Avoiding a potential class divide
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Apr 13, 2012 - ST Forum
I WAS privileged to have been invited to attend Professor Lim Chong Yah's lecture, Economic Restructuring II, as a guest ('Time to restructure Singapore for the future'; Tuesday).
During the lecture, Prof Lim also noted that Singapore's multiracial and multi-religious society makes us more susceptible to social tensions that stem from income inequality. Larger countries with homogeneous populations, like China and Japan, tend to be more resistant to social tensions because of their homogeneity.
By contrast, in Singapore, a class divide between the haves and have-nots can easily turn into friction between different social groups. The perception of unfair income distribution may cause a 'politics of envy' to take root in Singapore's heterogeneous population.
If the side effects of social tension are not properly addressed, this will spell trouble for Singapore's social compact, and its attractiveness as an investment haven.
Prof Lim's wage proposal does not only treat the side effects, but it also aims to treat the root of the problem, by doing away with cheap foreign labour and accelerating the rate of change for the local labour force to become more productive, to justify its wage increase.
I support Prof Lim's proposals. But to insist on dispensing a right but bitter medicine is not easy. It requires will, courage and trust.
Tay Xiong Sheng
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Someone who is useless said will do something to the widening incoming gap before election. During election campaign cried and cried to win votes (from Ang Mo Kio GRC, the sissy one ). After winning election, what heshe said is nothing but mere words.
You out there who are the 60 percent Sickaporeans are damn sick and selfish to allow him and party the mandate to do as they want to us. Damn you the Sickaporeans!
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He already did.
Now, the rich and super-rich gal are wider.
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Avoiding a potential class divide
There has been a class divide in Singapore from the second that PAP took power in 1959.
The divide is between the british privileged elites like peranakans, eurasians and the non privilege like chinese, malays and indians.
That English is a `neutral' language is, of course, an ideological illusion. Since
Singapore was a British colony for 150 years, English was already a common language
among the privileged local population who worked for the colonial administration
and whose children had access to the limited opportunities of learning the language.
This included the first generation of political leaders who, as English speakers, had
access to British university education immediately after the second world war. The
ideological promotion of English as a `neutral' language to all ethnic Asian children
has suppressed this class dimension. The political utility of this illusory `neutrality' is
that it enables the state to articulate, in English, its own interests distinctly, apart from
the interests of all racial groups. It also effects a separation of state/national interests
from those of the racial majority, and prevents state/national interests from being
captured by the racial majority.
The position of monolingual Chinese speakers
illustrates this.
http://lukdomen.narod.ru/questia-geopol.pdf
Tang found himself not merely participating in politics, but running for election. His reasons for this decision were very much based on his concerns over what was happening to the Chinese community and other minority communities, in Singapore.
Non-English speaking Singaporeans, including Chinese, Malays and Indians have, he says, been discriminated against unnecessarily under the PAP policies, particularly, for example the Chinese-educated, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindus and the Muslims.
The discrimination, he says, takes various forms: Nanyang University was restructured; there is no Chinese-language business paper; there is discrimination in the intake of university students, in the engagement of university lecturers and school teachers, in the manning of positions in the army and police forces, and an absence of representation of the non-English-speaking Singaporeans in the decision-making process and in many top government posts. These are just a few examples.
"It is obvious that Lee and his family have already amassed vast amount of wealth. But nobody dared to speak up.
They are very powerful in Singapore. To maintain their high positions and wealth, they must have a monopoly of power. LKY has his relatives and cronies in the army, in the police force and everywhere. They have their fingers everywhere.
http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2006/05/feature-on-tang-liang-hong.html
Endangered species?
For goodness sake, Lee Kuan Yew practically filled the entire cabinet with inbred Peranakans.
For the last few decades in Singapore, the top positions in civil service, statutory boards, armed forces, GLCs have all along been going disproportionately to the Peranakans.
That is one reason why Singapore has been run to the ground.
Lee Kuan Yew worked with the Japanese Kempeitai and later the British colonizers to suppress the non-Peranakan Chinese.
That's why he has always been wary of non-Peranakan Chinese and could only entrust power to his own family members and his other Peranakan cronies.
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2009/02/17/peranakans__going_the_way_of_the.html
Larger countries with homogeneous populations, like China and Japan, tend to be more resistant to social tensions because of their homogeneity.
Singapore is also quite homogeneous, 75% chinese. China and Japan resistance to social tensions I think is actually bullshit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
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Originally posted by Dalforce 1941:
There has been a class divide in Singapore from the second that PAP took power in 1959.
The divide is between the british privileged elites like peranakans, eurasians and the non privilege like chinese, malays and indians.
That English is a `neutral' language is, of course, an ideological illusion. Since
Singapore was a British colony for 150 years, English was already a common language
among the privileged local population who worked for the colonial administration
and whose children had access to the limited opportunities of learning the language.
