The English language--The sacred cow for citizens

During my student era, the English language was the sacred cow in our education system. As a lingua franca to our multi-ethnic society, its importance to our social cohesion is indisputable. Nevertheless, our education system went over board in placing the English language on the pedestal, that it was the determinant to one's academic progression (mother tongue language is another similar subject which was attached with political agenda but it will not be the focus of discussion in this entry) Meaning that if you were to fail your English at an internal school exam, you will have to repeat your academic year even despite scoring all the stars for the rest of your subjects.

The English language was not just a mere tool in fostering a social cohesion to our then population whereby I was already the second generation of our immigrant society, but served concurrently as a political tool in cementing the power of the English-speaking elite as oppositional to the Mandarin- or other ethnic language- speaking elites.

I have a classmate and relative who passed all their subjects apart from English at O level and were forced onto the path of polytechnic. In fact, my classmate had better grades than me in most of the subjects failing only English. I felt weird. Because of the fact that she was an academically better student than me and she scored A for the other English-medium subjects, proving that she has sufficient knowledge of English to achieve good grades and that should suffice.

I could rumble on for ages on this subject. Nevertheless, the question that I would like to raise is that, with such immense importance placed on this language on its own citizens, why is it now otherwise for a certain group of foreign nationals (termed foreign talents by the policy makers) working on our island? In other words, why are advantages and privileges thrown at this group of foreigners whereby the command of English language is not even a pre-requisite to their jobs when English language is our education medium, our working and social language?

My high school classmate came into my mind. She was penalized for the failure of mastering the English language and took a different educational path from me. No doubt polytechnic students still stand chances of pursuing an university education in our local institutions, there is a limitation to the number of students allowed. However, given her excellent overall results, why was she subject to such?

And yet the expectations on our citizens to help out these foreign nationals with their limited or virtually non-existent English language at their work places, inconveniencing customers and co-workers, and at the same time, their very presence pose a direct challenge to our local wages. It makes no sense to me as these foreigners bring no additional benefits to the quality of our lives and in fact on the contrary and to the extent of being detrimental to our own citizens, but more monetary benefits for business owners, property owners and MNCs where a large proportion of employees are foreigners anyway. Ultimately, policy makers stand to gain and therefore explain their irresponsible act of urging citizens to embrace foreign influx.

2012 Net profits for SMRT to smile and more Squeeze for the commuters

An inverse relation between the SMRT and the commuters

If we are old enough to remember our train rides in 2002, it might not be perfect but the current frequency of halts and scale of breakdowns were unheard of. And definitely the squeeze on the trains then pale in comparison to the current kind of squashed commuting experience. I still remember that train rides were always cold and air conditioning was far too luxurious. Nowadays, I understand what it is like to be perspiring on the train and enjoying all kinds of body odour (inevitable but inevitably unpleasant too). Nobody remembers though that the earnings per share for SMRT then (in 2002) was only 3.8 cents and that its net profits were only 56. 8 million. Both its EPS and net profits grew as relentlessly as the fall of travel quality for commuters over the decade since then.

2012 SMRT Net Profits
 
All are rosy for SMRT despite experiencing a greater “hardship” for their FY 2012, “suffering” a 25.6% drop in their net profits. Fortunately, SMRT still gets to bag in a net profit of 119.1 million Singapore dollars although it might lament at their previous good reap of 160.1 million net profits in FY 2011. Earnings per share took a dip to 7.9 from its previous 10.6 cents. Nevertheless, it is still twice of that amount in 2002 (Earnings per share was only 3.8 cents in 2002) given the much smaller ridership (and higher level of comfort for the commuters then).  

Between FY 2011 and FY 2012, what has changed for the commuters?

First a price hike in Sep 2011 followed by two major train breakdowns in Dec 2011. To the commuters’ dismay, the drama didn’t stop just right there. They full bloomed into all kinds of breakdowns or train halts on all lines, regardless of the age of line in use and even the mode does not matter. LRT broke down too. Train halts became a common affair and will be a miracle if it didn’t, all the way up to this day.

Committee of inquiry (COI) for the Dec breakdowns was conducted, where LTA and SMRT both share the costs, and ultimately borne entirely by the taxpayers again. The portion which the SMRT forked out will be eventually compensated indirectly by the commuters-cum-taxpayers anyway through price hike.

As for travelling experience, it is definitely an enhancement of smells. Daily ridership for SMRT has gone up by 130, 000 (8.1%). The physical squeeze during peak period is very real, not just some noises on the ground, as 3 more commuters are added to the already space-constraint car, totalling a number of 191 commuters in a single car smelling each others’ armpit.

