Living in Singapore : The Changing Aspects of It’s Value System

Living in Singapore is a pretty unique experience. We are a nation that is made up of various ethnicity, races and cultures. We are able to adopt many values, Asia or Western. However, in many countries, the dominant class is the one that has the greatest control and influence. Fortunately, minorities in Singapore have learnt to live with the dominant class (especially the Chinese ) with much happiness. The Singapore government has increasing organised campaigns for nation building and for Singaporeans to form a common identity. How successful has this campaign been? Depending on different perspectives, it can range from successful to unsuccessful. Successful in ways that majority of Singaporeans are willing to defend it when there is a call for it. Singaporeans are less willing to bite the hand that is feeding them because living in Singapore can be a great blessing to most as compared to the crisis happening around the world. We live in peace and harmony. Most Singaporeans have jobs and a roof above their heads. Unemployment rate is not that high as compared to other countries.

The government has been unsuccessful in creating an identity because there are Singaporeans who still trying to find their identity living in Singapore. One reason is that there is a great irony in the Singapore campaign of nation building. Even though there is a great call for nation building, the Singapore government still reminds us that there is a dominant class. For example, the speak Mandarin Campaign.

One thing I find appalling is that the Speak Mandarin Campaign is now showing European Kids speaking the Chinese language. It is giving a message that other cultures can assimilate to the Singaporean culture. What is the Singaporean culture you may ask? If you go by the view that Singapore is multi – cultural then the Singaporean culture is one that is multi-faceted.

However, the campaign actually has a hidden meaning and that it is stating that there is only one culture and that the culture is from the dominant class. It is cultural Imperialism at its best. Some of you may be against what I am writing but do take some time to reflect on the questions posted here. It is true that Singapore is made up of different cultures and the government is aggressively campaigning us to build an identity and live as one nation. Therefore why is there no speak Indian Campaign Day, Speak Foreign Language Campaign Day, Speak Malay Campaign Day ( please remember that the Malays were the dominate class here once but are now taken over by the Chinese. This leads to another question to consider. Why is it that the Malays can never return to being the dominant class even though they are producing more babies than the Chinese do? Just visit hospitals and you will know what I am talking about.). There are some Singaporeans that have claimed that we have a Singaporean identity because we are united as Singaporeans, that we have created the Singaporean fruit and composed some nationalistic songs. Whilst all this is well and good, it still does not answer the question why there are Singaporeans that will emigrate or why our youths who study overseas would like to stay and work in the countries they have studied in.

The answer is that we have not really created anything that we can say identifies our identity. The declared durian was declared as a Singaporean fruit because most Singaporeans like to eat it. However, the durians that we eat are imported from Malaysia or Thailand. The songs created lead to patriotism. It is what being a Singaporean is but it does not bring about what being a Malay, Indian, Eurasian or a foreigner is to a Singaporean. The very fact that we are multi-cultured makes it difficult for us to develop a true identity. We only can create a Singaporean identity that the government deems it to be. A lot of our variety shows are copied from the US. We do not have any games shows that are created by Singaporeans at which we can be proud of. We are so rich that we can even purchase the rights to game shows.

Living in Singapore can be a beautiful experience for most of us but to some it may not be. How we want to live in Singapore depends on how we want our lives to be. Singapore’s culture is still conservative but has become more liberal over the years. This has alarmed some parents. They have attributed the increase of abortions and sex among youngsters to the deterioration of values. However, it is a micro point of view because as Singapore globalizes and other foreigners flock to our shores, different cultural values especially western values will set shore in Singapore. Youths will be exposed to more western values. When they study overseas, they will also face the same experience. Their thinking will change but their values like respecting parents and paying respects to their elders may still stay intact. Having pre-marital sex is a choice and doing it is actually natural. We humans are made to have sex. Some will definitely disagree with what I have written, especially religious leaders like the Catholic priests. However, in my opinion, as long you do not do any harmful things or disrupt social harmony, then you are entitled to do anything you deem is right and make yourself happy.

