Dear Mr Prime Minister,
At the Ministerial Forum a month ago, you talked about helping new citizens adjust to life in Singapore. Have you also considered the early immigrants who are having trouble adapting to this fast-moving country?
Allow me to elaborate with the story of my father:
My father’s migration to Singapore didn’t start off with a good omen. It was September, crazy weather and choppy waters at the South China Sea. He slept among boxes and crates in a cargo ship for 10 days—how long it took to get to Singapore from China’s Fujian province in 1956.
At that time, Singapore and Malaysia were colonised by the British. People could cross the causeway freely. My grandfather, who had been working in Johor Bahru as a truck driver, crossed over to the other side to reunite with his wife and seven-year-old son.
Three years later my father moved permanently to Singapore. It was 1959, the same year your father became the first Prime Minister of Singapore.
Not wanting to study, because he didn’t like to, my father quit school at 13-years-old and got a job. His first employment was at Orchard Road. My father, barely educated and Hokkien-speaking, used to work in Singapore’s retail hub!
All right, maybe retail hub to be.
As you probably know, Orchard Road was very different then. There was no Takashimaya or ION Orchard. What most would remember is Cold Storage, the first to bring ice-cream to Singapore, occupying the basement of what is Centrepoint today. The rest of the area was blanketed by mom-and-pop shops, one of which my father worked in.
Mr Prime Minister, here I’ll like to take a break from the story to ask you a question. How much did you earn for your first job? $100? $1,000? Or was it $10,000? I earned over a thousand a month as a part-time waitress.We were both lucky, sir. My poor father was paid a meager $40—exactly the amount his housing cost!
Struggling to make ends meet, he thought he could make more money as a trishaw rider. But he naively rode it like a bicycle. Once, outside the Subordinate Court, the vehicle stubbornly went onto the opposite side of the road towards a charging truck! He was thrown off a few meters all cut and bruised.
The abrupt flying experience taught him to keep his feet on the ground. So he started selling bananas by the kilos at Tanglin Halt, street-hawking style. Like everyone else in the 1960s, he laid his goods on the floor and squatted behind them.
You know sir, my father still likes to boast about how long he used to squat. If only he could read a traditional scale as well as he squats, he wouldn’t have sold the fruits at a loss!
Despite this series of unfortunate events, there was no doubt he could find a way out. As you can see sir, Singapore always had a place for him wherever he went. In return to the abundant opportunities, my father made the most of it eventually.
He soon found a job in the Coca Cola factory at River Valley Road. You might remember drinking the popular soda off a glass bottle as a young kid. For $3.50 a night, my father had to unload 22 trucks of those empty bottles.
And amid the mad rush to make a living, he still found time to practise lion dance and performed in Singapore’s second national day celebration!
At 20, my father clinched a deal with a Malaysian plantation owner to sell his vegetables at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. He remained in this business for the next 40 years, up till today.
Unfortunately, as he was working tirelessly, Singapore changed—it progressed in leaps and bounds. I swear to you, Mr Prime Minister, that my father had tried to keep up with the times.
He taught himself to read and write Chinese, and acquired a pretty good knowledge in Chinese medicine I must say. But as years went by, Singapore had moved so quickly into the future that my father could no longer run shoulder to shoulder with her.
Orchard Road and Clarke Quay are now devoted to the young and the foreigners. My father can’t fit in with the fancy bars and restaurants, and god forbid, the reverse bungee jump. The places where he shed sweats of hard work have since been cleaned up and developed to be more inviting, but paradoxically, more rejecting at the same time.
Have you been to any of the malls sir? I would advice you to bring a guide if you visit one. One after another, they grew so big, so tall and so inconvenient for the aged. The escalators are a challenge to their wobbly legs (that’s 421,000 pairs assuming legs turn jelly after the age of 65), the lifts are hardly enough and the toilets are always at the next and the next and the next corner.
Outside, Singapore is like a table of mahjong tiles. Every now and then buildings are shifted, thrown in or removed. My father finds his way around through trial and error. The road signs, all in English, are practically redundant to him. And so he is damned when the roads are reconstructed, which happens ever so often.
His problems with language also interfered with his efforts to participate in my school life. I used to dance and emcee many concerts in secondary school, but my father only attended once. He was so bored out of his skull he never showed up for any more, until I graduated from college this July.
Just as I had expected, the ceremony, held entirely in English, made him feel out of place. When the graduating class was invited to rise from our seats to thank our parents with a round of applause, my father wasn’t aware of its significance.
I had asked the valedictorian to say a few words in Mandarin, but he rejected my request. He said it would be discriminating against the minority groups. I understood the sensitivity of the issue but it left me with a bitter taste.
Please do not be offended sir, but I feel that the valedictorian’s approach bore an uncanny resemblance to how your government handles many issues, especially pertaining to race, language and religion.
Many a times you stay put at the traffic junction to avoid causing any accident.
