Hi guys! Yes, that's me, Limpeh aka LIFT, in that BBC report that some of you have seen.
Click on the BBC link here to read it. I swear my mother would be mortified if she knew I was slagging off the Singaporean government on the BBC like that - she would probably imagine that I would be arrested the next time I pass through Changi Airport or something. It's a shame I only had like that very short little space to summarize my experience (I was no. 18 out of a list of 20 people they interviewed) and I did give them a LOT more info, but eventually my paragraph was still edited (as expected). Like,
I have been blogging about these issues for a long time you know,
I have so much to say about it! Have a read of the article as it does give you a range of perspectives amongst the 20 people interviewed.
It's a busy, busy, busy Friday here for me - I will be editing my latest vlog piece over the weekend when I have a bit more breathing space. I am barely keeping up with responding to the comments left over the last few days for now! Aargh, I love blogging but works gets in the way! I hope you're all well in the meantime :)
I was reading the BBC report on my mobile phone and it seems that you are the only one interviewee with a photo shot. Just wondering why is that? : )
ReplyDeleteHi there. I have no idea - on the BBC website (ie. as viewed on my laptop, not my mobile phone) - I counted 3 photos of interviewees and one graphic of a stack of passports. Like dude, I have no control over the layout on the BBC website you know? LOL. It's not my blog. The journalist asked me for a photo after the interview and asked me more questions in fact and I was disappointed that it was edited to one paragraph because I gave him a very long anti-PAP rant.
DeleteYup, the desktop version has the little photos of 3 other interviewees. Most probably due to the bigger size of your photo, it is the only interviewee photo I see on mobile phone. Anyway my main point is that you are one of the few who doesn't mind putting a face for the news report, when we know that jolly well this report will generate many public debate and having a photo of oneself out there shows enough courage and pride on your part (which readers of your blog already knows). Your comment was also posted out by TOC, so expect more traffic. And I have a small hand in this. Lol, posted your blog link in TOC comments. I know you always welcome feedback and it is good to see robust discussion and engagement between you and the readers. I like your initiatives and the interviews you did for autism and gay teachers.
DeleteHi again. You've seen from my blog and my vlog (yes you subscribed to my youtube channel, thank you!!!) that I love publicity, I love people watching my youtube channel and yeah, you can call me a media whore if you like but I don't have any qualms about putting my ugly face out there. I am outspoken, I love to entertain, I love to be heard, I value the opportunity to share my opinion on an issue and add my voice to that discussion.
DeleteI do like to cover a wide range of topics on my blog and I only hope that I can do these topics justice, you know? I get nervous writing about autism for example as I am not a doctor - but I can lend a very human perspective by observing people coping with the condition and sharing their stories, so as to be able to further the understanding of autism. The same goes for a lot of topics I cover that I may not be an expert in (I am not a teacher, for example - yet I write a lot about education) ... I hope to do the topics justice, further our understanding about the issues and inspire a lively debate and discussion.
Thanks again for reading my friend :)
I can't agree more about you busking in all the attention! Haha...
DeleteYes, the wide ranging topics and also the questions which you posed are some of the reasons I occasionally read your blog. I'm more of a Facebooker. And as your blog name says it, I love to hear a former countryman's perspective of events in S'pore.
I am impressed by the Olympics +20 video and discovered the other talents you have. It's a strong reminder of not judging a person just by looks and also inspires low self-esteem but talented people to believe in oneself and have their voice and talents heard and seen.
I dread to think of how many more talented S'poreans have walked the same path as you. After flying the S'pore flag in gymnastics and serving NS, was it easy for you to give up your S'pore citizenship and nationalistic bond, and embrace another country? Sorry, if this is a repeated question.
Hi again. Glad you like the Olympics +20 vlog piece - have you checked out a very similar piece bit.ly/welsh14 where I do the same thing... I tend not to show people that piece this days as it's only 14 languages and there was one mistake in it, I mispronounced a word...
DeleteAs for your last question, please look out for my latest post as I do answer that question in it. One thing you are oblivious to (or not), is that I had completely embraced so many other countries even as a very young child. Being a jiat-kentang potato (read that piece http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/why-i-am-jiat-kentang-banana.html ), I had totally embraced the cultures of a number of countries (USA, UK, Oz, France etc) and by that token, I had been embracing the UK since I was like 3 or 4 years old, not from the moment I received my UK passport. So it was totally easy for me to do so and if I had received a French or American passport, it would have been equally easy.
