Salah salah salah, lagi salah lah!

Once in a while you get something you just wanna jump right into and attack ... well this made me laugh out aloud at first then it got me quite angry. I have very mixed feelings about the source of this story - TherealSingapore. I follow them on Facebook because they are vehemently anti-PAP like me, so I'm kinda forced into a uncomfortable alliance like "if my enemy is your enemy therefore we should be friends even if I am not sure I like what you're doing". Their articles are a bit hit and miss - there are some great stories and some which have badly misfired and oh boy, did they misfire big time today. Aiyoh. Let's look at what they talked about today.

PART 1

They began with this story about this pathetic Singaporean loser. Since the story is so short, I shall quote it in full here:

This guy can't get a local girl to like him - whose fault is that?!

"A young Singapore man has appealed publicly to Minister in Prime Minister Office Grace Fu during a townhall meeting recently to stop foreign men from ‘stealing’ Singaporean women from local men. During the Q&A session, he complained that Singapore men are losing out in the race to the altar because local women are increasingly favoring foreign men.

His complaint drew a round of laughter from the audience, but he silenced them with a glaring look: “I think we shouldn’t laugh. It is an important problem and we need to solve it,” he thundered. He added that foreign men tend to enjoy higher pay and better perks which give them an unfair advantage in the competition for Singaporean women’s heart.

Unfortunately, there is nothing the government can do about this, he was told. “The government cannot regulate love,” Ms Fu said."
Source: http://therealsingapore.com/content/young-singapore-man-asks-minister-stop-foreign-men-snatching-away-local-women

Can the government regulate love? 

Allow me to quote some of the comments left both on their website and on Facebook in reaction to this story - beginning with my favourite. Note that these comments have been left presumably by Singaporeans - there are so many of them all making fun of the guy in question. These comments have been taken from TherealSingapore, Facebook and Temasek Times. 

"This idiot needs to reflect on his own actions. what a joke. If he is incompetent, don't blame the foreigners. This is totally uncalled for, and is pushing it. Yes, the FT issue may be legit, but his claim is a total fallacy! What's next? Is he going to request a regulation on physical appearances? Or character regulation?"

"Singaporean men are so ugly and weak..there is a reason why Asian girls always go for white guys." (This comment seems to have been written by a local Singaporean woman - though I cannot verify this.) 

"I'm laughing out loud now! Lol lol lol."

"This guy is retard."

"Ms Fu, why can't you regulate love? Your team has regulated so many things to PAP's advantage from the living to the dead. Love shouldn't be that hard for you right? Where's your "can do" attitude here?"

"This is one of the most silly complaints I've seen. The ones affected by FT tend to be those of lower income. Now this guy is turning it around and say rich FT are stealing our women. That's really pathetic. He can always be an FT and steal women in other country."

What a loser… Embarrassing that this young man has such low self-esteem that he has to ask government to stop foreign men. He should go woo foreign girls to take them from foreign men. What a wuss…

Typical Singaporean asking the gahmen to wipe his backside for him after he poos.

LOL another frickin SG idiot who wants to be mollycoddled by DADDY PAP. Singaporean men cannot make it they want protectionism for jobs and they want protectionism for women. Which desperate woman is going to find such a loser attractive???

Perhaps those girls are simply looking for a man with balls, not a boy who runs to momma for help when his “territory” is being challenged.

Question: why do Singaporean men get so agitated over foreign men “stealing our local women” while I never hear Singaporean women getting upset over foreign women snatching away our local men? Any insights, anyone?

Case in point, this is one good reason why Singapore girls goes for foreign guys… Singaporean guys are typically wussy and afraid of competition… yet they’re impossibly egoistic and subscribes to male chauvinistic beliefs.

And you are a chauvinistic pig who is sore cos you cant get local chics. They aint missing out.

You know Romance is dead when the men are asking the government for help!

