'Is Singapore my home, daddy?'

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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/your-view---is-singapore-my-home--daddy---074813814.html
The article below by Mike Tan was sent to Yahoo! via reachus@yahoo-inc.com.

"Is Singapore my home, daddy?"

A seemingly innocent question asked by my 4-year-old son.

Early Saturday morning, I brought him to Universal Studios Singapore at Sentosa. There was a performance by street dancers at the Sesame Street area.

It was a performance my son enjoyed. During a part of the performance, the dancers asked the audience which part of the world they came from. The dancer would announce the country followed by the audience response. Of the countries announced, there was a big response from the mainland Chinese, Philippines and Indians around.

Singapore was the last to be called. There were quite a few Singaporeans in the audience of course, but when Singapore was called out, most of them (me included), did not acknowledge the call, we just kept quiet.

After the performance ended and we walked away, my son asked me,"Is Singapore my home, Daddy?" A part of me died.

I wanted to tell him with all my heart, "Yes, of course! This is your home! You'll grow up here, work here, live here, get married and have kids here, and die here!"

But I couldn't... My brain reminded me that Singapore is a big business, a corporation. A place where Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the KPI, a place where the elite live well while the poor suffer in silence, or be shamed if they voice out their discontent.

To anyone still reading at this point, let me tell you this: I'm all things Singaporean. I served my NS and completed my reservist, pay my income tax on time, and do the occasional volunteer/donation work at the neighbouring old folks home.

I work as hard as the guy next door, be they local or foreigner. My working hours are normal though there are late nights every now and then and my pay increment is minimal. I take these all in my stride. I don't grumble, I keep quiet, and I continue to work.

But some of my peers do not accept that. They quit, and what does the company do?

For every Singaporean worker that leaves, three foreigners come in to take his place. PMET positions, mind you. Not low-level positions. The whole mix in my company is around 30% local and 70% foreigner.

Many Singaporeans I see are becoming desperate now. The only job they can do is to drive taxis, be hawkers, small-time push cart business owners.

What about the jobs that are related to our education we spent almost 17-20 years to get? They're all being snapped up by the so-called foreign "talents".

The recent government policy calling for companies to place vacancies in the jobs bank for jobs under S$12,000 is not going to solve the problem as the selection criteria is still subjected to managers' own discretion. There is simply no way the government is able to influence the final selection of the candidate.

In my personal opinion, "hiring Singaporeans first" has to start from the heart and brain.

And to answer the question asked by my son, I almost cried when I replied him, "Yes, this is our home, but only for now."