to go out as a class. the teacher would instruct everyone to get a partner and hold hands. I could never get a partner. The chinese kid without a partner would flatly refuse to be my partner or hold my hand. Where do children learn such behaviour? At home? As a kid I hated to go to school. It didn't end there either. Until I left Singapore to study overseas, I've put up with an unbelievable amount of blatantly racist behaviour from classmates. co-workers, bosses,teachers, even people you see on the street. I've had many fiends form the minority races in Singapore but never one good chinese friend. Just goes to show the mentality of the majority in Singapore. Good Luck with your PRC Brothers!
Singapore may be in some cases a decent stepping stone but it is not a top destination for immigrants. I think everyone who is somehow tuned in to what is happening in the real world knows this.
What Nate said about the Singaporean's discrimination against the minority races is true. Chinese have been taught to look down on the darker skins.
In fact, Singapore Chinese's fear of migrating to Australia is of the fear of this form of discrimation - they will not be treated equally.
But what a lot of Singapore Chinese living in Australia will learn is instead is that of race tolerance.
Like Canadian PM, the Aussie PM had apologize to the natives for the Stolen Generation. The natives are not part of fauna.
Should Australian chose to take the easy way out like Singapore and pretend that the racism does not exist, or should Australians continuously challenge themselves to face the question of racism head-on. We have always opt for the latter. It is comforting to know from the local community newspapers that volunteers in the community have organise a barbie for the african refugees last week. Nice to know people do care.
"Even teenagers are executed"
Can you back this up, Mr Nair?
Agree with the rest of your arguments though.
Having lived in Singapore for nearly a decade, and finally could not take it anymore, I agree with Mr. Nair.
As an Indian, I faced racism everywhere... my family had to suffer too as I was stubborn on making some money before returning to my homeland.
I would recommend everyone to stay away from the sweet-looking tyrannical island of Singapore for all the above reasons given by Nair and a lot more that have not been mentioned here...
And I hope I am not hunted down by the LEE Clan back to my glorious democratic country.
JamesTan said...
"Singapore Chinese's fear of migrating to Australia is of the fear of this form of discrimation - they will not be treated equally"
How true.
At Uni, the Chinese were referred to as the "Chongs".
In wider society, they were called "horries" (short for horizontals referring to the slits for eyes.)
And, boy do they hate it.
And, the Northern Chinese look down upon Chinese from Singapore, as they consider to be of low-stock southerners.
'Oriental Angel' triggers China race row
"We tend to be biased against those who are darker-skinned, while admiring races that are paler than us. It is a deeply rooted evil within us," Hung wrote on her blog.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/oriental-angel-triggers-china-race-row-20091113-ie71.html
More on Chinese racism from the Washington Post.
1) Angry Internet posters called her a "black chimpanzee" and worse.
2) One called for all blacks in China to be deported.
3) Many appeared stunned that Americans had elected a black man, ..
4)"In Guangzhou, to be frank, they don't like Africans very much," ..
5)...the widely held view here that black people are inferior, that white people are wealthy and successful.
5)Chinese racial prejudices extend to the country's own minority groups, including Tibetans and Uighurs -- or anyone who is not ethnically Han Chinese.
6)"In my impression, black people, especially Africans, are not clean enough," Chen continued
7) many Chinese rationalize his election as a fluke ...suggest that Obama, whose mother was white, isn't "really" black.
And, Singapore wants to embrace all things Chinese??
I guess the main trouble with people coming to Singpore is the lure of a stronger currency, even if actual wages were lower then Hong Kong or South Korea, comparably developed 'Asian Tiger'.
Honestly, I would not completely discourage people from coming here to work. Not even from taking up PR status. The money earned here is what's attractive. It's just when you start imagining a life here that it becomes tricky. Small expensive public flats, an inability to effectively criticize the Government or choose who makes up the Government for that matter and well, many other right wing 'afraid of change' policies that forward thinking people would prefer to avoid.
Is Singapore a bad place to immigrate to per se. Well that's subjective. Because when you barely have reliable plumbing at home, when people are living in poverty around you and would rather rob you than work or when your government is SO corrupt they actually manage to make living standards worse with every huge tax increase, Singapore could be considered a haven of sorts. At least you pay taxes and GST and have a safe city and a much better shot at landing a job. Oh, and you could well be earning 5 times what you did back home. Bottom line: it's all about the Benjamins! Or the Ishaks perhaps? :p
While I do understand where you're coming from Mr. Nair, it's just too difficult for some to see things your way becasue you live in a liberal democracy and a world power at that. Most Singaporeans and immigrants here are Asians with decendents from third-world countries and many never get a chance to live, work or study elsewhere. It's also human nature to accept authority, unless you're being directly threatened by it (which I understand you have been) or if your basic needs aren't met (in the case of many economic immigrants).
What you're doing with this blog is admirable though. Reminding people that they shouldn't fall prey to the influence of Government just because they're the ones in charge. The financial benefits are mighty tempting though...
I have had a decade long Singapore experience of being an expat Indian. By and far is one of the societies where race plays a very significant role. Having traveled around 20 countries, Singapore is probably the only place where I am specifically asked which race I belong to. The options I had on Immigration form are:
1. Indian
2. Malay
3. Chinese
4. Others
I don’t remember studying in any school that all or any of the above constitute race. Thos few that are prominent in Asian region are – Aryans, Dravidians, Mongols etc. At one point, I was told by a land lord that he wouldn’t rent apartment to me because “I am an Indian”. I am pretty sure nobody would dare tell me that here in USA.