Well, let me add my response to this. I concur with the first comment (which was left on therealSingapore's website) - this guy is a total joke, that is why audience at the town hall meeting laughed at him and yes I agree their reaction. He deserves to be mocked. I have written quite a few pieces on the issue of love in Singapore recently and have focussed on he frustrations of Singaporean women when it comes to the quality of local men. We don't have a name of this young man who spoke up, but he does epitomize the kind of man my readers have complained about. But hey, I still want to give him credit for engaging with Grace Fu - he may not have found the right words on this occasion but at least he is making an effort to engage with the system. Good for him - that's far better than the other politically apathetic Singaporeans who are but armchair critiques and bitch on Facebook, but have never ever done anything like attend a Townhall meeting. So young man, good for you for speaking out - but do choose your words more carefully next time so you don't become the laughing stock of Singapore again okay? 

The first thought that came to mind was this: what was he expecting Grace Fu to do? More to the point, did he seriously expect the government to take away the free will of Singaporean women to choose whom they wished to love? Furthermore, his main reason for fearing this competition from foreigners is because "foreign men tend to enjoy higher pay and better perks which give them an unfair advantage in the competition for Singaporean women’s heart." Woah. Hit the pause button here - okay, so some foreign men earn more money, are we talking about competing at a property auction or are we talking about love here? Does he think that Singaporean only care about money and are up to the highest bidder? Is he reducing the Singaporean woman's quest for love to be no more than a gold digger's mission to marry the richest man she can get? OMFG. No wonder he is single! 

What are Singaporean women looking for in an ideal husband?

Furthermore, the fact that he had the audacity to use the words "‘stealing’ Singaporean women from local men" - hold on a moment here. This idiot doesn't know the meaning of the word steal. If a pickpocket reached into your pocket and took your wallet, then yes the pickpocket stole your wallet. But who do the Singaporean women belong to? Can they be viewed as a form of human property - like slaves, who belong to an owner? By using the word "stealing", this Singaporean man is claiming ownership over Singaporean women without their consent. Needless to say, Singaporean women are not slaves and have every right to choose whom they wish to fall in love with - and the Singaporean men who are not happy with that have to blame themselves, rather than the government or anyone else. Let's get real here - if you can't find love, it's time to take a long hard look in the mirror and try to figure out where you have gone so badly wrong and what your flaws are. 

In my previous piece, I have analysed why the system in Singapore has failed to nurture Singaporean men - leaving them ill-equipped to cope with the challenges of adulthood from competition in the work place to relationships. It is the fatal combination of bad parenting and a system which constantly seeks to infantilize the Singaporean male that produces men like the on who asked Grace Fu that ridiculous question at that Townhall meeting. 

Does the system produce men ready for the challenges of adulthood?

PART 2

Now what happened next? This funny story was circulated on social media and many of us just laughed it off, until a certain Caleb Rozario shared the story with the comment, "What? Hahahahahahaha, no... what? Only in Singapore, I'm gonna die laughing." 

It seems that TherealSingapore singled Rozario out because of the fact that they think that he is a Filipino. (No he is not, he is Singaporean in fact with Indonesian roots - get your facts right, that's really bad journalism.) What followed was a spate of really nasty anti-Filipino racist comments on therealSingapore's Facebook page. I am merely reproducing the comments that are already there. 

Robin Yang fuck off to where you came from you foreign scum.. the reason why i don't date pinoy is because i don't like dating domestic workers!

シュン・イ ヒロト dont insult Singapore, laugh at the dickhead not the country...i believe there is more cocksters in your country!

Robin Yang did u guys even read the comments posted below the article on TRS website? That rozario guy r insulting and degrading us. we Singaporean should be united and stand up to fight against foreigners! This rozario family people better don't let me see them outside

Glenn Yong Agreed. These foreign scums must be taught a lesson. They do not belong here... Singaporeans must stand up against a common entity. Foreign scums. Scums who come here to take our jobs, never contribute to NS, never contribute to economy, and worst, dared laugh at our own people who toiled so hard to keep Singapore what is is today.

Melv Tiger Mcllroy Lim I hate Indos n pinoys

Muhd Redha You can post that you did serve NS like everyone, that you were born here, that you actually have a pink IC and people will still continue to bash away mindlessly calling you Pinoy bastard, go back to where you came from.

