umop ǝpısdn ǝɟıl ʎɯ uɹnʇ: Better In Time
Better In Time
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Things are looking up once again. I know, things have always been ever looking up (once again) but we do definitely have our down times periodically. I was doing some random reading during N level invigilation today when i chance upon this very pun intended article regarding the recent interest on housing foreign workers. Very invoking, accompanied with that wicked tinge of humour.

Residents of Serangoon
"We shouldn't let them infiltrate our neighbourhoods. They might rape our women, sleep with our maids and rob the poor. They will cause our property to depreciate in its value too."

Residents of Jurong
"If you don't set up the Quarters in Serangoon, are you implying that you're going to build more Quarters in our estate which is already infested with them?"

A resident of Bishan
"I'm against the building of the luxury condominium in the Bishan estate. From what i read in papers, people living in such housings are extremely rude, snobbish and they will definitely look down on us, living in the HDB flats opposite them. They will jump queues at chicken rice stalls, buy up all the wines at convenience stores. They will drive their Posche and parade the roads and make eyes with our women. And they will also inflate the prices of prawn in our wet market. Futhermore, with these skyscrapers towering over us, our property prices will plummet. I insist that our little HDB haven be protected from all these outsiders which wil corrupt our way of life." (wrt the foreign worker issue. how cynical)

Not the same thing?
Yeah, right.

A feasible study suggested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to set up a foreign worker village which is self contained, a "win-win" situation whereby they could lead their way of life without causing much distress and discontentment amongst heartland Singaporeans. In my opinion, that is akin to putting them on a far strung foreign-land, when they are already in a foreign country. That is so much for that benevolence and sympathy.

So where do we house these foreign workers? I look at them with much sympathy too. Afterall, they have contributed to our economy, toiled long hours to build our HDB apartments, the schools our children study in, kept our estates clean and green. Yet, we are just so stingy with that bit of graciousness to acknowlegde and thank them for their efforts, and sad to say to the extent of depriving them of that little space to live and work in.

But to house them in the backyard of my neighbourhood?
No, thanks.