Or commuters could choose to relax slightly by travelling off peak period, as the average no. of passengers in a car fell from 70.6 to 66.2. Some might have to make a squeeze on their time by travelling to work super early or travelling home super late to enjoy that limited luxury of space on a SMRT car.

Between FY 2011 and FY 2012, what has changed for SMRT?

The CEO has changed from a woman from retails to a man from the army. Not necessarily an indication of change in ingredients for brewing the soup. I wouldn't expect any change if a rooster instead of a hen is employed to plough the farmlands.

Being fined for 2 million for its poor quality of service. SMRT will bide its time in recovering that same amount somehow, if not more.

Smaller net profits for SMRT but the blissful realization that it has privileges in gaming the local public transport system here. Its profits will be first buffered by the taxpayers’ fund (starting with some 1 billion already) for the purchase of trains and therefore less capital cost, meaning greater profit margins! Then Public Transport Council will also chip in some form of help by never failing to agree to SMRT’s price hike for whatever reasons cited.

SMRT could continue to squeeze more cents from the commuters and more dollars from public funds.

Where Lee Hsien Loong’s Heart is.

As I witnessed today, a senior citizen working humbly as a cleaner of a huge shopping mall stuffed with the most expensive brands in the heart of our shopping district, PM Lee Hsien Loong’s message of “feel for our fellow human beings” rang in my ears.

Hope. Heart. Home. These were the themes for our National Day Rally this year. Brought to you by LHL.

He highlighted the importance of “heart” when he touched on the subject of recent growing xenophobia among Singaporeans, urging local citizens to “feel for our fellow human beings” which the “human beings” specifically refers to the foreign nationals on our shores. His choice on the “heart” as part of the NDR rally struck a chord in me and moved my heart especially.

For my heart moved towards the fact that the current achievement of our nation is a collective effort from our first generation leaders and our senior citizens. Our nation prospers while the youths and health of our 1Gen leaders and senior citizens fade away. Our leaders are entitled pensions for their twilight years, our senior citizens deprived. My heart quivered but LHL’s?

His heart feels apparently more for foreign nationals, for they are part of “our fellow human beings” while my heart goes to our senior citizens who are abandoned by their very own country in which they made to prosper. And this is the same country that has grown into the richest nation in the world in terms of GDP.  

When our country legislate “filial piety”, and filial piety disguised as a means to dump the cost of caring for the elderly onto the next generation, it fails to repay its gratitude to our senior citizens to which it owes its success to. Gratitude could come in the forms of greater subsidy for medical care or curbing inflation (please lah! Enough of the excuse that inflation or anything else is inevitable!) or provisions of affordable nursing home. Affordability that is pegged to our median income.

This is NOT welfare but a noble demonstration of appreciation of an inclusive society with a “heart”. Nevertheless, the past and existing policies contradict the kind of heart which LHL hold, I am afraid only reserved for his foreign nationals.

If only LHL could extend his “feel for our fellow human beings” towards our senior citizens, one of the sources of contributors towards the GDP figures which his big fat bonus is highly-dependent upon.

At the slightest call for more social net provisions for our citizens, LHL would slap us instantly in the face with higher taxes. Despite enjoying more years of budget surpluses than budget deficit, or when he could afford higher proportion of expenditure for defence than our education and healthcare, or when he overlooks the astronomical amount of losses incurred by GIC and TH that could be channelled purposefully into our healthcare. Whenever dollars and cents are involved for his citizens, LHL’s heart would shy away. Our misfortune to note that our citizens do not fall into the decimation of LHL’s “fellow human beings”.  

LHL’s heart bled at the damage of Singapore’s international reputation as a result of our xenophobia. When Singaporeans were being labelled as dogs by our taxpayer-funded foreign scholar Sun Xu, LHL’s reticence pained my heart too. Singapore’s reputation, closely associated to LHL’s reputation as a leader, is of utmost concern to him; when it comes to Singaporeans’ reputation, he joins in the bashing of our people earnestly. A clear demonstration from LHL that foreign nationals and overseas foreigners are “fellow human beings”. And complete submission from our citizens to all the foreign nationals is expected.

On the plights of our citizens due to the never-ending influx of foreigners who LHL invites, he chose oblivion. His heart goes for the rich and poor foreigners which either group would bring in the dollars and cents, directly in terms of investment or indirectly in the form of cheap modern slavery for beefing up profit margins for businesses and government coffers. Thus the unlimited supply of cheap foreign labour for MNCs, SMEs and all kinds of businesses and easy PR status given to dubious quality of talents and even to the likes of hawkers. When it comes to welfare for local citizens who are being squeezed out in terms of jobs and infrastructure, LHL’s heart is always elsewhere.