Ryan Ong I raped my pinoy maid after reading his comment. Hopefully it's his mother. Revenge is sweat!

Muhd Redha Ryan Ong I raped my pinoy maid after reading his comment. Hopefully it's his mother. Revenge is sweat! 

this kind of comments is fine by people apparently. Of course, I don't know how revenge is sweat but I'm not sure why comments about rape are fine with Robin yet he's trying to take a moral high ground.

Ang Tiansong Pinoy is really damn bastard.

Why are Singaporeans so xenophobic today? 

I got so angry because these racist bigots are guilty of double standards. Singaporeans were having a good time having a laugh at this story all day, but the moment it was highlighted to them that a 'Filipino' person is laughing at the very same joke they're laughing at - somehow they got offended. WTF? So it's okay for Singaporeans to laugh at this story, but not Filipinos? Are you guys freaking insane? Is that any basis for your anti-Filipino racism? Let's hear it from Rozario himself.

Caleb Rozario Once again Robin Yang: Read replies before you make yourself look like an idiot. Stop whining about your 2 years national service that I myself have gone through. I have however learned 3 fun things from this post regarding racism. 

1. The fact that you all call me a foreigner simply because of my name is already racial stereotyping. 

2. The fact that countless other Singaporeans have shared this post unnoticed but when a "foreigner" shares it, it suddenly becomes wrong. This is also racial discrimination. 

3. one screen shot of this shows racism far greater then anything I have said or could say.

Caleb Rozario Okay The Real Singapore, normally I can let a case of incompetence slide. But in this case where the very existence of this post is a personal and intentional attack on me, well. you asked for it. 

1. The complete and utter incorrectness of your information of my race, being that I am local, this very post itself serves as a monument to not only your stupidity, but your inadequacy and FAILURE as a reliable media source. 

2. The fact that you singled out my post out of numerous others because you assume that I am a foreigner and for the sake of starting controversy. This makes you a RACIST and a HYPOCRITE.

3. (And this is my favorite) One look at the comments section and you will see the type of people that side you against me. 
Uneducated, illiterate, barely able to form a sentence, much less a valid argument. Able of nothing more then hurling violent and racist insults and empty threats, some even bordering on sexual assault. 

By posting this you have done far more damage to yourself then me or anyone ever could. You have shown us just what kind of people your group is made of. 

This is the part where I would demand for a public apology, but I'm not naive enough to expect that from someone who holds such poor moral values, so I will leave you with this: 
Take your atrocious English and your army of illiterates, and Get. Off. My. Facebook. Profile. 

Please and thank you.

It's time for the government to censor the evil racists on TherealSingapore!

I have to be fair and say that TherealSingapore has misfired badly this time. It has made itself come across as nothing but a petty, immature and very racist website. It is attracting the very worst of the racist Singaporeans who have been proud to display such vile racist behaviour. Good grief. The name is ironic because I am from Singapore and real Singaporeans are not like that at all - they are far more tolerant and reasonable. How do you think we have managed to thrive as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural diverse society all these years? Despite the fact that TherealSingapore may be as anti-PAP as I am, I simply cannot stand back and say that being downright racist is acceptable. Shame on you. Shame on you TherealSingapore. This is downright disgraceful, racist and illegal. You have brought such shame on yourself by being a magnet to the racist scum on Singaporean society. You are anything but the 'real' Singapore.

I could've done the Xiaxue thing and shamed all these anti-Filipino racist Singaporeans by posting their photos here (quite easily accessible via Facebook - check your privacy settings, duh). The hyperlinks to their Facebook profiles are there with the original quotes if you wish to click on them. These guys are a total disgrace. I'd love to people like Robin Yang, Glenn Yong, Ryan Ong, Muhd Redha and Melv Tiger Mcllroy Lim (WTF - talk about a pretentious name) punished the same way the authorities punished everyone else who posted racist comments on social media. Do you really have such short memories - the whole Amy Cheong incident happened only days ago and now we have more bloody stupid Singaporeans who think it is okay to be racist towards Filipinos? Well I say, it is not and if you're racist towards Filipinos, Indonesians, Malays or anyone, then no - none of that is acceptable under any circumstances! And then finally, it takes a Malay person to show some common sense when all these bloody stupid Chinese-Singaporeans are showing such utterly idiocy. Thank you Fadly for bringing some much needed common sense to these people! 

