More Than Meets The Eye
The latest conversation topic for Singaporeans is the horrific car crash at Bugis in the early hours of Saturday morning, that has so far claimed the 3 lives.
There has been a huge public outrage at what is seen as recklessness on the part of the Ferrari-driver, which not only claimed his own life, but also those of the taxi-driver and the passenger in the taxi.
The case seems to be blown out of proportion, partly due to the combination of circumstances. The fact the private car was a Ferrari, indicates the owner was well-heeled. That he is from China also does not help.
The liberal immigration policies instituted by the government has already caused a lot of unhappiness which surfaced as an issue during the last parliamentary elections. The fact that many new immigrants do not integrate well into Singapore makes it even more of a problem.
While most Singaporeans use English as their primary language of communication with others (or call it Singlish, if you want), many of the new migrants are more comfortable with their mother-tongue. Executives may be able to converse in English, but many of their family members who they bring along do not. This makes integration all the more difficult, as they carve out ethnic enclaves. Something that the government has over the years, tried so hard to eradicate.
Perhaps, rather than pure economic benefit, the government needs to assess potential immigrants and families based on their ability and willingness to integrate with the local population.
The rich-poor divide is starting to creep up in conversation topics. Singaporeans have been brought up on the premise of meritocracy with a basic egalitarian background. Most of Singapore's rich have been faceless and are not conspicuous about their wealth. So, most Singaporeans are brought up believing that hard work will bring them prosperity.
The maturing Singaporean economy with the uncertain global economy works against this idea. Singaporeans have experienced structural unemployment, and a widening income gap. While costs have gone up, the wages of the average worker has not kept pace. Many used to the middle-class lifestyle are finding it difficult to sustain.
This difficulty with sustaining a middle-class lifestyle meets the conspicuous spending of many rich foreigners and creates a dangerous cocktail. It also does not help when there are quite a few foreign individuals with rather dubious credentials and indications of ill-gotten wealth, which further feeds into the mix.
So what you have is a society that is disgruntled with foreigners and the rich, and that combination played out in the car crash. I think the outcry would be less if either factor was absent. Either the Ferrari-driver was Singaporean, or that the driver was a poor foreigner driving an old, beat-up car.
The reporters have had a field day with this, and I do wonder why they have not been reined in (considering how others get gag orders). It is obvious that a distraught wife is not going to say that her dead husband is a playboy and a heavy-drinker, or to accept any element of blame, so the "interview" only causes more polarization.
So, is this some evil scheme to justify clamping down the local media further? Your guess is as good as mine!
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