This included the first generation of political leaders who, as English speakers, had
access to British university education immediately after the second world war. The
ideological promotion of English as a `neutral' language to all ethnic Asian children
has suppressed this class dimension. The political utility of this illusory `neutrality' is
that it enables the state to articulate, in English, its own interests distinctly, apart from
the interests of all racial groups. It also effects a separation of state/national interests
from those of the racial majority, and prevents state/national interests from being
captured by the racial majority.
The position of monolingual Chinese speakers
illustrates this.
http://lukdomen.narod.ru/questia-geopol.pdf
Tang found himself not merely participating in politics, but running for election. His reasons for this decision were very much based on his concerns over what was happening to the Chinese community and other minority communities, in Singapore.
Non-English speaking Singaporeans, including Chinese, Malays and Indians have, he says, been discriminated against unnecessarily under the PAP policies, particularly, for example the Chinese-educated, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindus and the Muslims.
The discrimination, he says, takes various forms: Nanyang University was restructured; there is no Chinese-language business paper; there is discrimination in the intake of university students, in the engagement of university lecturers and school teachers, in the manning of positions in the army and police forces, and an absence of representation of the non-English-speaking Singaporeans in the decision-making process and in many top government posts. These are just a few examples.
"It is obvious that Lee and his family have already amassed vast amount of wealth. But nobody dared to speak up.
They are very powerful in Singapore. To maintain their high positions and wealth, they must have a monopoly of power. LKY has his relatives and cronies in the army, in the police force and everywhere. They have their fingers everywhere.
http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2006/05/feature-on-tang-liang-hong.html
Endangered species?
For goodness sake, Lee Kuan Yew practically filled the entire cabinet with inbred Peranakans.
For the last few decades in Singapore, the top positions in civil service, statutory boards, armed forces, GLCs have all along been going disproportionately to the Peranakans.
That is one reason why Singapore has been run to the ground.
Lee Kuan Yew worked with the Japanese Kempeitai and later the British colonizers to suppress the non-Peranakan Chinese.
That's why he has always been wary of non-Peranakan Chinese and could only entrust power to his own family members and his other Peranakan cronies.
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2009/02/17/peranakans__going_the_way_of_the.html
Singapore is also quite homogeneous, 75% chinese. China and Japan resistance to social tensions I think is actually bullshit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
okay, time to practise my history reliability skill. lets call this source A.
source A is unreliable because of its bianess and its hidden motive.
from soucre A, i can infer that the singapore government choice of language is wrong. The author also empathesis on the government being a pernaranakan, hence the national language is English, which belittle the malay, indians and most importantly, the chinese which is the majority, whose cultural roots has been supressed by the minority, the pernarankan.
The author wanted to convey a message that a minority is supressing a majority, giving a message to the audience that they should not have LKY as a leader.
Hence, source a is unreliable because its bias(saying only the bad side of the english language policy) and it's polictical motive(not having LKY as leader)
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Originally posted by Dalforce 1941:
There has been a class divide in Singapore from the second that PAP took power in 1959.
The divide is between the british privileged elites like peranakans, eurasians and the non privilege like chinese, malays and indians.
That English is a `neutral' language is, of course, an ideological illusion. Since
Singapore was a British colony for 150 years, English was already a common language
among the privileged local population who worked for the colonial administration
and whose children had access to the limited opportunities of learning the language.
This included the first generation of political leaders who, as English speakers, had
access to British university education immediately after the second world war. The
ideological promotion of English as a `neutral' language to all ethnic Asian children
has suppressed this class dimension. The political utility of this illusory `neutrality' is
that it enables the state to articulate, in English, its own interests distinctly, apart from
the interests of all racial groups. It also effects a separation of state/national interests
from those of the racial majority, and prevents state/national interests from being
captured by the racial majority.
The position of monolingual Chinese speakers
illustrates this.
http://lukdomen.narod.ru/questia-geopol.pdf
Tang found himself not merely participating in politics, but running for election. His reasons for this decision were very much based on his concerns over what was happening to the Chinese community and other minority communities, in Singapore.
Non-English speaking Singaporeans, including Chinese, Malays and Indians have, he says, been discriminated against unnecessarily under the PAP policies, particularly, for example the Chinese-educated, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindus and the Muslims.
The discrimination, he says, takes various forms: Nanyang University was restructured; there is no Chinese-language business paper; there is discrimination in the intake of university students, in the engagement of university lecturers and school teachers, in the manning of positions in the army and police forces, and an absence of representation of the non-English-speaking Singaporeans in the decision-making process and in many top government posts. These are just a few examples.
"It is obvious that Lee and his family have already amassed vast amount of wealth. But nobody dared to speak up.
They are very powerful in Singapore. To maintain their high positions and wealth, they must have a monopoly of power. LKY has his relatives and cronies in the army, in the police force and everywhere. They have their fingers everywhere.
http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2006/05/feature-on-tang-liang-hong.html
Endangered species?
For goodness sake, Lee Kuan Yew practically filled the entire cabinet with inbred Peranakans.