In an Asian society like Singapore, Asian values are adhered and respected. These values are very important to the old generation and their importance has been passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, it is certain that most Singaporeans still commonly share the values of marriage. The government also promotes Asian family values by furiously campaigning about it and urging Singaporeans to treasure and respect the sanctity of Asian family and marriage values. Their family and marriage polices are also eschewed towards the preservation of these values. They are afraid that if these values are not adhered to, the fabric of family cohesiveness would be broken and hence lead to broken families due to divorce. More crimes will be committed due to lack of parental guidance and more delinquent youths will be sprung up. It would lead to the break down of society in Singapore. The question is whether their fears are justified? However, the breakdown of Asian values is not the only factor that leads to high divorce rate, crimes and delinquent youths. There are other socio - economic factors to consider like wealth, education and occupation.

In the era of globalization, many opportunities have been created for many people to migrate to other countries to find jobs. Therefore, it is not surprising to find an influx of skilled and unskilled foreign workers of different race, religion, ethnicity, gender and skin color coming to Singapore to find jobs. Singaporeans have the opportunity to meet various kinds of people from around the world and share with them their values and believes. Relationships may be form between them. The reasons for foreigners coming to Singapore are job security, Singapore’s safety record, good education facilities and wide range of entertainment. One good example is the upcoming Integrated Resort Project due to be completed by 2010 if there are no delays. Some maybe surprise that I have stated a wide range of entertainment as one of the attraction. Abide that there was once limited entertainment in Singapore, the government has been trying to promote Singapore as a Top arts and entertainment city. They still have a long way to go comparing with other countries like Italy and France that are way ahead of the game. The income level of Singaporeans has also risen due to globalization and industrialization expansion. There are quite a number of youths going overseas to attain a foreign education. Two common reasons are that there is better accreditation obtained when studying at a prestige overseas University like Cambridge or Harvard. The other reason is that due to the quota system and stringent enrolment system that our local Universities administer, not every youth that is eligible to attend a local university can do so.

The number of Singaporeans adopting western values of living is small but there is no reason for the numbers to increase. In view that there is a group of people who are adopting a western way of living, the government should change their pro family polices to support these group of people. As Singapore globalizes, it is inevitable that people from all walks of live would flock to our shores. There is no stopping of Singaporeans to change the way they live. The government need not worry about the rotting of Asian values in Singapore as by large more Singaporeans still adopt an Asian way of living. The values are still deeply entrenched among the vast majority of Singaporeans. The government also has the reassurance of the “older society “ to up keep these values intact. Therefore, there will be no worries for the government to tweak their family policies to cater to the “minority” of Singaporeans who choose to live an alternative way of live.

Most of the family policies cater to married couples. A married woman is able to take four months of maternity leave. They are also entitled to childcare leave so is the husband. The policies are very attractive. A couple must also register their marriage before applying for a HDB flat. Be it at resale value or a brand new one. A single unmarried person can only buy a flat at resale value and he or she must be 35 years old and above. Some Singaporeans may agree to this polices. They may even praise the government for trying their very best to be pro family and keeping the fabric of family cohesiveness together. Well, there is no doubt that there polices are good but as Singapore process into the future and become more cosmopolitan, there will be an increase of Singaporeans who may view the sanctity of marriage differently. There it is high time that the government re – evaluate their pro family polices. What is the harm of allowing singles to buy new HDB flats? Must they wait until they are 35 years old in order to buy a “second hand flat”. It does not make sense at all if you would consider Singapore as a democratic country. Not every single Singaporean may be earning a salary that will enable them to purchase private property. There is also a consideration that there might be more singles now as the expectations of women are rising. For example, some girlfriends of mine have told me that their future partners must at least earn a salary between S$3,000 to S$4,000 in order to start to family. I do not blame them for cultivating this mindset as the cost of living in Singapore is rising each day . Woman’s earning power is also on the rise and they have the power to choose who they want to live with. Feminists have argued that they are in a better position to take over the household as men are losing the ability to be the head of the household. In the Singaporean context, it might be true as there are quite a number of mamma’s boys nowadays. Women prefer foreign men because they are more independent and advocate equality.

