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14-04-2015, 01:40 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
TODAY NEWSPAPER BLAMES INTERNET FOR ANTI-FOREIGNER SENTIMENTS
Post date:
13 Apr 2015 - 11:01am
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/No%20to%20Overpopulated%20Singapore.jpg?itok=py-aY7i2 (http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/field/image/No%20to%20Overpopulated%20Singapore.jpg)
State-controlled media Today carried an article on Saturday and blamed online voices for the anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore.
"The anti-foreigner sentiment found online is out of sync with the real-world experience," it reported. Today interviewed 15 foreigners to come out with this conclusion.
“I think (the negative sentiments are) all in the online space ... there’s no translation of it into the physical world,” Today quoted Mr Anjan as saying.
Mr Anjan is a 45-year-old Indian national who is a Permanent Resident (PR) and is a senior manager at a media company. He has been living here for 14 years.
Ms Angela also said that “she rarely encountered "any open frustrations with foreigners” from her colleagues or Singaporeans running local businesses," Today reported.
Ms Angela moved to Singapore in 2008 and is a British director at a multi-national company.
However, some foreigners felt "tolerated rather than welcomed".
"And because of that … a great deal of us tend to put our heads down, take our salary, pay our taxes, and we’re grateful for our lifestyles and we tend not to try and create ripples,” a 43-year-old British director, T S, of a technology firm today Today.
Today also quoted a domestic worker Cecille as saying, "(Singaporeans) don’t like to talk to us, maybe it’s because I am a domestic worker."
National University of Singapore (NUS) sociologist Paulin Straughan gave a take on the anti-foreigner sentiment to Today and said that Singaporeans were creating an "excuse".
“Since the 2011 GE, we have dangerously walked very close to the safety boundary … using economic setbacks as an excuse, many Singaporeans blamed foreigners for taking their jobs so they drew the line between foreigners and Singaporeans," she said.
Today also quoted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who had said at the National Day rally in 2012: “It speaks poorly of what sort of people we are, what sort of people we want to be.”
Today then went on to blame the Internet for the ant-foreigner sentiment.
Dr Carol Soon, a research fellow on new media at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), today Today: “The internet creates the illusion of many when there could just be a few because of the ease and speed of replication, especially when it comes to provocative material.”
She said that the internet has a “disinhibition effect”.
“When people communicate online, they sometimes behave in ways they do not behave in the real world due to the mediated nature of communication.
“In the real wold, we are more sensitive to others’ feelings and responses because we have visual cues to guide us. As such, we are more careful with our speech.”
Assoc Prof Straughan also called Singaporeans "cowards".
"The people who perpetuate anti-foreigner comments are “not necessarily a minority but these are the cowards”," Today quoted her as saying.
"They know they cannot say it in public because there are very strong laws and normative stance against xenophobia. So what they do then is take to the anonymity of the internet and there, they believe they can sprout whatever they want ... It is an act of cowardice.”
Assoc Prof Straughan also blamed the Internet.
"They have become more visible simply because technology has facilitated that with social media. The internet has magnified their lone voices,” she said.
Today also interviewed two other foreigners who shared their concerns.
“As a long-time resident of Singapore, I feel very much affected by the same things, and I’m very much concerned about the same things as Singaporeans … like governance or the cost of living,” Australian Paul Hutton said.
He is a 48-year-old PR since 2003 and has been in Singapore for 17 years. Mr Hutton has been living in the "Housing and Development Board heartlands" for most of his time, Today said but not all foreigners do so.
“If (they) come in as richer foreigners, they have their own set of people who move around in their own places … the elites move in a very different circle,” Mr Vikram, a senior executive at a multinational corporation said.
It is strange that Today carried an article that decided to blame the Internet for the anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore, without looking into the deeper issue of unhappiness among Singaporeans.
However, Today chose to slight the concerns that Singaporeans have which have resulted in the prevailing anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore today.
Instead, Today would quote academics which would call Singapore "cowards" and that the sentiment is an "excuse".
The fact of the matter is that over the past 20 years, real wages of low-income Singaporeans have remained depressed while large swaths of Singaporeans have lost their jobs in certain job sectors over the past few years, due to a lack of job protection.
As a result, Singaporeans have grown wearisome of their employment situation.
The problem should rightfully be pointed back to the government which has refused to enact policies to protect the employment of Singaporeans, as well as their wages.
Many foreigners have similarly spoken up online and even spoke up for Singaporeans, arguing that the government should enact laws to protect Singaporeans.
However, the government has chosen to ignore the need for such policies and the government has instead blamed Singaporeans, and Today would carry a propaganda piece to outline the problem as one being about the Internet.
Such a divisive discourse perpetuated by the state-controlled media not only serves the ruling elite but it will only further entrench the anger among Singaporeans that their voices are not being heard.
Instead of blaming Singaporeans who go online to highlight their grievances, it would be more productive if the government would enact policies to protect the labour of Singaporeans. However, it looks like the government is unwilling to do so.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?204691-TODAY-BLAMES-INTERNET-FOR-ANTI-FOREIGNER-SENTIMENTS-NUS-Don-SGs-Are-Cowards!&goto=newpost).