Mind you, think about it for yourself - think of how much of British or American culture you have embraced since you were a child. How much of the culture that you embrace in Singapore is uniquely Singaporean and not from another country (be it Japan, Korea or America, UK, Oz etc). Like dude, we're speaking in English, not Hokkien here...
Sure there are nice things that connect me to Singapore especially in gymnastics, I remember walking into a gymnastics competition in Singapore when I was 35 years old and all these people came up to me and greeted me like a long lost friend - I almost cried. There was this person who was an adult and I was like, I'm sorry I don't remember you? And she said, oh I was like 8 or 9 years old when you were competing for Singapore in the mid-90s, you haven't changed that much but you probably remember me as a little girl. It was like, WOAH, people remember me? And then they all say, "yeah but you put on weight ..." And I laugh, I have to remind them uncle Limpeh is so old , how can you compare me to when I was 21 years old - I wish I could have the body of a 21 year old gymnast at the age of 37.
I'm somewhat a jiat kentang person too, but I wasn't scoring As like you for Chinese. Haha...
DeleteFundamentally, I am not a language person. Even writing this reply takes me time, but I'm glad that I'm taking a progressive step out of my comfort zone.
Back to topic, thanks to media exposure since young, I was taught to appreciate tennis (how many people actually do play tennis in SG?), becoming a fan of US and UK pop music and Hollywood movies. I do also enjoy Hong Kong movies and Chinese pop music too, but find it frustrating the limited access to Canton pop. Because of the Speak Mandarin campaign and the media barred from airing dialect programmes and songs, it had impressed on me from young that these dialects are not worth learning and of lower value than Chinese. The campaign was so successfully that I was feeling happy that I do not know how to speak Hainanese which is my dialect group which I came to regret when I turned 20s. I stop short of embracing western culture and ideology as I'm a traditional Asian in the core, loyalty to family and country. However what little unique and history SG have are most probably gonna being bulldozed or redeveloped. My children will be more westernised than me if left to their devices. During weekdays, there are no Chinese toddler/preschool oriented programmes on the free Chinese tv channels, whereas abundant of good quality English programmes in Okto channel. But Okto has also cut a lot of good toddler programmes and I do not allow my 5 and 2 years old to watch Dream School (which is somewhat like Glee) which has replaced the timeslot that formerly aired toddler programmes! So the lack of exposure to the mother tongue for my children is a constant worry for me. I have been through it, embracing western pop culture but ultimately it does not echo the values which I ultimately holds.
Aiyah, scoring As for Chinese involves a lot of mugging - sit down and memorize these Chinese words and vomit them back out during the exams. You know the S'porean system lah - what's new?
DeleteHere's the thing though, have you ever worked with PRC people? I have - boy there's a funny story I will save for another day (I am working now) but it involves me meeting a bunch of PRCs in Birmingham and discussing the concept of 'lao ge' (old songs)... Trust me, you may think you're Asian, but when you are put next to a 100% PRC China Chinese person, then you'll realize just how totally white on the inside you are next to them.
Even if you do feel traditionally Asian, ask yourself this: how much of your identity is sourced from being Chinese as opposed to being Singaporean per se? By that token, I could drop you off in HK, Taiwan or China and you could still feel very much at home, n'est-ce pas?
As for your children's lack of exposure to Chinese culture, allow me to make a practical suggestion. Most of the gymnastics clubs in Singapore employ many PRC coaches - your kids will get a brilliant work out, have loads of fun with the sports in a MANDARIN only environment as those PRC coaches do not speak English. Let me know where in Singapore you live, then I can point you to the nearest gymnastics club. :) Trust me, that was one of the biggest impact on the standard of my Mandarin growing up in Singapore, to be thrust in a Mandarin only environment at gymnastics.
Not as good memory as yours lah. Best I can do is B3 in O levels, but actual proficiency is lower. Haha... Yah, I do lament the education system I have been through. But it is also due to my own limited abilities and the environment I was brought up in which doesn't encourage or engage in critical thinking.
DeleteOops, I wasn't relating to China when I spoke about having traditional Asian values. So it is about being a Chinese Singaporean and I would identify myself more to Taiwanese and Hong Kong people, well the overseas Chinese. I have been to these 2 places and feel quite at home.
