Singapore Day in NYC 2012 & Marslow's Hierarchy of Needs

OK, another reader has asked me for my reaction on the Singapore Day event recently in NYC (on the 14th April). This event was organized by the Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU)- now they didn't exist when I first moved to Europe and their function was fulfilled back in those days by Connect Singapore. Connect Singapore's function has since evolved somewhat - it is now focused on attracting foreign talent to Singapore whilst the Overseas Singaporean Unit is trying to make sure that Singaporeans abroad do return... eventually.

The menu in New York at the Singapore Day 2012 event

Now I have actually attended various Singapore Day events in London in the past and yeah I went for the food. Oh my regular readers will know how I keep complaining that it is impossible to find authentic laksa in London. The name is so abused and used by anyone and everyone in the UK today - it has somehow found its way into our lexicon without people actually knowing what it is. Any kind of curry noodles in the UK these days is called a laksa and the name has even been used to describe any kind of curry or spicy dish. Nooooo! Here's the ultimate abuse of the good name of laksa: I found a freaking laksa sandwich in my local supermarket and I'm like, how the hell is that suppose to taste of laksa? And no, it was just some kinda very mild curry chicken sandwich.

Tesco's Chicken Laksa sandwich?!?

Limpeh has got nothing against good food - in fact, Limpeh loves good food and misses Singaporean food very much. Not a day goes by when I don't think about laksa or anything else from my hometown. Yet should food be the focus of a Singapore Day event in London or New York? It seems like the obvious choice of course, for food is what Singaporeans miss the most about Singapore - but I want to move beyond the obvious.

I want to talk about Marslow's hierarchy of needs. Now the bulk of my argument is based on this concept, so it is important that you at least understand the basics of how it works before we go any further please - so please take a moment to visit the hyperlink to the wikipedia page on Marslow's theory please if necessary. Those of you who do know Marslow's theory would be familiar with this diagram then:

Now as wonderful, heavenly and amazing laksa is, it falls under the most basic level of needs. Of course, my regular readers will know my funny story about the cult of laksa when I turned laksa into a religious experience. The main focus of these Singapore Day events have been primarily food (a physiological need) and entertainment (which I would put under love/belonging as this is specifically Singaporean entertainment, hence a sense of belonging to Singapore)?

From the reviews of previous events (and my own observations), it seems that the visitors mostly ignore the entertainment and simply go for the food - which is a bit of a shame though, but there you go. If there sent Munah & Hirzi to London, I would be in the front row screaming my head off I swear. And come on, the people they've sent abroad include Michelle Chong, Chua Enlai and Gurmit Singh - it doesn't get better than that. I just wish they wouldn't force them to say some painfully cheesy cliche lines when presenting at the event. Heck, such is working in media for you in Singapore - quite a number of them got roped into doing the bloody Fun Pack Song too ...

Now, before you can talk about attracting Singaporean expats back to Singapore, you need to ask yourself this question: why are they abroad in the first place? Now there are a range of reasons which I shall list below:

1. The chance to earn more money abroad
2. The chance to see the world and experience different cultures
3. Enhance one's CV by gaining international work experience
4. Learning new skills abroad, eg. picking up foreign languages, training not available in Singapore etc
5. Following a spouse/partner abroad
6. To find a different pace of life, a more relaxed lifestyle 
7. (for Singaporean men) To siam reservist obligations
8. Buay-song with PAP policies, such as overpaying inept ministers and importing too many nasty PRCs

The list above isn't exhaustive and I am sure some of you can come up with different reasons. So in order to woo these people back to Singapore, we must deal with the reasons they left in the first place, rather than say, "hey, remember how tasty Laksa, Satay and chili crab is?"

1. Well, unless you can offer these people the same kind of earning opportunities in Singapore (remember to factor in the long hours one works in Singapore compared to the west) - then nope, you're not going to tempt them back when they work out how much they can earn in Singapore. 
2. No, there's nothing you can do - this person ain't done finding his/her adventure yet. 
3. Can Singapore offer the same kind of work experience? Well, you need to show what new employment opportunities there are in Singapore. 
4. Probably little you can do on that front, see point 3 above. 
5. Again, if that person has chosen to follow the spouse/partner as opposed to bringing the spouse/partner to Singapore, then again, probably little you can do to reverse that decision. 
6. Again, little you can do - Singapore is what it is. 
7. Again, little or nothing you can do - it is what it is. 
8. Again, little or nothing you can do - perhaps you can try to showcase how freedom of speech has progressed and how the PAP has evolved and is more in touch with the people, oh who am I trying to kid here... 