Singaporeans are expected to feel for foreign nationals as “fellow human beings” while we ourselves are merely digits. LHL apathetically slammed the call of imposing minimum wage for our low-income workers who have been to subject to falling real income throughout the decade in ensuring better profit margins for international and local business owners at the expense of low-income workers. Ironically too, ministerial salary moves in the reverse direction of the wages of our low-income workers and jumps by a huge proportion of a 14 % rise in 2000 and a 60 % pay rise for ministers in 2007.

All of the above is only a handful of the realities which our non-elite citizens are treated by the same leader who flaunted about a compassionate heart on our NDR right before the eyes of his own people. Inevitably, his words moves my heart......to the heart of an abysmal disgust.

Whichever shapes LHL attempts to disguise his heart, his policies betray him too easily. It is far too apparent that his heart or compassion or whatever name he chooses to call it, could only be located in the laps of dollars and cents.

Procreation. The Hoax.

"If we go on like that, this place will fold up, because there'll be no original citizens left to form the majority, and we cannot have new citizens, new PRs to settle our social ethos, our social spirit, our social norms." Lee Kuan Yew

The issue of threat is ON...again. Falling birth rate of this nation is on the face of the intimidation card. From LKY’s mouth this time, one of the many mouths of the long queue of politicians orchestrating a campaign to blame Singaporeans for low fertility. Or to convince Singaporeans the need for further widening the door for foreign influx.

Falling birth rates, ageing population, local workers over-selective on jobs causing vaccum in certain industries, reliance on domestic workers, local workers lacking relevant skills….are merely different wordings on the intimidation card with an underlying message:

“People! Like it or not, the door for foreign influx will open even wider. Full stop. ”

Even if all our citizens were all hurdled into a corner to procreate like sheep for the survival of our nation, but humans require 8 months for births and another 18 years at least before these lambs babies can turn economically productive. Can the politicians wait? Evidently not. The policy-makers need the cheaper foreign influx more than the average citizen does to line up their deep pockets.

In the 80s, in the name of the nation, a 2-child policy was introduced to curb population growth and penalties landed on those who did not abide. In the 90s, in the name for the nation again, the policy was reversed. The cry for procreation continued into the 21^st century, yet yielding little results, therefore exhibiting nothing more than a feeble attempt and little interest from the politicians to tackle the issue from the core.

Since 2000, our population has risen by 1.1 million, a 25% increase to the population before the turn of the century, ie. an addition of 1540 people to every square kilometer of our land area. By 2012, we suddenly realize this figure translates into actual human existence on our island that eats, sleeps and excretes like anybody else. They bring with them their cultures, languages and social habits. It is the average Joe who has to rub shoulders with most of them whilst the policy-makers will be tucked away in their secluded palaces.

LKY threatened us earlier this Feb during a Chinese New Year celebration although in a different packaging, marring the CNY atmosphere with his words. He associated Japanese’s stagnant economy with their reluctance to open up to foreign immigrants. His understanding of the Japanese economy seemed puzzlingly shallow and it is understandable if you notice his excessive eagerness to handcuff every single problem of a nation with foreign influx as the key.

A closed-door immigration policy would result in a stagnant growth; an open-door immigration policy would solve an aging population issue. See? They are both pointing coincidentally towards the same direction of endorsing a foreign influx. Singaporeans fear slow growth and at the same time, they will not be able to procreate sufficiently in the short term to arrest the ageing population issue. Either way points towards the need of foreign influx. At least, that is the case if we look to where the politicians are pointing. But we can definitely choose not to be misguided.

Think back to 1995 where our population then was a mere 3.5 million, was our economy in rags? Compared to our current population of 5.1million, did we see more elderly scavenging for disused cardboards or slogging at food courts/toilets, more tissue vendors, CCTV installed at HDB estates, more active loan sharking and prostitution (sex slavery is happening now) activities, more pawn shops or quick cash facilities than now?

We might not be living in paradise in 1995 before the foreign influx tap was turned on, we had enough of our own problems that needed attention than to handle new additional problems brought in by the foreign influx.

It is utterly futile to address the problems highlighted by the politicians as their hidden agenda is clear as crystal--to import more foreign nationals. No amount of constructive suggestions could satisfy them. Being the crème of the crème, our politicians are smart enough to tie every problem with a foreign-influx-solution. Even to the extent of bringing in foreign nationals to spur the locals’ hide. I will not be surprised if I were to wake up tomorrow to find a fallen tree in my estate and be told that that is a direct consequence of my opposition to undiscriminating foreign influx.

Logic and reasoning fall apart completely in the face of monetary benefits. Foreign influx boosts GDP directly, benefiting specific groups of citizens/people and exclusive to the average citizens. The inconvenient truth is not about how much procreation suffices. But to protect the interests of those who benefit the most from the foreign influx.

