Monday, March 16, 2009

In a recent poll conducted by the FT and Harris, over 75% of Britons believe jobless immigrants (i.e. people like me) should be asked to leave the UK, according to a new poll. Back home, I've grown up with a constant barrage about how foreign talent's the way to go, as if Singaporeans aren't good enough for senior positions in any organisation. I've seen my fair share of second-rate Westerners working in positions of seniority back home simply because they're white. Not that they're all bad, mind you, but you've got to admit that there's more than the occasional case of reverse discrimination in Asia.

It's tough being a Singaporean sometimes. It's not as if we're not welcome anywhere. It's just that we don't seem to be seen as good enough to get anywhere.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of all the ASEAN members, Singaporeans hardly ever feature. What I mean is there are hardly any you folks loitering around in Britain and this is not simply due the relative size of your country. The country is run so relatively nigh on perfect that the triumvirate of national fervour, lack of accountable poverty and legendary prospects (still the case despite everything) will always ensure Singaporeans stay put. The strange thing is that the only Singaporeans that you see here with numbers high enough that are worth correlating, are the women who have settled down here with their ang mor hubbies.

Give or take either way, I think you’re lucky, and that’s without bounds. Should London fail, you can always go back and slog things out without much trouble. Not many people have that kind of the advantage served on their plates, I certainly can’t with where I come from. LMR, I’m slightly envious of you :-x

Unknown said...

I don't disagree with your points. I know I'm incredibly lucky in that, without the opportunities I received in Singapore, I certainly wouldn't be where I am today. I don't hate my home. It's clean, it's efficient, it's rather affordable and, heck, my good friends and family are still there.

I guess I'm so used to fighting really hard in order to get what I want, that it'd be nice to feel that the odds are with me for a change!

As for women and their ang moh hubbies, I can't disagree with that one for sure. I'm not sure if that'll happen to me. So far, I've managed to get my heart broken by a local boy (read: Singaporean one way or the other) wherever I've been based!

I actually thought you were from South-East Asia given your liking for food from there. You're much more passionate about Singaporean and Malaysian food than most Singa-laysians I know here!