For instance, if we have to put up street signs in the Chinese language, we have to do so in Malay and Tamil too. So if there’s not enough space for all four, we just make do with a sign only in the English language.
But we’re not moving forward either sir.
Individually these issues may seem trivial to you, but together they conspire to reject and exclude my father, and those alike.
Please do not point my father to the parks and community centres (or even house him in Johor Bahru). Are these the only things that Singapore can offer to her pre-independence population? Do you really want to herd them into places out of convenience, and compel them to hang out with people they don’t know and may not want to interact with?
Or if you sir think this will require too much work and money, we could wait till everyone in that generation kicks the bucket. Let’s assume the youngest of that generation is 50-years-old and the average life expectancy is 80, it’s impossible to ignore their needs for 30 years, don’t you think sir?
Moreover, at the lightning speed at which Singapore is progressing, I doubt this will be a problem contained within one generation. We too will have our time of failing eyesight and restless legs, which cannot be made exception by any amount of education or technology.
But what I can do with these privileges given to my generation is to write you this personal letter, Mr Prime Minister, hoping you would understand what Singapore is becoming to my father, and eventually you and I.
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saiber
says:October 21st, 2009 at 10.51am
I somehow get the sense that you are hoping Singapore won’t develop so quickly so that your father doesn’t have to feel out of place.
Also interesting to complain to PM about escalators and placement of p[ublic toilets. Are we hoping for some laws regulating those?
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 21 Oct 2009
says:October 21st, 2009 at 11.54am
[...] Singaporeans are fed, up with progress! – The Enquirer: Letter to my PM: No country for my old man [...]
xtrocious
says:October 21st, 2009 at 1.18pm
Hi saiber
I think the author’s intention is to tell the government not to just focus on progress and forget about the eldery – these are the people who helped build Singapore into what we are today…
By all means – work hard on progress but in the meantime, don’t leave the elderly behind
That’s my interpretation :)
saiber
says:October 21st, 2009 at 4.34pm
Hi xtrocious,
I think I understand the sentiment of the author, but the piece has chosen to highlight either things the govt can do nothing about or should do nothing about.
It just seems like the author wants buildings not be redeveloped, roads not to changed, bars not to be opened in clarke quay and convocations to held in English and Chinese.
And there is an additional sense that she wants Singapore to develop slower, sacrifice some gdp so her father can better adjust to the changes.
The author is right in saying that they are trivial. If there had been some complaint about the lack of nursing homes or a considered criticism of CPF life, that would be something.
This too me comes of a little whiney. Anywhere else in the world, people won’t even think about complaining to the PM about their parents being unable to participate in their school life. They dealt with it.
My father is not tech savvy. You don’t see me writing to the PM lamenting the fact that the world has embraced the Internet.
tiredman
says:October 21st, 2009 at 11.06pm
A very good piece to reflect how cruel the soceity can become. Life is hard however, rich people from the top does not seem to understand.
Charles
says:October 22nd, 2009 at 7.08am
Saiber, I feel sad for you reading what you wrote… Stop and reflect on the piece… read it again… read into the message…
Reshie
says:October 22nd, 2009 at 8.42am
Hi Shree, I empathise and am sympathetic to the plight of yr father. It must be disconcerting for a man to have lived in a country all his life finding that he cannot navigate the streets once the roads have been rebuilt.
In many ways,my mother has had the exact opposite problem to yr dad. As an English-educated woman,she related to me her profound embarrasment when she visted China for the 1st time and found she was unable to communicate with the locals on even the most basic level so poor was her Mandarin(ironically,yr dad would have traversted the country with consummate ease. Admirably she resolved to learn ‘pu-tong-hwa’ and is now quite proficient.Kudos to her. The glaring difference however is that she comes home and slots back into things without a 2nd thought,Yr dads’ sense of dislocation is not confined to a few weeks on holiday;it is permanant.It is a reality that pervades every aspect of his life however insignificant.It is his reality. Language is the tool by which we communicate with each other and is inherent to the social fabric of life in any society.It elevates us,allows us to relay everything from basic instructions to our inner universe artiulating our hopes,fears and on a wider scale express discontentment,engage with social programs both local and in the national arena. Not to be able to do this represnts to me a profound social handicap. I hope something can be done to recitify this allowing him to master the basics of this,the international lingua franca. My best wishes, Reshie
hahaha
says:October 22nd, 2009 at 10.03am
Excellent piece of work. Singapore has met the needs of the masses with little foundation and money. However difficult, it has been achieved. It is now time to meet the needs of the minorities. AND Singapore has now the money and strong foundation to do so.
xtrocious
says:October 22nd, 2009 at 2.16pm
Hi Charles
I think Saiber is not wrong – the government has to do what it has to do…
But what I found is missing (both the government and even Saiber) is compassion…
The buildings and the roads – they were modeled on being the most efficient but the author has shown, they risk leaving some people behind…
Amenities like handicap access etc were put in as an after-thought and more often than not, they do not serve the purpose.
saiber
says:October 23rd, 2009 at 4.26pm
To be clear, I understand her sentiment and the plight of her father.I think Reshie has captured the sentiment well.