And yes, during my decade long stay, happened to seen many expat professionals who migrated to other countries and not 1 decided to get back.
Having said all the above, as suggested by Mr. Nair, it’s still a nice place for singles to make some quick bucks and move on.
i actually love your guts but you should not spread propaganda and pollute others in the wrong way.
1)I'm not a prostitute kind of person but i think its good that they have red light district to keep Rape and Molest crime low.Look at countries which ban this kinda places rape molest even murder comes to place. There is always pro's and con's about law's.
2) One of the main reasons Singaporeans aren't producing more babies is because both man and woman have to work and have very little time to spend with their families.I think to increase such precious time with family is very important.
3)What difference does it make if you leave your own country and hoping that the other country you decide to live in has no law,racial or any kind of problems?
Its healthy for a country if there are people who challenge to certain kind of rules or laws.So that the government know what should or shouldn't be done.
Everyone has a mind to think and each and every one of us have a different mindset.
Your heart mind and soul is always at where u were born and raised, that is Singapura. Singapura will always be at your heart that is why you've been thinking about it day and night. We should also give thanks to the people who gave our country an independence
we're very happy to live here in singapura to see all kind of faces Black white yellow brown living around us and learning about their culture and food.
One love.
Hello Tim,
You havn't said anything different from what I have said. There will always be many from the impoverished neighbouring countries wanting to come to Singapore, as long as Singapore can pay better. Just as they would want to go to Dubai. Or to the new Iraq, or whatever. These are the illetarate coolies mostly. You would also get a few fly by night characters who want to stay until they find their preffered destination of Austalia. Not the highly edcuated skilled English speaking, the very ones needed for this city state of Singapore. They will not come. They not only want money. They want to be treated like humans.
Ash said...
i actually love your guts but you should not spread propaganda and pollute others in the wrong way.
-----------
Let me guess: From his philosophy and writing style, Ash is an ethnic Chinese. Probably not born in Singapore but from the PRC.
But, despite his simplistic and Confucian worldview, I commend him on his courage on reading this blog and responding. :)
Keep reading and writing, Ash.
Your blog posts make me laugh. It is so hilariously misleading and one-dimensional.
I am a teenager. I am happy in Singapore. And all of my friends are happy in Singapore too.
Sorry that you have to be so bitter. But I guess it wouldn't make a difference even if you were born in some other country.
Some people are always so bitter.
To intending immigrants, it may not be your fault to be born in a situation of desperate poverty to merit staying temporary in Singapore and save some money but you will definitely move out if and when you find alternatives elsewhere.
well, i am a S'porean, my parents came from India and settled here and they love this city, never wanting to go back to India.
5 good reasons why i call this HOME:
1) CLEAN ROADS
2) WOMEN'S RIGHTS
3) SAFE CITY ( to a certain
extent)
4) LAW AND ORDER (most areas)
5) BEAUTIFUL CITY
I may not be very rich to enjoy
all the luxuries in this city
i am quite happy and can't imagine
living in any other asian city,
except Brunei.
Anonymous Dec 17, 0110,
"Law and order (most areas)!" That is the problem. You cannot have law in some areas and not in others. Shows your lack of understanding. That is why you are the perfect immigrant for Singapore. And Singapore only manages to get your sort, which is why they are declining by the day. The better ones are accepted by the West.
Hi Gopalan,
I am Australian permanent resident(soon I will become a citizen). I was thinking whether I should look for a job in academia in Singapore. I learnt from others including Singaporeans that Academic's are paid better than in Australia and also taxes are very less in Singapore.
But I also heard from Singaporean studying Australia that freedom is not as much as in Australia.
Comments in this blog have been very useful for me in making up my mind about Singapore.
Thanks and Cheers,
Sriram
me and my family wanna to run away...but due to low income..how we have the money and time to migrate? Low income are just as bad as a begger..thinking of how to earn more money everyday...even sometime thinking of breaking the laws. Help us..Help us.. we need to get away from This small little idiotic island!!!
Just wanted to comment because I'm from the Island Of Puerto Rico we are a Common Welath of The USA and People their are not happy with the Government in the past decades to be corrupted but people beleive that is Singapore could be independent being such a smaller island than Puerto Rico. Why can't PR be one...and not be dependent of USA I am so glad I found this article because people only sees the nice side of the island but in reality they do not see the pain and suffering that others have gone through.
Racism , lots of it exist in Singapore.
As a Singaporean Indian, i have been discriminated
Is the education system that results in such racist tendencies in people .
The education system is all hype and marketing.
There is nothing good about it. They dun teach moral values, international affairs, financial knowledge.
Singapore is rich but not all Singaporean is rich. The govt always like to suck Singaporeans money in any ways. They earn a lot of money but didnt really contribute a lot. Still remember the 'Stop At Two' policy??? They actually want people that are educated to give birth to more babies so that they can actually contribute to the economy..... but earn more money, and govt can gain more revenue. Sigh
I am an African American / US Citizen presented with the opportunity with working in Singapore for a year. I am considering this & would like to get some feedback. I am a technology professional with over a decade of experience.
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