Winds of Change

These are rather interesting times. What with socio-political developments in Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, USA, Hong Kong and elsewhere around the world. The winds of change are definitely stirring.

Why, even in our little red dot, we are getting some semblance of socio-political action, and I'm not talking about the ERP (ha!).

I read with interest and concern about the residents of middle-class suburb Serangoon Gardens who protested vehemently against the setting up of a dormitory for foreign workers in their area. Concerned residents galvanized other neighbors to sign a petition against the proposal, and they even organized a special meeting with their member of parliament to voice their displeasure with the proposal. They cite safety and security (how will they ever be able to leave their parents and children alone at home), as well as economic (the value of their property will decrease significantly) reasons for their protest.

Foreign workers, in the Singapore context, usually refer to the thousands of men and women from China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and Myanmar, who work in low-paying, manual jobs such as construction or domestic help.

The lack of special housing and recreational facilities for these workers drive them to spend their weekends (mainly Sundays) in large numbers in various 'enclaves' throughout the island. You can also sometimes see them resting in open fields or at the void decks of HDB flats in the vicinity of the worksites. They are definitely hard to overlook when they congregate. With the greater influx of foreign workers due to the increased demand for their services, it is indeed laudable that the government is looking into meeting their basic needs (such as housing) with plans to convert unused government buildings into dormitories for these workers.

However, as shown in the Serangoon Gardens case, such plans may not be welcomed by the populace. Fear and suspicion are not uncommon emotions when dealing with people of other cultures or ethnic backgrounds. More so, when these same people are perceived as being of a lower socio-economic group.

The perfunctory acknowledgment of the workers' important contribution to the Singapore economy, which prefaced most residents' arguments against the dormitory ring hollow and do little to mask their deep-seated prejudices. Indeed, Singaporeans would not be the first to go to arms over increasing numbers of foreigners in their midst. This issue brings to mind the tense relations between Europeans and Australians with their own immigrant populations.

Today's article in the Sunday Times titled "Where 5,000 expats call home" about the warm welcome experienced by expats in Serangoon Gardens only serve to highlight such prejudices. I thought the paper did a good job of revealing the residents' double standards when it came to welcoming foreign talent to their neighborhoods.

Indeed neighbors (though admittedly probably not the same ones who signed the petition) were quoted as being happy to have expatriates (usually white, white-collar families in the local context) in their midst. A former teacher even has fond recollections of playing with European kids while growing up.

Although the foreign worker dormitory will house mainly single, male workers who form a rather different demographic than the welcomed white families, one can't help but note the difference in acceptance levels that these two migrant groups arouse in the community.

I'm not sure if this has to do with race or gender (what if the foreign workers were Caucasian or female?) discrimination, but it is indeed sad that we are unable to see them for who they really are. Human beings who are like us, and who should be treated with a bit more respect and less suspicion.