What I found regrettable is that when faced with a problem like this, the author’s response is to complain to the PM in an open letter.
There doesn’t even appear to be any attempt on her part to help her father through her own effort, I don’t know, help him enrol in some English classes or something.
Of course I hope I am wrong and the author has tried everything she can before finally arriving at this letter as a last resort.
tiredman
says:October 24th, 2009 at 12.42am
Let be clear on this. Government sets policies. Polices affect people directly or indirectly. Polices can make people worse off than before or better off than before. In this case what have actual happen?
Good policies help people regardless of infant, young, or old. Especially those that are young to improve themselves through good education and later could afford to feed their elderly parent.
Policies implement to help single elderly to be independent and independent does not mean to face brutal competition.
By flooding Singapore with massive foreigners to raise competition without considering the well being of citizens of all ages is something that is something I do not agree.
Young people can compete because they are young. Although, young people can compete, one must not forget that they have a duty to serve plus a family to take care of. How about the elderly, especially elderly that not married?
It is even more ridiculous for one to ask an elderly man who in the first place being severely made worse off over the years to fork out money to learn English just compete with the young foreigners (very likely to be from China who do not know English) who is branded as elite to fight for which ever a low paying job one can think of.
This author is merely asking or letting one understand the need in improving the policies related to the elderly people in Singapore and pointed out that their contribution over the years is very significant. This teenager knows that what she has now is because of what our forefathers have contributed.
Good policies must be implemented to shield this group of people who has given their effort to build this small place for our very own citizens to live and enjoy in. It is their time to enjoy the fruits and not asking them to contribute more to the society. Of cause this depends of the thinking of each individual. By the way, who do not want to retire early?
If one decided to work and contribute more, government should make sure that there is a good system being in placed to prevent them from being taken advantage by the employer.
Sadly, I hope what I have seen is an isolated case. God bless.
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Weekly Roundup: Week 43
says:October 24th, 2009 at 11.05am
[...] (Gross National Happiness) – My sketchbook: Cheaper , faster and better singapore – The Enquirer: Letter to my PM: No country for my old man – The Temasek Review: Singapore has second highest income gap among advanced [...]
Thingfallapart
says:October 24th, 2009 at 5.36pm
Things fall apart is one of the short stories which i read during my secondary day. Singapore government has chosen materialism progress at all cost as their goal. Along the way, the PAP pushed all responsiblities to GLOBALISATION, stating they have no choice else singapore will fail. IS THAT SO? Many countries have chosen not that extreme policies to develop their countries, not i never see them failed. It is the greedy and kiasism of the government scholars that has led us to this miserable state.
sickput
says:October 24th, 2009 at 6.57pm
wot about those malay folks who had their kampung land forcibly acquired by the govenrment to build HDB flats, now offered for sale to PR’s?
Elgin Tan
says:October 25th, 2009 at 8.40am
poignant piece of writing, something i can identify with.
seems to me singapore is an island overfilled with trendy shops, elegant restaurants, uber-cool nightspots and ritzy hotels.
Singapore is now a playground for the rich and the young and she will be even more so once IRs are up.
Elly
says:October 26th, 2009 at 7.06pm
I like this piece. I don’t see it as a complaint to the PM. Rather, I see it as a reflection on the obvious. It’s like the Mercedes radio advertisement some time ago, which carried this message: “We know that you know these things. But sometimes, you just need a little reminder.”
This article sparked off 2 main thoughts in me. It would be very useful for Singapore to be even more elderly-friendly and family-friendly. First because of the ageing population, and the second to encourage people to build families – which would help to ease the many issues of an ageing population, although that is not the main motivation to start a family.
I’m currently living in another country. And the sort of facilities that are available to the elderly/wheelchair-bound people and families are commendable and worth learning from. For instance, buses have retractable platforms to allow wheelchairs/prams to board and alight easily, and there are allocated spaces in the buses for the wheelchairs and prams.
Eng ah por
says:October 27th, 2009 at 11.29pm
I come from the same generation my fellow generation hails from Redhill Ang Sua before it was burn,Alexander and Tiong Bahru SIT flats the forerunner before HDB’s Tanglin Halt.After fifty years in Singapore our generation grew up knowing every part of Singapore without a need to know their English roads or streets the Chinese or dialect names are common knowledge e.g.Tanglin Halt till today is known among our generation as Chap Lau Tanglin Halt or Chap luck Lau Tanglin Halt better known as Commonwealth.I am sure your father will be pretty mad if you say that he cannot navigate around Singapore at his age unless pardon me for saying so that he is invalid.