I refer to the article “Give them decent dorms” on September 17th 2008 in the Straits Times.
The article reports that residents have been expressing their dorm fears to their MPs regarding the building of the foreign workers’ dorms in Serangoon Gardens. They have expressed fears regarding the safety of their children, and the security of their neighbourhood. In addition, they also add that it perfectly alright to build dorms for the foreign workers to improve their deplorable living conditions, just that the dorms should not be in Serangoon Gardens.
I for one, am honestly disgusted by this mentality of the residents there.
Firstly, why is there an innate prejudice against these foreign workers? They may have a different skin colour, but they are just as morally upright as you and me. They make a loss of up to S$5000 when they move to Singapore to work, and that amount of money in Indonesia means a car, a house, and support for their family! With this kind of sacrifice, don’t you think they stand to lose alot more if they break the law than you do? In addition, discriminating against someone based on their origin is simply hypocritical. The foreign workers have as much to fear as you have when they enter a completely foreign country to work. Singapore is also grounded in racial and religious tolerance and harmony. It would not do our nation’s history and legacy proud if we discriminate against foreign workers just because they are from another country.
In addition, there is this sense of ingratitude amongst the Singaporean residents in Serangoon Gardens. These foreign workers are responsible for greatly lower the price of constructing the residents’ landed property as they are willing to work for meagre pay which would translate into more money in their homeland. Without these workers, Serangoon Gardens would not be the place it is today. The residents also seem to forget who has been sweeping their walkways of leaves in the wee hours of the morning, and who has been cleaning up your dog droppings for you after you leave. These foreign workers take all this without even a whisper of a complaint and now the residents turn their backs on them just like that. This attitude is simply deplorable.
Thirdly, the Singaporean mentality is prevalent in this article. In the past, people have raged for a strong opposition in parliament, just one that is not in their constituency. In the past, people have called for someone to speak up against a controversial bill, but even with the freer speaker corner only one man signs up. Now, Singaporeans say that they understand the contributions of the foreign workers, and that they are fine with dorms, just that the dorms should not be in their estate. To be honest, I find this sort of mentality selfish and self-centred. It is truly amazing to see people trying to have their cake and eat it. They push whatever they do not want to others, and take the benefits. This is something that we really have to avoid.
Foreign workers have been doing their job for Singapore since the first foreign immigrant in 1819. Can we do our part for these foreign workers?