TODAY NEWSPAPER BLAMES INTERNET FOR ANTI-FOREIGNER SENTIMENTS
Post date:
13 Apr 2015 - 11:01am
http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/No%20to%20Overpopulated%20Singapore.jpg?itok=py-aY7i2 (http://therealsingapore.com/sites/default/files/field/image/No%20to%20Overpopulated%20Singapore.jpg)
State-controlled media Today carried an article on Saturday and blamed online voices for the anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore.
"The anti-foreigner sentiment found online is out of sync with the real-world experience," it reported. Today interviewed 15 foreigners to come out with this conclusion.
“I think (the negative sentiments are) all in the online space ... there’s no translation of it into the physical world,” Today quoted Mr Anjan as saying.
Mr Anjan is a 45-year-old Indian national who is a Permanent Resident (PR) and is a senior manager at a media company. He has been living here for 14 years.
Ms Angela also said that “she rarely encountered "any open frustrations with foreigners” from her colleagues or Singaporeans running local businesses," Today reported.
Ms Angela moved to Singapore in 2008 and is a British director at a multi-national company.
However, some foreigners felt "tolerated rather than welcomed".
"And because of that … a great deal of us tend to put our heads down, take our salary, pay our taxes, and we’re grateful for our lifestyles and we tend not to try and create ripples,” a 43-year-old British director, T S, of a technology firm today Today.
Today also quoted a domestic worker Cecille as saying, "(Singaporeans) don’t like to talk to us, maybe it’s because I am a domestic worker."
National University of Singapore (NUS) sociologist Paulin Straughan gave a take on the anti-foreigner sentiment to Today and said that Singaporeans were creating an "excuse".
“Since the 2011 GE, we have dangerously walked very close to the safety boundary … using economic setbacks as an excuse, many Singaporeans blamed foreigners for taking their jobs so they drew the line between foreigners and Singaporeans," she said.
Today also quoted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who had said at the National Day rally in 2012: “It speaks poorly of what sort of people we are, what sort of people we want to be.”
Today then went on to blame the Internet for the ant-foreigner sentiment.
Dr Carol Soon, a research fellow on new media at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), today Today: “The internet creates the illusion of many when there could just be a few because of the ease and speed of replication, especially when it comes to provocative material.”
She said that the internet has a “disinhibition effect”.
“When people communicate online, they sometimes behave in ways they do not behave in the real world due to the mediated nature of communication.
“In the real wold, we are more sensitive to others’ feelings and responses because we have visual cues to guide us. As such, we are more careful with our speech.”
Assoc Prof Straughan also called Singaporeans "cowards".
"The people who perpetuate anti-foreigner comments are “not necessarily a minority but these are the cowards”," Today quoted her as saying.
"They know they cannot say it in public because there are very strong laws and normative stance against xenophobia. So what they do then is take to the anonymity of the internet and there, they believe they can sprout whatever they want ... It is an act of cowardice.”
Assoc Prof Straughan also blamed the Internet.
"They have become more visible simply because technology has facilitated that with social media. The internet has magnified their lone voices,” she said.
Today also interviewed two other foreigners who shared their concerns.
“As a long-time resident of Singapore, I feel very much affected by the same things, and I’m very much concerned about the same things as Singaporeans … like governance or the cost of living,” Australian Paul Hutton said.
He is a 48-year-old PR since 2003 and has been in Singapore for 17 years. Mr Hutton has been living in the "Housing and Development Board heartlands" for most of his time, Today said but not all foreigners do so.
“If (they) come in as richer foreigners, they have their own set of people who move around in their own places … the elites move in a very different circle,” Mr Vikram, a senior executive at a multinational corporation said.
It is strange that Today carried an article that decided to blame the Internet for the anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore, without looking into the deeper issue of unhappiness among Singaporeans.
However, Today chose to slight the concerns that Singaporeans have which have resulted in the prevailing anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore today.
Instead, Today would quote academics which would call Singapore "cowards" and that the sentiment is an "excuse".
The fact of the matter is that over the past 20 years, real wages of low-income Singaporeans have remained depressed while large swaths of Singaporeans have lost their jobs in certain job sectors over the past few years, due to a lack of job protection.
As a result, Singaporeans have grown wearisome of their employment situation.
The problem should rightfully be pointed back to the government which has refused to enact policies to protect the employment of Singaporeans, as well as their wages.
Many foreigners have similarly spoken up online and even spoke up for Singaporeans, arguing that the government should enact laws to protect Singaporeans.
However, the government has chosen to ignore the need for such policies and the government has instead blamed Singaporeans, and Today would carry a propaganda piece to outline the problem as one being about the Internet.
Such a divisive discourse perpetuated by the state-controlled media not only serves the ruling elite but it will only further entrench the anger among Singaporeans that their voices are not being heard.
Instead of blaming Singaporeans who go online to highlight their grievances, it would be more productive if the government would enact policies to protect the labour of Singaporeans. However, it looks like the government is unwilling to do so.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?204691-TODAY-BLAMES-INTERNET-FOR-ANTI-FOREIGNER-SENTIMENTS-NUS-Don-SGs-Are-Cowards!&goto=newpost).