Fadly Razali Whats wrong with you guys? I have Singaporeans laughing at this too. And why is people liking that comment about pinoy being domestic workers?! So it's wrong if people are racist towards Malay Singaporeans but it's acceptable when we throw this sort of degrading insults towards foreigners?!! I'm ashamed of you guys. Don't call yourself Singaporeans.

And then there's another comment from one of the few Chinese-Singaporeans who isn't spewing toxic racist hatred (thank goodness people like Jason Kam exist) : 

Jason Kam This is the exact reason why i stopped following TRS... Have they gone so low as to stalk someone elses' facebook account? This is literally a sick behaviour bothering criminal. 
i would not be surprised if TRS or the person who started this post gets charged for inciting racial hatred. 
Pathetic and shame on you people for supporting this whole fiasco

You Singaporeans need to wake up now and stop all this racist bullshit. Good grief, Chinese Singaporeans are often so ridiculously racist towards anyone who is not Chinese in Singapore. I'd like to think that this was a very ugly trait that I would only associate with the older generation and that younger Singaporeans would be far more enlightened about issues like racism. But good grief - when I look at all these remarks I despair! Yes you have issues with the government, you have an axe to grind with the PAP - like you, I really hate the PAP too. But why are you turning all this hatred into such toxic racism instead of directing your anger at the PAP? All this anti-Filipino racism only makes Singaporeans look so very ugly. We have to speak up and say, "we do not condone racism against anyone! This is wrong and this is not the kind of society we are!" 

You may know this story - there is a man who has an demanding and unreasonable boss and is bullied at work. Instead of  reasoning with his boss - he comes home and beats up his wife, taking out his anger at the wife. Instead of reasoning with the abusive husband, the wife beats up the son - who in turns vents his anger out on the younger daughter - who in turns kicks the cat until one day the cat dies and then she realizes that she is at the bottom of the food chain with no cat to kick. This kind of "passing the anger to lower down the food chain" mentality or "kick the cat" mentality achieves nothing. It may be more convenient to just lash out at those you can lash out at (foreigners, the cat etc) but in reality, it does nothing to resolve the problem you are facing (the PAP's attitude, the difficult boss at work). Not only is this kind of attitude unproductive and impractical - it is downright cowardly because you are not confronting the real problem at hand by 'kicking the cat'. Grow a pair of balls you cowards and go do what the brave young man did at the Townhall meeting: go confront a PAP minister and speak to them about your problems!

What are you going to do? Are you going to deal with your boss or go home and kick the cat?

So how does Part 1 & Part 2 fit together?

The word that comes to mind is 'salah' - it is a Malay word that has entered the Singlish lexicon. It translates as wrong, mistaken or erroneous. It is pretty obvious how salah the original guy is in asking Grace Fu for help - he was totally barking up the wrong tree. But part 2 shows how totally salah other Singaporeans are in reacting to this situation when they are unhappy with the foreigners amongst their midst. It is incredibly ugly when they come up with such racist behaviour - but the worst part is that it is so incredibly misdirected. After all, Singaporeans voted for this. The PAP may have been salah on their policies when it came to immigration, but you guys still gave them the mandate at the last election to go ahead with these salah policies. You guys have to take responsibility for having bet on the wrong horse.

After all, the PAP were very clear about their stance on foreign talents - yet 60.14% of you Singaporeans gladly voted for them at the last election. So you got exactly what you voted for and yet you're not happy? Well whose fault is it, then? If you didn't want more foreigners in Singapore, then why did you vote for the PAP? As the saying goes, you've made your bed, now lie in it.

Did you vote for this lot here? 

