Friday, February 20, 2009

Good Neighbours

This post is a follow up on my previous post, “Incompatible Policies”.

Reading the Electronic Version of
The New Paper today made me wonder if the fight was a result of overcrowding.

Within the paper, there was also an
article about Singaporeans who cares for the foreign workers

The Straits Times also reported that the Worker’s Dormitory at Serangoon Gardens will be ready in August this year.

This is good news as I always felt that we need to give proper considerations to these migrant workers’ welfare.

These migrant workers left their comfort zone, family and familiar surroundings to come here to find work so as to ensure a better future for their family.

It was the same motivation that prompted our forefathers to come to Singapore less than a century ago.

These workers are necessary for our country as they help lubricant the economy so that Singaporeans can continue to pursue the good life that they all enjoy.

Thus, it is not fair to “sardine” them into cramp places and still expect them to deliver tip top services with flawless attitude.

I cringe whenever I hear people complaining about these groups of people who cannot speak English and so on and so forth.

If you see beyond the language and cultural differences, you may discover tenacity, determination, diligence as well as contentment within them.

If you were to dump me in Spain today, I will probably not survive for too long due to the language difference. These migrant’s ability to assimilate quickly into a new environment is commendable.

I sometimes wondered if the Singapore Machinery has made me soft.

If these people are expected to deliver the highest service level with the best attitude, I think their place of rest should be decent too.

These human beings are not the vacuum cleaners in our homes where after using it, we put it in the store room.

Sure, there will be some discomfort in living next to them. This is due to a lack of understanding and some irrational fear or prejudice.

I’m sure the when the Chinese flooded Australia, the “Natives” there were upset.

A few decades had gone by and I think there is a better level of acceptance and integration over in Australia now.

I can accept the fact that some of these apartments may be turned into affordable lodging for this group of people but I cannot accept overcrowding.

And I know the term “OVERCROWDING” has different meaning to different people.

I just hope it will not become an excuse that will be used blindly and unwittingly kill off someone’s dream and aspirations.

We do not need people to conform to our culture as we welcome diversity.

But I think common sense should prevail when it comes to “neighbourliness”.

The key words are RESPECT & TOLERANCE here (Love Your Neighbour as you would yourself)

If people are more respectful here, they will think twice before they dump the rubbish inconsiderately, they will lower the volume of their home entertainment system at night, they will clean up after their dogs, they will not feed the cats with leftover food which cockroaches also thrive in, they will not chain up their bicycle indiscriminately along the walkways......blah blah blah.

Once we get everyone to be more respectful & more tolerant about differences, Tiong Bahru will become an even better place to live in.

I will end off with this song I found from YouTube. We all know the words but the tune is not exactly familiar.

If we have an open mind, we should be able to enjoy this song but if that is not our cup of tea, perhaps we can also tolerate it and let people who enjoy it enjoy.



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