Limpeh's response to Dee Kosh and Divian Nair

Now I was going to do a more detailed response to Stephanie Koh's Youtube piece, but I thought, I agree with her actually, so I would rather do a response to the piece that DeeKosh and Divian Nair made because I have a lot more to say in response to them. So here we go, you may need to watch the following piece first to understand my following responses as to why I think these two guys are so totally salah.

1. Many Singaporeans have liked Stephanie Koh's video and shared her video.

If Stephanie's points didn't resonate with the many Singaporeans who have liked the video, why do you think she had so many hits and likes on her video? At current count, she has 718,683 views: 22,225 thumbs up and 3169 thumbs down - for a video that is barely 4 days old, that's clearly a very popular video that has gone viral. Most of the comments left on her Youtube page are very positive and people do agree with the points she has made. You can't argue with the statistics - you may not like what she said, but you cannot dispute the fact that many people do indeed like it and agree with her. The numbers speak for themselves.

Steph Micayle/Stephanie Koh in her youtube video

2. You've made a jump from not being proud of Singapore to emigration.

Stephanie Koh never made that point - she never told Singaporeans to leave Singapore because it was not a nice place. She was talking about her personal perspective on the issue rather than telling people that they ought to believe in exactly what she tells them. I watched her video with an open mind, there were some things I agreed with, others I didn't quite agree with - but the bottom line is, I am not some brain-dead zombie who would believe every word she said without exercising some element of judgement on my part. Stephanie has colourful hair with pink and orange highlights. That's her choice, that's a decision she made about her appearances but she never told anyone to go dye their hair like her. By that same token, she may want to leave Singapore, but she is not telling anyone else to do the same thing.

3. Singapore's economic miracle in the last 50 years... can you take credit for it? 

Divian makes a point about Singapore's economic miracle in the last 50 years. Yes Singapore is a very rich country, but can Divian, DeeKosh, Stephanie, myself or anyone of us take personal credit for it? No, we cannot. Only someone like Lee Kuan Yew can personally claim credit for having built up Singapore's economy to what it is today - someone like Divian or DeeKosh are merely attaching themselves to something they can claim no personal credit for and feeling a sense of pride over an achievement which is NOT theirs.

Singapore may be a great country but how can you claim pride over Singapore's achievements?

Let me illustrate my point. Usain Bolt is hands down the world's number one sprinter - he won the gold mdeal for the 100m sprint at the 2012 Olympics. I happened to be in the Olympic Park in East London at that time, so by some bizarre connection, I can feel proud of Usain Bolt's gold medal despite not having even met him or contributed in any way to his success. You may turn around and say, "hey Alex, you didn't win that Olympic gold medal, you were not like Usain Bolt's trainer or coach - you didn't do anything to contribute to his victory or success, so how can you claim to be proud of his success? Usain Bolt can feel proud of his victory - but you can't." Exactly. I have no right to feel proud over Usain Bolt's success at the Olympics - the same way DeeKosh and Divian have very awkwardly decided that they can feel proud of Singapore's economic miracle despite not being able to claim any credit for it.

No one is disagreeing that Singapore is a successful, beautiful, super rich country today, but what I am disputing is the claim for people like DeeKosh and Divian to try to derive any kind of pride over Singapore's success when really, pride should be something reserved for things you can point to and say, "hey I did that, I achieved that, I can claim credit for that, that was a result of my hard work and efforts." Hey Divian, why not go on and claim credit and pride for something you have no connection with them, such as Usain Bolt's success?

4. Being narrow minded about narrow mindedness.

No DeeKosh, that just doesn't add up. You're making a mistake here. Stephanie was making a point about Singaporean society - now she is free to express her opinion on the issue, if you intend to silence or censor her by calling her narrow minded about the issue, then you're not respecting her right to express her opinion. There are loads of countries where people are narrow minded in their own way - Singapore is hardly the only narrow minded country in the world, but how is she being narrow minded by pointing out that others are narrow minded? You could perhaps call her intolerant - that would have made more sense, but you are struggling with the English language here if you are resorting to using the wrong words to describe her response.

