Tuesday, August 19, 2008

i came across a very interesting thread today about Singapore winning silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. and here is my view on the topic. @ http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/hate-the-policy-love-the-paddler/

i spent almost 2 hrs reading through all the post in this forum. why did i do it? how did i even find this forum at the first place? well, Singapore in gold medal finals is a big thing indeed! so i decided to watch the match. but, sad to say this but as i was watching it, i felt a certain discomfort in me. i almost was hoping that Singapore would loose rather then win the match. and every point china got, i felt better. shocking isn’t it? BUT please, let me explain. i am a ‘pure’ Singaporean, like many of you indicated. where as, my dad was an expat or foreign talent. he has been living in Singapore for the past 30yrs, i think. and me practically all my life. i grew up as a child here. played at the playground with the Malay, Chinese and Indian kids. ate the the coffee shop near my house. got into troubles at school and etc. i feel a belonging, a connection to this country. this is my country, my home. i feel safe here like no where else in the world, amongst my own people. that is why i can proudly hold up my head and say that i AM an Singaporean. BUT!! do you think these so-called foreign talents of Singapore say the same thing and feel the same way i feel about Singapore, MY homeland?? the answer is NO, my friends. the fact is that they will never feel the same way, and we have to face it. they did not grow up here. they did not grow up like we did. so HOW are we to feel proud of their achievements?? i myself am ashamed really to say that Singapore won silver medal in the Olympics. because we did not! the china players did. no matter how we put it into language, it would always mean ‘the CHINA and NOT the Chinese players won the medal’ for us. i hope you people see where i am going with this. and even for the fact to bring in foreign talent to give them citizenship rights, how can the policy really be so open?? the fact I'm aware of is that it takes i certain number of years to even convert from a PR status to a CITIZEN for us normal people. and yes, the government has the right to do do as to allow FTs or expats to integrate to society, in simple term FEEL like a Singaporean themselves. but this players are getting this right too easily, and i bet they would not VALUE it!! like some of you said, they are as likely to run off to another country if it offers them more money! i feel that FT policy is OK. but get the players here at a early age and GROOM them like many of you said. SO THEY BE LABELED “MADE IN SINGAPORE” AND NOT simply “MADE IN CHINA but ASSEMBLED IN SINGAPORE” or even “MADE IN CHINA, IMPORTED BY SINGAPORE”. and nevertheless, i really don’t see why Singapore is so dying for medals in the Olympics. for all i know is that MEDALS ARE NOT BRINGING DOWN FUEL PRICE OR THE COST OF LIVING here!!! fine if you are happy the way your life is, at least care to look at the aunties or uncles who collect cans from litter bins everyday to make ends meet. can’t all the money spent on these CHINA-PLAYERS be channeled to help them????? have a heart, make a change.