say it ain't so

I picked up a Singaporean Sunday Times paper from the grocery store when I first arrived, and have been dwelling on it ever since. One amazing thing about Singapore is that practically everyone speaks english. Expanding my ability to communicate with locals-clients and strangers alike-and providing me with open access to local media, it's a welcome change from Hong Kong (I can actually READ the magazines!). After reading the ST, however, I'm beginning to wish I'd stayed in the dark on some issues.

Two topics which feature prominently in the ST are 'babies' and 'foreigners.' There was apparently a long period of time in Singapore's somewhat-recent history during which families were discouraged from having more than two children. Not simply discouraged, but forced to pay higher hospital fees, restricted from accessing good schools unless one or both parents underwent sterilization, and sent to the bottom of apartment wait-lists. Now the government has enforced new measures to encourage families to have more children, sparking debate amongst Singaporeans. One writer of the ST rang in on the issue;
" ...I think the Government should not have to pay couples to have children...The fewer children we have, the more foreigners will be encouraged to settle here. That awareness should be a fillip for citizens to have many children. Singaporeans have to procreate without prompting and be responsible for the fate and direction of the nation..." (Gabriel Yue)

Apparently the influx of foreigners to Singapore which has prompted such concern has been "taking place for the past 15 years" (Sumiko Tan), leaving locals feeling uncomfortable, "especially when [they] realise that among the foreigners are those who are clearly smarter, richer, taller, better looking, better educated and hungrier for success than [them]" (ST) According to Tan, 'true' Singaporeans identify themselves as part of a multiracial society in which 'all races are equal, or at least strive to be equal.' The issue seems to be that foreigners are not assimilating thoroughly enough for Singaporeans' liking.

As a foreigner having just arrived in Singapore, picking up a paper containing such articles was a humbling experience. I'll be hard at work trying to make a good impression for Canadians. Which may be difficult with Singaporean men, as a 'dating' article in the ST reports that men want women who are "gentle, demure, and sometimes submissive" and can be "successful but not more so than him."

Foreign, Independent and Ambitious young woman feels unwanted in Singapore. eek!