5. Singaporeans making it in the music industry. 

Oh please Divian. You wanna compare her to ShiggaShay of all people? How many people outside Singapore have heard of Shigga Shay, Inch Chua, Antia Sarawak and Dick Lee (oh we're going way back here, I'm showing my age). There's a difference between being able to make a living in the music industry and trying to become a huge global star. Controversy aside, at least Sun Ho made a valiant attempt to break into the US market - will Shigga Shay ever have a hit in the UK or US? He'll be lucky if he can get paid work just across the border in JB or KL. Stephanie Koh took part in K-pop Star Hunt 3 to launch an international music career and I stress the word INTERNATIONAL - that means the big wide world, outside Singapore. Take someone like Yuna from Malaysia who has achieved quite a level of success in America or Anggun from Indonesia who has achieved huge international success after she moved to France - like pullease. Stephanie has big dreams, she has ambitions, she wants to be a international superstar, not a big fish in a small pond. Check out the single 'Rescue' by the beautiful Malaysian songstress Yuna in the video below.

6. DeeKosh and Pinoy Pride

Again, maybe something is lost in translation here DeeKosh, but I find the concept of feeling proud of being Filipino totally bizarre and illogical. Like, I'm Chinese in ethnic origin (well, I'm mixed actually, but mostly Chinese) but what does it mean to be proud of being Chinese? I can understand the value in taking an interest in Chinese culture for there is a lot to be learnt from the rich cultural traditions of China that goes back thousands of years - but to somehow gain pride from it? Duh, I didn't build the Great Wall of China, I did write Li Bai's famous poetry, I didn't do any of the things that made Chinese culture what it is today, so how on earth am I suppose to claim any pride from it? I may as well look at all the wonderful achievements that humankind has achieved and say, I'm proud of being human being us humans have achieved so much. Why restrict myself to just Singaporeans or Chinese people, eh?

Duh.

No, I prefer to feel proud of the things that I have personally achieved, that I can point to and say, "see? I did this. I achieved that. I worked very hard and this was the result and I am so proud of what I did."

I am proud of the things that I have achieved in my life, things that I have personally done.

7. "Where would you go? You think if you go to another country they're going to welcome you with open arms? You're going there for their higher pay, you're taking their jobs? You think they're going to be happy? And when you are there, where will you belong? Because you're not proud to be a Singapore, where will you go after that?" 

So many questions and I have all the answers. Stephanie will go to where she will find work - it's that simple. No work, no visa, no work permit. She cannot just waltz into another country and find work there without first getting a work permit. Do you Singaporeans have any idea just how difficult it is to get a work permit for some of these countries in the West? It is pretty darn hard unless you are very highly skilled and successful in your field.

If Stephanie goes to another country, she will be welcomed if she can find a job which comes with a work permit, if she can find an employer who is willing to sponsor her work permit and she will at least have a shot at starting a new life in another country. Let's imagine if a Korean record label like JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment or LOEN Entertainment take notice of her based on her performance in K-pop Star Hunt 3, they give her a work permit and a contract to record an album in South Korea. Now will the South Koreans welcome her with open arms or will they reject her as a foreigner? Now you're simply not asking the right question because you're making an assumption that most people are racists who will reject foreigners.

There are some non-Koreans who have made it big in the world of K-pop: Nichkhun of 2 PM, Victoria and Amber from f(x) as well as Fei and Jia from Miss A. Whether or not Stephanie becomes a huge K-pop star will depend ultimately on how good her music is and not her nationality. After all, there are plenty of Korean singers in South Korea who do give K-pop a go but fail to achieve any degree of success in the Korean music scene. Clearly, DeeKosh and Divian have forgotten that we tend to like singers on the basis of their music, rather than their nationality per se.

If you go to any big city: New York, London, Sydney or indeed Singapore - you will find that there are plenty of foreigners (or expatriates) in these big cities. May I remind you that in Singapore, there are over 2 million foreigners in Singapore, out of a total population of 5.4 million. If going to work in another country meant incurring the wrath of the locals who resented these foreigners 'stealing' their jobs, then goodness me, what is going on in Singapore then? It's pretty ironic that a Singaporean could come up with that statement when there are so many foreigners working in Singapore - aren't they 'stealing' the jobs of local Singaporeans then? Oh dear - so what are you going to do about all these foreigners stealing your jobs then Divian?

The fact is, we live in modern times, when it is hardly unusual for well educated professionals to broaden their horizon and look for opportunities all over the world, rather than limit themselves to the country or town they were born in. I look back at my cohort of classmates from VJC and more than half of them have spent some time working outside Singapore - they have ended up working all over from Australia to America to China to the UK to Germany to Switzerland and even one went to work in Gabon, in Africa! The fact is, in any big city, you will be meet expatriates. Do you freak out when you meet an expatriate in Singapore and become all racist and xenophobic? Hell no. It's a fact of modern living that we have all gotten used to, it is really not a big deal to go work in another country.