Ah, perhaps you want to argue that these people form part of the 39.86% of the people who didn't vote for the PAP then and they have not voted for this? Well, that's how a democracy works - even if you are in the minority, your wishes are still overruled by the majority. Nonetheless, you still have access to your MP who is meant to represent the wishes of all the residents regardless of whom they have voted for. It is up to the individual to engage in the process and if you refuse to take part in it, then your voice will not be heard. Unleashing racist abuse on Facebook and other forms of social media is no substitute and such ugly behaviour achieves nothing apart - well, apart from making the person indulging in such actions look like a total idiot.

Instead of venting their anger at the foreigners in their midst, there are two groups of people they should be directing their anger at: firstly, the PAP itself (though this is arguable), but also the 60.14% for voted for this. This may be people they may find hard to confront - such as their parents, their close friends and relatives and other people whom they may not only know but like. I have the same problem with my mother - she votes PAP and will continue to do so no matter what I say. I've tried everything but nothing works. It is frightfully frustrating trying to talk about politics with her. Yeah it's people like her whom you should you blame - but how easy is it to take your fight to someone like my mother who doesn't fit your stereotypical image of the archetypal villain? (Oh look she is a loving grandmother taking care of her disabled grandson - oh wait, but she voted for the PAP?) Would someone like Glenn Yong, Ryan Ong or Robin Yang have the guts to take their fight to someone like my mother who voted for PAP's pro-foreigner stance?

Can you recognize the enemy when you see him/her/it/them?

No, they probably wouldn't. The odds are against them anyway - I'm asking the 39.86% to take on the 60.14% who are in the majority. I don't fancy the odds in a fight like this - it is an uphill challenge when you are in the minority to begin with. This is why they turn it into a Singaporeans vs a foreigners issue because Singaporeans are still in the majority in Singapore - so suddenly, it's 63% Singaporean citizens vs 37% foreigners. Suddenly, they feel strong and in the majority and able to lash out at the foreigners in a most racist and xenophobic manner - but they forget that 60.14% of Singaporean voters did vote to let in all these foreigners in the first place, so this 63% Singaporean citizens vs 37% foreigners statistic is a actually fallacy.

The bottom line is this: the enemy isn't foreign. The enemy is in fact local and amongst you - they are voters like my mother and the other 60.14% who gave the PAP their mandate to let in all these foreigners. As for the PAP, let's be fair to them. They were up front and honest about exactly what their stance was on foreign talents - you votes heard what they had to say and you had the free choice to either give them the mandate to open the flood gates to let in all these foreigners, or you could have rejected it. It was not like they promised one thing and then did the opposite - no, they did exactly what they said they were going to do and they did so with your permission. If you don't like what is going on, then speak up - but do so through the proper channels and make sure you direct your views to the right people. Trying to drive foreigners away by being racist simply doesn't work (and is downright illegal) - you need to engage with your government if you want to influence their policies on immigration.

Speak up and make your opinion heard the right way.

So my readers, it is time for you Singaporeans to put an end to all this unacceptable racist and xenophobic behaviour. If being racist made Amy Cheong an instant social pariah, how can you guys stand by and let people like Muhd Redha, Ryan Ong, Glenn Yong and Robin Yang flaunt their racism so openly on social media? If you look the other way and ignored them, then you are silently condoning their racism and making Singapore an uglier place. And to Glenn, Muhd Redha, Ryan, Robin and Melv - I have this to say to you. I know you are angry with the situation in Singapore, but please, stop for a moment and learn to direct your anger at the right people. Blame the PAP and blame the voters who supported the PAP. Turn your anger into a force for good by helping Singapore get rid of the PAP.

What do you think? Why are Singaporeans so racist and xenophobic these days? If Amy Cheong was crucified for her racist comments, why do people like Glenn Yong and Robin Yang get away with theirs? Can we rely on Singaporeans exercising a healthy dose of self-censorship online or does the government need to step in and severely punish those who make racist comments online? What is the answer to the situation: would Singaporeans behaving in a racist manner deter more immigrants from China and the Philippines from settling in Singapore? You know the drill - leave a comment below and let's get talking. Thanks everyone! Maraming salamat sa lahat!