Nominated Member of Parliament Viswa Sadasivan has rebuked Shanmugam for warning Singaporeans not to be ‘xenophobic’ over the ‘currygate’ saga which has caught the attention of the international media as well.
The public outcry arises over the shocking decision made by the Community Mediation Center (CMC) under the Law Ministry to disallow a Singaporean Indian family to cook curry within the confines of their HDB flat when their PRC neighbors are at home following a complaint filed by the latter.
Though CMC has clarified that the idea was proposed by one of the parties, Singaporeans are still asking why CMC bothered to entertain such a frivolous complaint in the first place.
Instead of addressing the concerns of Singaporeans, pro-foreigner Shanmugam lashed out at them for being ‘anti-foreigner’ and ‘xenophobic’ in a verbal tirade during a press conference on Tuesday.
Shanmugam did not explain why CMC bothered to entertain the PRC family’s frivolous complaint in the first place and went into a tirade against “some people” who are ‘reacting to a set of facts which are wholly inaccurate’ and therefore are allowing emotions to run high.
“Let’s not turn this into a xenophobic attack on foreigners in general….This sort of differences exist between Singaporeans, among foreigners and between foreigners and Singaporeans and not just in Singapore, but elsewhere as well,”he said.
In his letter to the Straits Times Forum today, NMP Viswa wrote that “we should be even more concerned about the negative signal this incident could send out.”
“It threatens to strike at the values upon which our society is built – tolerance and acceptance. All of us who grew up in Singapore would have had occasion to be confronted with a cultural or religious practice that was not palatable. Our evolved instinct would have been to respect the right of the other party as a cohabitant of our space, and so tolerate, if not accept it,” he added.
Such a complaint is hardly heard from native Singaporeans who are used to living peacefully with one another for the last fifty years or so till the recent influx of immigrants from China and India. In other countries, foreigners are expected to conform to the social norms of their adopted country. It seems to be the other way round in Singapore.
Viswa defended Singaporeans against the unwarranted criticisms by Shanmugam by explaining to him the definition of ‘xenophobia’:
“So, yes, in the past few days, there have been emotional reactions against foreigners who are reluctant to accept and adopt our way of life, but I see it more as a unified stand against legitimisation of intolerance. It is not directed at foreigners per se, but at anyone – even a Singaporean – who is misguided. So, let’s not miss the wood for the trees. This is not xenophobia, and it certainly is not about a nation’s love of curry.”
Singaporeans need not be too surprised by the remarks made by Shanmugam. After all, in his eyes, Singapore is only a ‘city’ and not a ‘country’.
he is an idiot
not just for slip shod way he clarified the case
but also for attacking singaporeans and for not defending racial/religious tolerance in singapore
That is the consequences we face when the govt gets talentless, heartless, insensitive and immature "public servant" to "serve us".
Foreigners and new citizens who are rude, uncivilised, uncultured, intorable of others, do not deserve our respect.
Originally posted by tranquilice:Foreigners and new citizens who are rude, uncivilised, uncultured, intorable of others, do not deserve our respect.
The ruling party and foreigners need to be educated that respect is earned.
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Originally posted by Bnmkghgfh:.
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