I do not doubt the intelligence of our politicians and their abilities in problems-solving. However, sad to say, their hearts are elsewhere. And that is lethal to the welfare of our citizens.  

尝一杯波尔图

酒的味道是时间。以时间的流逝，结合天时地利人合兑换成饮酒者味蕾上的具体味道。品酒，宛如品尝时间。浏览一个地方，有时候，也有几分像在品酒那般。

起先，把波尔图(Porto)与法国另一个盛产红酒之地波尔多(Bourdeux)混淆。实际上，波尔图地区所酿制的是加烈后的红酒，比红酒更烈、更甜。那便是异于典型红酒的波特酒(Port Wine)。

包含了红酒，却又异于红酒。在时间的酿制下的波尔图，也很自己。

时间的河

波尔图位于葡萄牙北部。是一座临着河口的城市。就是这条河，由古至今，悠悠然地把波尔图的味道发散出去。河运输送葡萄牙境内的物资。在波尔图气候下种植的葡萄、酿制出的波特酒，就这样转送到人们的味蕾上。

停摆在河岸边的船只，枕着两排圆滚滚的木制酒桶。对岸成排的酒仓映入河水，水光粼粼，把倒影打散成印象画作。稍不留神，河水仿佛把自己运载到那个以河运出口物资的中世纪年代。

今时，彼岸边的货舱已改装成餐馆，游客络绎不绝。视觉的古旧景观对照着河水，现代化的观光船只划破平静的河面，还有几分古今交错的画面。

蓝色的动感

时光久远了。然而，对于葡萄牙，摩尔（伊斯兰教/回教）的存在是历史洪流所无法磨灭的见证。

原属摩尔文化的蓝色瓷砖彩绘，在时间的酿制下，融入了波尔图，也蕴含了这座城市的一部分。历史事迹、宗教理念为内容的瓷砖绘图让原本单调、平面的墙面充满了动感与维度。既富媒介作用，也起了视觉点缀作用。

其中，波尔图火车站内就收集了三面蓝色以及彩色瓷砖的拼图，让人一踏入火车站就眼前一亮。不仅是拼图的壮观让人眼睛亮起来，瓷砖的反光作用，还真的让原本昏沉的室内明亮了许多。

然而，波尔图还不甘如此。一般上，据故事性的壁画或瓷砖彩绘都藏在建筑内。波尔图选择外扬。把整幅瓷砖拼图展现在外墙上，成为街景的一部分。

瓷砖上的涂绘以曲线、奔放的形式，展示在建筑外墙时，竟有涌动的视觉错觉，霎时间让静态、呆板的墙面仿佛就活跃了起来。外观上的波尔图，因为这些二维的瓷砖拼图，让视觉效果更具跳动感。

街景的进行曲

波尔图瓷砖让墙面豁然开朗的外扬情绪，来到了街景时，却一反常态地收敛了起来，变得既严肃又神秘。

波尔图的街景离不开矮楼房。只见矮楼房紧密地靠在一起，对立的两排矮楼房中间夹着一条窄小的街道或梯级。碰上日光的斜角，楼房把日光挡去，只许些许的日光撒落在街道上。明明是光亮的白昼，踏入这类街道或梯级，周围便顿时昏暗了起来。让路人有一种恍若进入另一个时空的错觉。

加上地形所致，街道都有一定的斜度。沿着街道缓缓而上，或是拾级而上，街景的视角也随着脚步的推移而有所变化。一路上的街景因而不再呆板，而是不断地演进。回眸一看来时路，居高临下，原先的景物仿佛都换了样貌。

于是，波尔图的街景宛如一幅流动的画。

昏暗的窄巷和流动街景的特色为波尔图增添了几许神秘感。这跟外墙瓷砖的外扬个性成了相反的一面。

波尔图很自己

临着河口的地理位置、墙面瓷砖、拾级而上的流动街景、平民晒衣的场景……，乍看之下，波尔图确实貌似首都里斯本。来自里斯本的N坦然自己偏心，喜欢里斯本更甚于波尔图。

不过，波尔图始终是很自己的。仔细品茗波尔图，就能体会到她的浓郁特质。把瓷砖拼图展现在建筑外墙上展现自己，让自己的奔放、外扬的个性让人一览无遗，与此同时，又在狭窄、昏暗的街道里把情绪收敛得深不可测，不轻易让人窥探。

不管是放还是收，都是那么的绝对、那么的浓烈。相形之下，里斯本终究是中规中矩的。

所以，波尔图似红酒，却又蕴含了属于自己的特色。