The fact is, for people like myself who have spent many years abroad, things have gotten worse, not better in Singapore. Here are some of the following reasons why: 

1. The cost of living is rising risen a lot faster than wages, so life is getting more and more expensive. 
2. The population has grown very quickly - it is now over 5 million, when I was a child in primary school it was just 2.5 million. The island is what it is, double the population and you double the strains on public services, transport, education, housing, resources etc. 
3. The declining standards of public services like transport: MRT, bus etc. 
4. Too many bloody PRCs , people like Sun Xu. 
5. Frustration at the way things are so slow to change in Singapore, eg. freedom of speech. 
6. The fact that PAP are always going to win elections even when they field candidates like Tin Pei Ling.
7. The implicit discrimination against locals when employers always favour foreign talents over locals. 
8. NS reservist obligations for male Singaporeans.

Take a long hard look at that list above - I could go on, but these are some of the main concerns facing Singaporeans today and why they are unhappy with life in Singapore. How about the government actually dealing with those issues to begin with if they want to woo back Singaporeans abroad, rather than tempt them with rojak, roti prata and ice kachang?

Now recently, I saw a documentary on the BBC about a team of scientists who work on the British Antarctic Survey - these are some of the harshest working conditions in the world, enduring the coldest winter on planet earth with temperatures reaching -70 degrees, 6 months of complete darkness and being so isolated from human civilization. Yet people still want to work there - why is this the case? I would like to refer you back to Marslow's hierarchy of needs which we started with.

Certainly, the frozen lands of Antarctica offer little creature comforts: the choice of food would be severely limited, chances to have sex very low indeed, the living quarters would not be very comfortable and the place is bloody freezing with summer temperatures struggling to reach -20 degrees. Your safety is constantly at threat from the elements at these temperatures, life is always in constant danger and you worry, what if the generator fails, would we all freeze to death? You would be constantly missing your friends and family whom you've left behind back home - all the parties, birthdays, weddings, even funerals that you would miss.

Good grief, I do make it sound pretty grim don't I? And it is, so why do people still go there? Because in such a very cold, very harsh, very challenging environment, one achieves the highest levels of Marslow's hierarchy of needs: self-esteem and self-actualization. In rising to the challenge and achieving your goals in Antarctica, you become so much more confident, you believe in yourself, you gain the respect of others and you fulfill a dream.

Let's recognize that there are different levels of human needs and not all needs are equal - is the need for good food as important as the need for self-expression? Is the need for good sex as important as the need for respect? Of course, some needs are easier to achieve than others. If I want good food, well, all I have to do is pay for it. If I want the respect of my peers, it's going to be a lot harder for me to earn it - but when I do, it will be well worth it. The satisfaction from a good meal will last at most about 2 hours, but the pride one feels from say winning an Olympic gold medal would last you a long time. Hence that is why we need to put enjoying good food in perspective - don't get me wrong, Limpeh loves good food. But is it the reason I get out of bed in the morning? No, it isn't. I have loftier ambitions. I am motivated by my ideals, my passions and my dreams - not my stomach and my taste buds.

Certainly, if they want the event to have a real impact, they should focus not on food but employment opportunities and it would make the event a lot more boring - it would resemble a careers fair or investment exhibition & conference rather than a food & entertainment extravaganza. Not as fun, but at least it would appeal to more complex, higher order needs on Marslow's hierarchy.

Now in many of these Singapore Day videos I've posted, a common question the participants are asked is this: "What do you miss most about Singapore?" The most common answer is "the food" and few manage to answer, "friends and family" and one person even said, "Orchard Road." Many people do go to these events specifically for the food, myself included. We don't go there because we really miss Singapore or are looking to reconnect to Singapore on that day. We're there for the laksa, the cha kway teow and the satay. If you were to ask me what I miss about Singapore, you're unlikely to get a straight-forward answer. You're probably going to get an explanation as to why I had left in the first place and why I feel things are not going well in Singapore, which justifies my decision to stay abroad etc.