I have a PRC colleague, but she belongs to the younger more modernized generation. Studied in SG polytechnic and been working here since, so I think she can't relate to the PRC concept of 'lao ge' too? Looking forward to hear this funny story.
Wow, I didn't know about the mandarin only environment for gymnastics clubs. I have an active and agile child and maybe it would be a good idea to introduce her to gymnastics. At what age would be appropriate to start gymnastics? I live in CCK. Terima kasih!
Oh we could have a long discussion about the difference between recent Chinese cultural influences (ie. I am referring directly to the period when China was a hardcore communist state 1949 to mid 80s) to more long term cultural factors that go back many centuries.
DeleteOh the Lao Ge story is not that funny lah, it's just that I once got a lift to an event I was working at in Birmingham from a PRC who played a CD he compiled of his favourite Lao Ge - he was around my age so he assumed that I would know at least some of the songs. But on the 2 hour journey from London to Birmingham, I didn't recognize one - not a single one, not even the melodies were familiar. Then as we entered the Birmingham National Indoor Arena, there was ABBA that was playing on the PA system, I think the song was Waterloo. And I said, aha, now this is Lao Ge for me, this is the kind of music I listened to when I was a very young child in Singapore. My PRC colleague made a face and asked if the band were English, I replied, no they're Swedish. That left him confused - just the idea that I would listen to a Swedish band as a child in Singapore was too much for him to fathom.
At that moment, I just thought, "I am sooooo NOT Chinese, I am such a total jiat kentang!!"
CCK to Boon Lay not too far I hope? I would recommend Bazgym http://www.bazgym.com/ at SAFRA Jurong. It is run by an ex-national champion gymnast (who is like 3 or 4 years older than me) and they have excellent facilities and great PRC and local coaches. They have a programme aimed at kids as young as 3-4 years old, so as long as your daughter is 3 she's old enough for them. Good luck!
Thanks for sharing. I think their 'Lao Ge' is mainly songs by PRC singers plus maybe some Theresa Teng songs. So not likely I can identify with too.
DeleteOh great. I do occasionally bring the kids to Jurong Safra. Will check it out. Thanks!
By the way, I would like to hear stories about how you were introduced, learnt and got selected for competitive gymnastics and subsequent rise to a 3 time national gymnastic champion. I have seen your old newspaper clippings posted on the web. However, I can only recollect reading about Eileen Chai, the perfect 10 young female prodigy. The name Longxiang did not ring a bell though.
Well you've clearly found the collection of old newspaper clippings which I had scanned for the Singapore Gymnastics FB page. Story is nothing special lah, I watched some programmes on TV including the 1984 Olympics and begged my parents to take me to a gymnastics class. I was already doing cartwheels and handstands in the living room so my mother made the best decision ever, she spoke to some people, made some inquiries and brought me to the old SAGA (Singapore Amateur Gymnastics Association) classes at the old RI in Grange Road back and it was there when I walked in there and did a near perfect handstand on my first session, that's when Lee Seng Huat, the head of SAGA then noticed me. I think I was able to become 3 time national champion because of an anomaly in the system - Mr Lee made me train all 6 apparatus in SAGA so I was always good in pommel horse and rings, but those 2 apparatuses were not part of the team competition at the national schools championships where there was this fierce rivalry between RI and CHS, so neither schools bothered with those two apparatuses. The system has since changed I believe, we're going back a LONG way. So I won all-round (ie. 6 apparatuses) at the Pesta Sukan when up against a field of other locals who simply did not train pommels & rings, until the mid-90s when the system changed and that was when you had people like Gabriel Gan and David-Jonathan Chan become seniors the year after I left for the UK - now unlike they're predecessors, they were so good at pommels they finished 3rd & 4th at the last commonwealth games on Pommels, a stunning result. Gabriel has just competed at the world championships in Antwerp as well and is still going.
DeleteEileen had a strong press following because she made a good story - she was young, cute and exciting to watch; I didn't. I remember my frustration in 1995 when I achieved a first for Singapore gymnastics - I represented S'pore at the Asia-Pacific championships in Kembangsan University Malaysia, made 2 finals (pommels and vault) and until then, no Singaporean male gymnast had ever made a finals when competing with gymnasts from OUTSIDE South-East Asia. It was a ground breaking first even if I did not win a medal (alas, 8th place on both, but still an event final finish nonetheless) - I was even interviewed by a journalist from New Zealand and his first question was, "isn't Singapore very close by? Why aren't there any journalists from Singapore here to interview you today?!" Go figure, that's how low-profile gymnastics was then, a whole generation of us went unnoticed back in the 90s - I am glad the current generation (Lim Heen Wei especially) are being given the attention they deserve by the press as that really impacts on the funding they get.
