Life in Singapore - Utopia or Dystopia

Life in Singapore - Utopia or Dystopia.

Singapore possessed an endless string of world rankings and claims, i.e.

1. “The happiest place in Asia.”
2. One of the best welfare system in the world.
3. One of the best health care system in the world.
4. One of the best education system in the world.
5. One of the lowest income tax in the world.
6. The most efficient and honest government in the world.

The list goes on and on and on. The country is obsessed with world rankings and claims.
Most observers and visitors to Singapore are stunned but impressed by such a vast display of world rankings and claims.

Is Singapore such an Utopia as claimed? The answer is probably YES from about 10% of the population comprising of the multi-million dollars highest paid ministers in the world, the highest paid public civil servants in the world, the high salaried expatriates, the successful businessmen, the rich and famous, tourists and short term visitors.

These are the elite who can afford to pay $5 million to $30 million for a house and has no hesitation disclosing to the media that they spent $20,000 for a few days of French cooking lessons in Paris or spent $40,000 a year sending their two and three years old children to “baby gym” and “baby motivational” classes or post on Internet that the “poor should get out of her elite uncaring face.”

For this privileged caste, Singapore is indeed fantasy-land. It is a fun city with world class casinos, streets of bars, pubs and karaoke clubs, great restaurants of all cultures, theaters, 5 stars hotels, plenty of young and inexpensive social escorts and prostitutes from China, Philippines and neighboring countries. Prof Tommy Koh, former ambassador to UN, was reported that he entertained western ambassadors and consulate staff for “fun-filled” evenings. He preferred the Filipino girls in Orchard Towers over those in Duxton as those girls were “cheap and low quality”. The homes of these elites are well maintained by the services of cheap maids and they live like royalties.

For the remaining population, few would consider Singapore a fun city, let alone “the happiest place in Asia”. There is a small percentage within this remaining population who are in the “comfort zone” and contend with status quo where they could enjoy occasional touches of happy moments. These are people in the senior management positions, senior civil servants, senior military and police officers, relatively successful businessmen who are able to buy cars, private condominiums, the cheaper end of private houses or in worst case, the executive or 5-room HDB apartments. They have maids and take overseas vacations and enjoy some luxuries of elite lifestyle.

For majority of population, life is tough having to work 12 hours a day for both husbands and wives to pay off the mortgages for their 99 years lease HDB homes and 10 years lease cars, pay for children tuition and make ends meet. If Singapore is a fun city, most of them are simply too busy to feel happy or enjoy the luxuries of life. Singapore’s workforce has the reputation of having the longest working hours a day in the world.

How did Singapore with all the world ranking and claims deteriorate to such a pathetic state where the majority of common citizens are depressed, oppressed, stressed and agitated resulting in increased divorces, violence and suicides?

The Hard Truths are the fear of losing their current jobs and difficulties in finding new jobs, the raising cost of living, the anxiety of inadequate CPF for retirement, the lack of affordable health care, the fear of being homeless and the lack of welfare for seniors. In this meritocratic society, the handicaps, weak and the old are expendable and left to the care of their families. The State has in place laws for parents to sue their own children for financial support. The government does not want to waste its resources on the expendable. Singapore has an inexorable policy of survival of the fittest. Those citizens classified as underachievers or a burden will be sidelined and be left to rot.

Singapore leaders have a despicable habit of mocking other countries’ welfare systems to champion their own. In his 1996 National Day speech, then Prime Minister Goh said “People often want the government to assume the full burden of the cost of medical care and provide treatment free to Singaporeans. Because of the painful lessons learned in other countries we have not done this. All the countries which have done this—Britain, France, Germany, Canada, and Communist China—have failed. “

Contrary to SM Goh’s bold prediction 15 years ago, Canada’s welfare and health care systems are still firmly in place with high approval rating by the government and public. On the other hand, despite its world ranking, Singapore’s own welfare and health care systems have deteriorated to an extend that it is considered a mockery by its citizens. The joke amongst the citizens is that you can afford to die but cannot afford to get sick or old. All government hospitals have been converted to profit based private enterprises. There are no longer free medical care. Citizens have to pay for all medical services and medications with limited subsidies.

Singapore may rank better in the world by WHO but in reality Canada has a much better system. For example:

Case No. 1 - I am a kidney transplant patient who has gone through 5 years of dialysis before the transplant. The medical cost for the 5 years of dialysis, the transplant operation, the ICU and general hospitalization, the post transplant medication for the rest of my life are FREE. I did not pay a cent other than paying for the national health insurance that amounts to about $50 a month per person.

A patient in Singapore would have to cough between $200,000 to $300,000 from his/her medisave or beg for help from relatives and friends to pay the medical bills. One serious illness would effectively wiped out a giant portion of a person’s pension fund.

When I was unable to drive to hospital for dialysis, special handicap bus was arranged to pick me up at my residence and send me to and from hospital. All I have to pay was C$2.50 per trip.

I was paralyzed from neck down when I discharged from ICU. The Canadian health system has rehab program to enable me to participate in international dragon boat races. All my dialysis and medical treatments during overseas competitions were reimbursed. In 2008, I managed to win a Gold Medal in the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Race against normal healthy competitors under the Recreational Category.

In a callous society like Singapore, most end stage kidney failure patients would be left on their own or rely on the help of relatives and friends for rehabilitation. Those patients who managed to walk independently would consider themselves fortunate. None would dare hope for the government to provide training or pay for participation in international competitions.