Brings back memories ...

Such feel good events are designed to be simple: you have a problem, you miss laksa - here's your solution, we give you authentic Katong Laksa, problem solved, everyone is happy, yay! Using food simplifies the situation and thus allowing food be the simple solution - when in reality, the reasons why these people are abroad in the first place are not even discussed and offering them Katong laksa is not going to make them forget all those mitigating factors and return to Singapore. It's going to take some pretty major changes on the part of the government to solve those problems and all the laksa in Katong is not going to make us forget those problems. No, good food is but a distraction at best.

This is a distraction - a very delicious distraction!

Let me give you an analogy. The paint in one corner of my bedroom wall is peeling. It's pretty bad - it happened over winter when one corner of the room gets very cold, it is furthest from the radiator so when the temperature outside falls below zero, that wall gets very cold and condensation happens on that wall. The air temperature in my home is kept at about 21 degrees Celsius, so even if that wall falls to like 14 degrees, that temperature difference is enough to make the water vapour in the air condense on that wall. I have to keep wiping that wall to keep it dry, but I was fighting a losing battle. In the end, the paint started peeling as a result of the moisture and it is pretty unsightly. Argh.

I know I should do something about it - I keep telling myself that. But I look at it and think, groan, where do I even begin? Do I need to strip that whole wall of the paint or just one small part which is worst affected? Can I do it myself or do I need to call in the builders? What do I do? Argh! Seriously readers, any advice would be greatly appreciated, please help, thanks.

So what do I end up doing? Every time I think about doing it, I end up doing something else - I convince myself "oh I need to do this first," and I get busy doing something else, as an excuse to not look at or even think of the wall where the paint is peeling. I often just go into the kitchen and start cooking a meal or making some elaborate desert like my lovely chewy pandan mochi ice cream so I can say to myself, "Limpeh is so busy cooking now, too busy to deal with that wall..." It's easier to deal with a problem that I can solve, then to struggle with one I cannot solve.

And that's what Singaporeans abroad do - they focus on one element of the Singaporean experience that they like, the wonderful food and celebrate that whilst choosing not to look at the other elements which drove them away in the first place. One goes to Singapore Day to have fun, to enjoy the good food, to watch the entertainment - not to get angry with the PAP. It's probably the one day when one chooses not to look at the "the peeling paint". But make no mistake, they're looking the other way for one day. Just one day. These are the people who had left in the first place because they couldn't look the other way whilst in Singapore.

Furthermore, don't forget that the Singaporeans who are working in New York and London are highly qualified professionals. The UK and US doesn't suka-suka issue work permits to anyone who isn't a highly qualified, highly skilled professional - unlike Singapore. We're in the midst of a recession and certainly, both countries are watching very carefully whom they issue a work permit to because they need to keep unemployment amongst the locals down. Now the Singaporeans in New York and London are motivated by money, ambition, adventure and success - they are garang enough to take the plunge and move halfway around the world to an unfamiliar environment to start a new career. In short, they are motivated by the needs on the upper echelons of Marslow's hierarchy. So whilst they may enjoy good food, what makes you think that appealing to one of their most basic needs: food, is going to be a formula that works?

Certainly, if one really loved one's laksa that much, then one wouldn't have left Singapore in the first place. And as for the entertainment, well, even I get to enjoy The Noose, MunahHirzi Official and most of Jack Neo's movies online for free, I don't need to be in Singapore for that.

I don't think the organizers at the Overseas Singaporean Unit actually are convinced that it will work either - they cannot solve the problems that have driven these Singaporeans abroad in the first place. What can they do? Can they influence SAF's policy on NS reservist obligations? Can they change the government's policy on importing PRCs? Can they solve the transport problems of Singapore? Hell no. What they can do is bring you authetnic Katong laksa and that's pretty much it. They can organize a feel-good event about food and if they wish to spread a bit of good will, promote Singapore as a tourist destination to the Americans and the Brits, promote Singaporean cuisine - then yeah, the event is a success. But to attract Singaporeans to go back to the mothership using the power of laksa? You've gotta be kidding me.

Laksa!!!