Thanks for sharing! This is a good reference for me if my child shows interest in gymnastics. Anyway she is still too young for Bazgym. Uh huh, kiasu parenting to think so far ahead! Hahaha... I'm observing my children's characters, their interests and natural talents. Hope to give them opportunities to further their interests whenever possible.
DeleteI have stopped reading news on sports due to lifestyle changes and usually I don't get to see local athletes and local sports development in the limelight (exception for football) via online media. Your response has sparked an old interest of mine. Especially with SG hosting the SEA games in 2015, what better time for me to start!
My brother-in-law pasted that link via The Real Singapore on his Facebook page, and I was initially wondering if it was another case of plagiarism without any real acknowledgements. But it looks like BBC really covered something which strikes to the core of what Singapore is experiencing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kev and thank your brother-in-law for me, I did experience a huge spike in the traffic to my blog today. I also kena a LOT of hateful messages as well from Singaporeans as well, but I would be surprised if I didn't get it today after that article on the BBC. LOL! It's better to be hated than ignored - something for me to blog about this weekend!! :)
DeleteThose Singaporeans who can only send you hate mail without taking a hard look at themselves, and realizing how sorry a state they are in by staying on in Singapore, know squat--sorry, being colloquial here--about what it is to be losing out! Call it their own little Matrix....
DeleteWell, one of them said that I was a quitter who ran away from Singapore when things got difficult, with the influx of PRC migrants. And I'm like, well, okay, so you stayed and fought for the rights of Singaporeans? Have you done anything significant to help the rights of Singaporeans? Have you at least joined an opposition party to stand up to the PAP, for the rights of Singaporeans? Sure I am not doing anything to help the rights of Singaporeans from where I am in London - but neither are these haters who are suffering in silence in Singapore. I guess they're just jealous that I am not suffering like them in Singapore : misery loves company.
DeleteOne of them claimed that I was a drifter who does not have a purpose in life, and hence, is going from country to country. Another claimed that I bought my PhD! LOL, what stupidity is this? They surely love company for the fact that they are suffering, but I have absolutely no intention to join them in it. I think that they are just sore that people left--whether permanently or for a period of time--and hence said those nasty things.
DeleteOh and ever notice how these people come up with the bullshit assertion that we're second class citizens in the West and claim that angmors are all racists, when they are totally blind to the way Singaporean-Chinese people are so hideously racist towards Filipinos and Indians? Good grief, Singaporean-Chinese people are the most racist people in the whole wide world!
Delete"Second-class citizen" is a bullsh-t myth created to console themselves that they cannot and are not able to migrate to other countries. Actually, I do not even think that Singaporean Chinese discriminate against Filipinos and Indians alone, but also, South Koreans, Japanese, and other nationalities. Some of the remarks that I hear from them are really disgusting! Every time that I hear those remarks, I feel like giving them a tight slap and kicking them in the stomach! Now, you know why I try my best to limit my visits back to that country when I want to see my family. My family is my family, but Singaporean Chinese are really terrible to encounter....
DeleteGosh Kev, we have totally found an area where you and I agree 100% - we totally see eye to eye on this issue mate!! :)
DeleteOne friend of mine--he's gay and migrated to Australia because he could not tolerate compartmentalization of people in Singapore whatever your orientation or background--told me himself this, "Singapore operates by stereotypes. Even gay men there internalize it and identify themselves by stereotypes, which I will never understand." While I do not have that many gay friends to be able to comment on the truthfulness of this statement, I do agree that Singaporeans have way too many stereotypes to cling to. The world is getting smaller. We know for example that if you are truly skilled labor, and fulfill the points for the point system in a country, that a country will roll out its carpet for you gladly, as much as it is getting harder to migrate. Most Singaporeans are still fed with the ideas that you can 'downgrade' a citizenship to a PR, or that you can migrate anywhere as long as you have a million dollars. It normally does not go that way, since even if you have a million in your bankbook, the origins of the million dollars will be investigated thoroughly by the immigration authorities of that other country to make sure you did not make it through human trafficking or money laundering or some other crime of that sort. Ignorance will be ignorance......
