Singapore. Anti foreigner vitroil can damange the island's reputation says Lee Kuan Yew's son. What else did he expect

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Lee Kuan Yew's son who rules Singapore (the Lee ruling family) has admitted that the hatred against foreigners in Singapore is mounting and it hurts Singapore’s image. Of course it will. What else did he expect?

See Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits Times article of Aug 26, 2012 titled "Anti foreigner vitriol can damage Singapore's reputation: PM Lee. http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/anti-foreigner-vitriol-can-damage-singapores-reputation-pm-lee-2012082

It is disappointing to see in it, his blaming native Singaporeans and not the foreigners by reducing the issue to simply whether the foreigners are right or local Singaporeans are right and either deliberately or through ignorance (I would think it is very much the former), ignoring the underlying reasons behind this trend.  

For instance he says "that bad behavior from foreigners provoke an overwhelming response while bad Singaporean behavior goes uncriticized". Frankly if you knew how he and his father Lee Kuan Yew are hurting local Singaporeans in every possible way in their own country, and favoring foreigners, it is small wonder why Singaporeans haven't yet got to the throats of every single foreigner they see.

He then goes on to quote several instances where foreigners have been good to Singaporeans and therefore presumably expects Singaporeans to be nice to them.

Lee Kuan Yew's son who has been appointed Prime Minister by his father and is now dictating to us (he has been dictating to Singaporeans for decades), appears not to know the underlying reasons for this hatred. Very convenient indeed.

Let me at least enunciate them for the benefit of the reader.

In Singapore foreigners are treated equally with Singaporeans even though they have had no relationship with Singapore in the past, and are total strangers to the island. They could just arrive in Singapore at Changi, stay a couple of days in a hotel, casually look at the local jobs vacant column, apply for a job and be hired the next day, no questions asked.

This is a totally unacceptable policy. In every other country in the world, the local citizens are given priority over jobs and residential rights. Citizenship has to mean at least something, surely. In every other place, a foreigner is required to go through a process to show local people are unavailable or unwilling to accept the job, and only then and then alone, is the foreigner given the job. This is not so in Singapore.

And if that is not bad enough, the reality in Singapore is even worse. Very often, foreigners who are usually alone without families and who come from the nearby impoverished countries are willing to accept far lower salaries, they are not bound by local national service requirements which causes disruption from work, which makes them far more attractive to employers. A local on the other hand cannot live on a few hundred dollars having to support a wife and children.

In this uneven playing field, why when the Singapore employer who can get away with paying less and moreover have an employee who will not leave each year for military service, not employ him.

In fact, the sad truth is that, increasing numbers of Singaporeans are thrown into unemployment while foreigners enjoy full employment, in a country that has no social security net whatsoever for the unemployed.

Unless the Lee Ruling Family of Singapore have their brains in their backsides, they have no concern whatsoever for the plight of local Singaporeans and the day when they will make it fair for them is the day Satan will go to work on a snow sledge.

Personally I am against violence and would urge Singaporeans to use non violent means such as peaceful protests to reverse this policy of advancing the interests of foreigners in Singapore, although I have heard of increasing incidents of violence against foreigners by Singaporeans because of this and I have to say that I can fully understand why.

However as a man who believes that violence is not only useless and counter productive, it can also lead to totally unexpected negative consequences. Therefore no violence please. You should manage to get your way using peaceful methods.  I am sure of that.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California
Tel: 510 657 6107 or 510 491 4375