Singaporeans hatred towards Filipinos are on full display again! Should we also sorround Singaporeans living outside Singapore? Remember, Filipinos have already taken over the world. Would that be acceptable to Singaporeans? Heck! Fortunately, we Filipinos do not subscribe to common Singaporean mentality. Tse! Read! Kirsten Han is a Singaporean blogger, journalist and filmmaker. She is also involved in the We Believe in Second Chances campaign for the abolishment of the death penalty. A social media junkie, she tweets at @kixes. The views expressed are her own. The 116th Philippine Independence Day is coming up. To commemorate this event, the Pilipino Independence Day Council (PIDC) Singapore decided to organise a celebration at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza, in the middle of Singapores busy shopping belt. So far, so good. What they didnt expect was the backlash. Spearheaded by the Facebook page Say No to an overpopulated Singapore, Singaporeans began to protest against their event. Among their objections was the fact that promotional material for the event included an image of Singapores skyline, and the use of the terms interdependence and two nations. Furthermore, they are also objecting to the fact that the celebration will be in public space, rather than in the Philippines embassy. Faced with this onslaught, PIDC Singapore had to take down one of their posts, which the Say No to an overpopulated Singapore page heralded as a triumph. Lets be frank here. There is no value in this protest against the Philippine Independence Day celebration. There are plenty of comments slamming the PAP, but this is not about pushing for more democracy in Singapore. Its not about empowering Singaporeans. Its not even about problematic immigration policies. Its racism and xenophobia, pure and simple. A group of Singaporeans are getting their knickers in a twist about Filipinos having the gall to celebrate a Filipino event on our soil, and are employing siege mentality to portray it as an assault on our identity, our land and our sovereignty when all theyre really doing is giving their racist and even fascist views an airing. Comments left on Say No to an overpopulated Singapore refer to Filipinos as f**king vermin, scum, shit heads of a third world country and undesirable underlings. Some are calling for Singaporeans to show up at the event to make trouble. One guy even called for men to put on our number 4s with full battle order to surround the Pinoys. These people are not making valid or logical arguments. These people are racists and xenophobes. Calling for your fellow Singaporean men to show up in combat gear to target Filipinos is fascism. I dont care if these people have Singaporean passports; this is unacceptable behaviour and it is a shame that we have such people in our society. The event is not about the Philippines trying to exert political control over Singapore. Two Nations, One Community is not a Filipino political statement; its just a theme for this celebration they are holding, to indicate that Singaporeans are welcome if we would like to join in. Mentions of interdependence are not about trying to colonise Singapore. The protesters arguments are as hollow as they are disgusting. And lets not forget the double standards here: you dont see the same amount of complaining when it comes to Bastille Day or Fourth of July celebrations in Singapore, even though both are national/independence days for France and the USA respectively. We love Oktoberfest. There was a bagpipe parade and a three-day all-things-Irish festival on St. Patricks Day this year. The number of Singaporeans who wholeheartedly embrace Halloween suggest that we dont have a problem with that intruding on our identity. We also just had a huge, expensive blow-out of a Singapore Day in London – in which we also used the London skyline as part of our promotional material. So what gives? Comments that refer to Filipinos as vermin and scum highlight a much bigger problem. It reveals to us the number of people who have been swallowed up by their hate for people who are different from them. The images some commenters have posted of spraying insecticide (suggesting that Filipinos are pests or cockroaches) are also alarming; we should not forget that cockroaches was precisely a term used to dehumanise the Tutsis during the devastating Rwandan genocide that took place two decades ago. A Hutu radio station had called on people to exterminate the cockroaches, urging their listeners to go out and kill any Tutsis they came across. It is not okay to refer to another group of people, whoever they may be, as vermin or scum. Such language dehumanises people and makes it much more acceptable when we treat them differently or badly. It is part of the culture of abuse and exploitation of migrant labour that exists in Singapore. Its not about protecting our nation (which isnt under threat, by the way). Its about not being horrible people. Unfortunately the people at Say No to an overpopulated Singapore page dont seem to see that. https://sg.news.yahoo/blogs/singaporescene/racism-xenophobia-rears-ugly-head-singapore-once-more-004751861.html
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 15:01:11 +0000
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