DeleteThe biggest misconception I have encountered is that Singaporeans think that you can apply for a new passport and migrate to another country just like that - whereas in reality, it is a slow transition from holding a work permit -> PR (or whatever they call it in the country, green card, Permanent leave to remain etc) -> naturalize as citizen, that process can take many, many years.
DeleteYes, it takes many painstaking years, and sometimes, even having a work permit and years of experience in that country might not mean anything in the way of migration, if the country has a system which prefers certain groups of people, or if you do not fit in with the classes of skilled labor. For example, in countries like Japan and South Korea, immigration into the country is virtually impossible: to get a PR in Japan, you have to live there for at least 10 years and know Japanese well enough to survive; in South Korea, it is almost near to impossible without Korean, and even if you know Korean, their preference is for those who actually married Korean spouses, or are ethnically Korean by origins (such as 'choseonjok' people from China). The point in either case is this: prove that you can contribute somehow via your linguistic ability as well as ties (if necessary).
DeleteNeedless to say, by contrast in the western countries like Canada, Australia, the UK and USA, getting a PR is only one step towards getting a citizenship and passport in that country. You need at least 4-5 years or so to qualify to apply for citizenship after getting the PR and living there, and you have to take a citizenship test and study for it. Singapore is probably way too easy in granting citizenship to any Tom, Dick, and Harry from wherever, and it might be why Singaporeans in turn have such mistaken conceptions about applying for a new passport. 4-5 years is actually a fair gauge of whether a person can really adjust to the new country and its culture, as well as a means of giving oneself chances to settle down realistically without expecting immediate success such as the rags-to-riches myth we are fed via any media. I know of some people from various countries who were surviving on work permits for years(maybe even more than a decade) to live on in Canada post-graduation, and they never even got a chance to be sponsored for skilled migration by their companies despite having worked for it for years, and in the turn, were forced to pack their bags and go back to their home country(such as Singapore, Japan, or elsewhere).
I seriously believe that the only reason to account for such misinformation might be the ease with which Singapore gives out its passports to new citizens. No test, nothing to even make sure they know, no test of their language abilities in English, and no requirements of a minimum period of at least 5 years with a job or ties in the country to prove that they are contributing, before they will award it.......it seriously depreciates the value of a Singapore passport. What is the point of being able to travel to so many countries with ease with the red passport, if you yourself are unable to find your niche in a stifling society, and constantly kick against the bumps like an egg against a hard rock?
Looking at the BBC report, it is interesting that a lot of the people interviewed mentioned conscription as the reason for emigration. Looks like a lot of people around the world face similar circumstances as those in Singapore. Makes me wonder what makes Singapore so distinguished compared to the other countries that they do not feel the urge to leave.
ReplyDeleteIn one word: family.
DeleteIn my case, my parents would have never left Singapore because they would probably never meet the criteria for countries like Canada or Australia or the UK because they're just not that highly skilled. So they can't leave and someone like my sister would not want to leave them in Singapore on their own even though my sister is v highly skilled, v highly educated and can waltz into any western country of her choice should she choose to emigrate. But she feels that since I had already left, she cannot afford to leave (as much as she would like to) not whilst my parents are still alive anyway - so her decision and thinking made it a lot easier for me to settle in the UK, but also makes it virtually impossible for her to leave with each passing year. Anyway, she's a woman, she doesn't have endless NS reservist obligations.
So yeah, my sister hates the PAP too and is under no illusions about the situation in S'pore - but she is not staying because she likes Singapore (hell no), she is staying for my parents. And she is making a very, very noble sacrifice.
Hi Limpeh, glad to see you appearing in BBC. Do you mind summarizing for us what you shared with BBC, those parts that were edited away. It should be be interesting.
ReplyDeleteSure thing, it's Friday afternoon 2:51 pm here and I have so much to finish before the end of the afternoon - it's something I will get round to doing this weekend.
DeleteDear Limpeh,
ReplyDeleteWell done! I am extremely proud of you.
Tomorrow, I am going to enjoy a mountain hike whilst thinking of your BBC post.
Have a good weekend.
Regards from United Kingdom.
Thank you!!
Delete