For the last few decades in Singapore, the top positions in civil service, statutory boards, armed forces, GLCs have all along been going disproportionately to the Peranakans.
That is one reason why Singapore has been run to the ground.
Lee Kuan Yew worked with the Japanese Kempeitai and later the British colonizers to suppress the non-Peranakan Chinese.
That's why he has always been wary of non-Peranakan Chinese and could only entrust power to his own family members and his other Peranakan cronies.
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2009/02/17/peranakans__going_the_way_of_the.html
Singapore is also quite homogeneous, 75% chinese. China and Japan resistance to social tensions I think is actually bullshit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
everyone, don't listen to this guy, he's trying to make the audience(Sgforums vistors) think along the racial line, the same way UNMO challenged PAP during merger, saying the minority (or the majority) is not well taken care of.
this guy is trying to cause a divide, this guy obviously have a strong political motive.
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Originally posted by Summer hill:
everyone, don't listen to this guy, he's trying to make the audience(Sgforums vistors) think along the racial line, the same way UNMO challenged PAP during merger, saying the minority (or the majority) is not well taken care of.
this guy is trying to cause a divide, this guy obviously have a strong political motive.
Thanks for the caution, but everyone must have the choice to decide for themselves.
How each one decide is up to that individual.
Its ironic how people can whine that people have no choice, but these very people do not respect other peoples' choice when it do not comensurate with their agenda.
Read and be informed or dismiss according to your intelligence, all literature you read.
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normally,
high class: that jolie girl from Tombraider movie
low class: half decayed zombie strippers playing with billard balls.
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Originally posted by Dalforce 1941:
There has been a class divide in Singapore from the second that PAP took power in 1959.
The divide is between the british privileged elites like peranakans, eurasians and the non privilege like chinese, malays and indians.
That English is a `neutral' language is, of course, an ideological illusion. Since
Singapore was a British colony for 150 years, English was already a common language
among the privileged local population who worked for the colonial administration
and whose children had access to the limited opportunities of learning the language.
This included the first generation of political leaders who, as English speakers, had
access to British university education immediately after the second world war. The
ideological promotion of English as a `neutral' language to all ethnic Asian children
has suppressed this class dimension. The political utility of this illusory `neutrality' is
that it enables the state to articulate, in English, its own interests distinctly, apart from
the interests of all racial groups. It also effects a separation of state/national interests
from those of the racial majority, and prevents state/national interests from being
captured by the racial majority.
The position of monolingual Chinese speakers
illustrates this.
http://lukdomen.narod.ru/questia-geopol.pdf
Tang found himself not merely participating in politics, but running for election. His reasons for this decision were very much based on his concerns over what was happening to the Chinese community and other minority communities, in Singapore.
Non-English speaking Singaporeans, including Chinese, Malays and Indians have, he says, been discriminated against unnecessarily under the PAP policies, particularly, for example the Chinese-educated, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindus and the Muslims.
The discrimination, he says, takes various forms: Nanyang University was restructured; there is no Chinese-language business paper; there is discrimination in the intake of university students, in the engagement of university lecturers and school teachers, in the manning of positions in the army and police forces, and an absence of representation of the non-English-speaking Singaporeans in the decision-making process and in many top government posts. These are just a few examples.
"It is obvious that Lee and his family have already amassed vast amount of wealth. But nobody dared to speak up.
They are very powerful in Singapore. To maintain their high positions and wealth, they must have a monopoly of power. LKY has his relatives and cronies in the army, in the police force and everywhere. They have their fingers everywhere.
http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2006/05/feature-on-tang-liang-hong.html
Endangered species?
For goodness sake, Lee Kuan Yew practically filled the entire cabinet with inbred Peranakans.
For the last few decades in Singapore, the top positions in civil service, statutory boards, armed forces, GLCs have all along been going disproportionately to the Peranakans.
That is one reason why Singapore has been run to the ground.
Lee Kuan Yew worked with the Japanese Kempeitai and later the British colonizers to suppress the non-Peranakan Chinese.
That's why he has always been wary of non-Peranakan Chinese and could only entrust power to his own family members and his other Peranakan cronies.
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2009/02/17/peranakans__going_the_way_of_the.html
Singapore is also quite homogeneous, 75% chinese. China and Japan resistance to social tensions I think is actually bullshit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
maybe lee kuan yew was a great cook for the japs and brits apart from his daily work routine. -
Times are bad.
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Originally posted by Dalforce 1941:
There has been a class divide in Singapore from the second that PAP took power in 1959.
The divide is between the british privileged elites like peranakans, eurasians and the non privilege like chinese, malays and indians.
Every race has their piss-poor people.
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lim ya ya
my jc textbook was written by him
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oh btw, he's also Lee Hsien Yang's wife's father
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These kind of information also you know ah.
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Life is surreal.
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yeh hor, now even prostitution got class divide. Minor prostitutes with initial tighter pussy, and older stir coffee prostitutes