A country like Germany has polices that support single mothers and they are very attractive. Actually I would not mind living there and having my children with my partner without having the obligation of being married. I can see knives being thrown at me! Have the polices deteriorated the values of the country? The answer is definitely no. There are many agencies like the media that can ignite the deterioration of values. Girls as young as twelve years old are getting pregnant. You may ask me how I know about Germany? Well, I have friends in Germany that relate their live stories to me.

With the influx of foreigners and the changing mindsets of Singaporeans, the views of marriage have changed over time. With this change of mindset in mind, the Singaporean government cannot be so tight fisted over their pro family values and keep on spreading the message that the cohesiveness of the family will be effected if there are more single parents. It has not affected other developed countries and it sure would not affect us as the “older generation” is still around to ensure that the values of marriage are sustained. The Singapore government must tweak their polices to cater to those that want to live a single life and be single parents. This will also help increase the population of Singapore. Singapore is not like other countries like Philippines where due to strong catholic believes, their ever-strong catholic population do not use contraceptives therefore leading to high birth rates. Singapore’s society is more secular therefore there are many Singaporeans using contraceptives to practice family planning. Singaporeans are more career minded now and they may want to have less children in order to concentrate on their children. The rising cost of living in Singapore is another factor that Singaporeans consider to have children or not. I foresee it will take a very long time for the Singapore Government to change their mindset as the values of Confucianism are deeply entrenched with them. Furthermore Confucianism also advocates pro family values

We should not only stay in Singapore to experience other cultures. We should venture out and visit other countries as well. Even work there to experience a different way of life. Everything is beautiful depending how you perceive what beauty means to you. This same meaning applies to the many people living around the world. The way they perceive their environment is brought upon their upbringing, their life experiences, culture and background. Frankly if we do not visit other countries then we would not know what other beauties there are that the world has to offer other than the country that we live in. We will also have the ability to adopt ways to perceive what other people think of us, how we think of them and learn how to appreciate life and the beautiful things around us.

Naturally there will be fears whether we can assimilate into other cultures. Well, that will be our learning process because when we visit other countries different from others, we cannot expect things to be the same. Some may experience enmity because of the different environment. There will be new friends to be made. Some will experience loneliness or being ostracized from certain groups. However, I believe it takes time to get used to these cultures. Well, the worst case scenario is that you return back to Singapore. At least, you will know whether you can assimilate into other cultures or just get to know what other cultures are all about.

Some of my friends have started their own families in other countries. The most common difficulty that they had experienced is loneliness. They also found it difficult to get used to their new country’s culture. They suffered from great culture shock. However in the end, they did get used to the culture and they have told me it is the best thing that they have experienced. Now they know how to live in two different cultures and their thinking about life has also expanded. A very good blog you can go to is http://www.cmariec.com/blog/?page_id=349. She is a very good friend of mine who is living a very good life in Sweden. Her blog is very interesting. It depicts about her lifestyle and the beautiful culture Sweden has to offer.

Living in Singapore depends on you. If you can learn how to live in Singapore and feel that Singapore is truly your homeland, by all means make it your homeland. After all Singapore has plenty to offer and overall it is a beautiful country. If you can’t adapt, well the other option is to migrate to another country that will benefit you the most. It also depends whether you have the means to do so. For some, it may not be possible to do so. If that is the case then they have to make do whatever they have. Maybe lady luck may shine on them one day so that they can migrate. For those that have not had the opportunity to experience cultures, I greatly encourage them to so. It is once in a lifetime experience. It is great to view what other beauties other countries have to offer. We can also learn how to appreciate and understand other cultures.