As for Divian's question of 'where will you belong?' I don't think Divian has really understood what it means to have a sense of belonging. Now let's look at some of the very basic factors which determine if we feel a sense of belonging - as an adult, you need a good job to begin with, hopefully with a great boss, where you earn good money. Hopefully you have enough money to get on the property ladder and have plenty of investments squirreled away, but still have enough to treat yourself to the nice things in life like great holidays, beautiful clothes and indulge in whatever hobbies you enjoy. You also need to have an active social life, with plenty of friends and hopefully, you will also have some luck in the romance department. As long as you've ticked all of those boxes, how can you not feel a sense of belonging?

Do you feel a sense of belonging at work, are you valued by your colleagues?

Now just because you are a Singaporean in Singapore doesn't mean that all of those things will automatically fall into place - remember that story from last year, where that poor Singaporean kid was so exploited by an unscrupulous boss who underpaid him and beat the crap out of him at work? Yeah that's a kid being exploited and bullied by a Singaporean boss in a Singaporean company So much for a sense of belonging - it doesn't automatically happen. All those nice things in life which make you successful and happy, you have to work hard to achieve all of those things and there are plenty of Singaporeans who have moved to another country and have found great jobs, established themselves in their new countries and have become rich and successful. It all boils down to how hard you're willing to work to make sure you get what you want in life. And if you're successful, you will feel a sense of belonging. And if you're poor and a failure, it makes no difference even if you are living on the same street all your life.

Life is what you make of it - whether you are rich, successful and happy or if you turn out to be poor, alone and miserable does not depend on whether or not you live in the same country you were born in, hell no. Say if you are a highly skilled brain surgeon, your skills will ensure that you will be successful in any country to go to in the world - but if you're uneducated and have little skills, then you'll struggle to find work even if the country of your birth.

No Singaporean is guaranteed a good job or a good life - life isn't that simple.

8. "All these kids who are getting on the bandwagon by agreeing with her will just be influenced!" 

Excuse me, but stop patronizing "all these kids". They can see Stephanie Koh's video and they can see your video and they will make up their own minds as to whom they choose to agree with. The Singaporeans (not just kids but of all ages) who agree with her video are not "influenced" by her, but merely those who have already held opinions similar to those expressed by Stephanie Koh. It is not that easy to get people to change their mind on an issue like how s/he feels about  their country - it's not like, "oh I wasn't really a big fan of 2NE1, I didn't like their early work until I heard their latest single and now I've changed my mind." These Singaporean "kids" have lived in Singapore all their lives and their opinions of Singapore are shaped by their experiences of growing up in Singapore - they're not looking for someone like Stephanie Koh to tell them what to think or how they should feel about their country.

9. Is Stephanie Koh a spoilt brat? Is she being 'ungrateful' by not liking certain aspects of Singaporean society?

Well, I think Divian and DeeKosh have been unfair in labeling Stephanie Koh a spoilt brat - is she being ungrateful by not liking certain aspects of Singaporean society? No, she isn't. As for whether or not she is a spoilt brat, I think that's between her and her parents; and there's really nothing to suggest that she is a spoilt brat. But be careful what you say because when you call someone a spoilt brat, you are implying that this spoilt brat's parents had failed to bring up this child properly. That's both unfair and untrue - what I see before me is a bright, articulate, confident, talented young lady who is anything but a spoilt brat. She just happens to dislike Singapore and you're not using the right words to describe her. Maybe you could say that she is unpatriotic, but spoilt brat? Just because she took part in this K-pop programme doesn't mean that her patriotism has somehow become compulsory.

Was Stephanie obliged to like Singapore more than other countries?

A spoilt brat's reaction would be quite different as well - if a spoilt brat is keen to become a big star in Singapore and establish a music career in Singapore, then she would perhaps demand that her parents hire the best PR consultants in Singapore to promote her and adopt a Sun Ho style "let's spend S$24 million making her a superstar" promotional campaign. Oh yeah if you're interested in Sun Ho, I've blogged a lot about her. No, instead she found sponsors, took part in K-pop Star Hunt 3 and it looks like she is going to move to another country soon to try to strike it out there (Taiwan? Australia? Korea?) on her own. This suggests that she is an extremely mature businesswoman who has calculated every move very carefully - this is not what a spoilt brat would do, she is far more intelligent than her image suggests. Except of course, neither DeeKosh nor Divian could get past her cleavage.

10. Your cleavage joke at the end was crass.

You guys are not funny. You had me cringing at the end. It was in such bad taste. That's so lame.

Any comments or questions, don't be shy - leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Thanks.