Case No. 2 - An ex-Singaporean has tunnel or straight eye vision but the doctor did nothing in treating her when she was working in Singapore. When she immigrated to Canada, her family doctor discovered her eye defect and sent her to an eye specialist. She was diagnosed as “legally blind” and classified as a handicap person. Health care workers were dispatched to her work place to check if the environment is friendly and prevent her from hurting herself. As a handicap, she cannot be fired because of her medical condition. All these services and medical treatments were free under the Canadian Health care.

A ludicrous incident happened when this lady returned to Singapore for a visit. An ignorant immigration officer confiscated her blind person walking cane as he regarded it as a dangerous weapon. She tried to explain to him that she was legally blind but the immigration officer told her that as long as she can see, she is NOT blind. He thought she was faking to take advantage. Not much of a testimony for a 1st world country.

Case No. 3 - Mr. Bernard Chan, an ex-Singaporean and YPAP promising member, has a special needs daughter that cost him thousands of dollars a month to be looked after when they were living in Singapore. When they immigrated to Canada, his daughter was immediately placed with 7 other special needs kids and taken care of by a full-time teacher, an assistant and watch over by a nurse and a specialist. All these services for FREE. He need not pay a cent. It is all covered by Canadian health care system.
Fast forward. On reaching 18 years, his daughter was given a monthly inflation-indexed allowance of Sin $1,500 (C$1+S$1.3), free medical and drugs, free dentistry and glasses (Sin $ 400 every 2 yrs). She can enroll for all kinds of studies and even dance, swim or social dance ... all paid for FREE. Monthly bus is half price at Sin$45 per month ...unlimited bus and train travel. The social services even got her a part-time job doing packing to build up her self-esteem and she cannot be fired because of her medical condition.

Case No 4. Senior citizens living alone have regular visits by social workers to ensure that their meals are cooked, clothing and homes kept clean. They are given regular medical checkups. Again all these services are free under Canadian health care.

Examples can go on and on. It is puzzling how Singapore was ranked 6th best health care in the world by WHO versus Canada at 30th ranking when it fail to provide these basic compassionate services.

DPM Wong Kan Seng, on Jan 17, 2011, said, “We will not leave behind those who need more help. The surpluses we have set aside in good times can be tapped on to look after the needs of the old and poor. We will continue to enjoy quality education, healthcare, transport and other social infrastructure.”

Do Singaporeans still believe all these political rhetoric and empty promises? Do they really feel better off than Canadians? Canada may not have the best health care or welfare systems in the world but as Canadians we are proud of our health and welfare systems. Its policies are compassionate and fair to all citizens. We are motivated to die for Canada without hesitation.

On the other hand, Singapore health care and welfare systems are designed for selected elite. For example, when Mrs Lee was ill in London, a 747 jumbo plane was converted into an air ambulance within 24 hours to fly her back to Singapore. MM Lee boosted that it was a world record that could only be achieved by Singapore. Do the leaders spare a minute to care for the sick, weak, elderly and homeless to score another world record? In MM Lee's latest book, "Hard Truths to keep Singapore going", MM Lee challenged citizens to die for each other. For a statesman who prided himself as vision extraordinaire, MM Lee should easily forecast that it would be difficult to motivate citizens to die for the country that is run like a circus by ministers drawing obscene high salaries with no accountability, no apology, no responsibility, no transparency and no shame.

In 1991, Prime Minister Goh promised Singaporeans that Singapore will achieve "Swiss standard of living" within a decade. Now, twenty years later Singapore's standard of living is more like Russia than Switzerland.

"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."
— Confucius


Wing Lee Cheong
North Vancouver, BC,Canada
retiredwing@gmail.com

LKY - Hard Truth the book

Spur in the hide

Education systems between Singapore and Canada

Why I prefer Canada’s education system – world-ranking or not

Sunday, 29 November 2009, 1:39 pm | 125 views

Wing Lee Cheong / Canada

“Singapore’s ranked 1st in quality education system in the world” – Global Competitiveness Report 2007–2008

“Singapore ranked one of the world’s best-performing school systems” – McKinsey Report, published September 2007

“Singapore students ranked among the top in Mathematics and Science” – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007

“Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education systems” – Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006

Those are very impressive achievements that one can be proud of. Dr.Ng Eng Hen, then Education Minister of Singapore, cited a 2007 survey by the Fraser Institute that shows 94 per cent of Ontario students were dissatisfied with the Canadian public school system. Dr.Kishore, dean of public policies of NUS proudly claimed that educational leaders around the world are flocking to Singapore to copy Singapore’s successful educational model. He said that some North American schools are even using similar textbooks in their schools.

Canada may not have a perfect education system but I seriously doubt the reliability of the survey cited by Dr Ng. One has to question the criteria and sample size used for the survey.

If the Canadian education system is that bad, just remember that Canada has produced 21 Nobel Prize laureates and Singapore has none!

Most Canadians are proud of their education system and will not trade it for the aggressive streaming system of Singapore where one’s future and career is based solely on academic results. Studies have shown that passing standardized examinations with good grades do not necessarily mean that students with better grades are more knowledgeable on the subject than other students with lesser or failed grades. In most cases, it simply shows that the students are better at the art of taking examinations. 

In Singapore taking examinations has become a science where tutors will study through ten year series of each subject and pick out probable questions for the year, i.e questions that appeared the year before would be unlikely to be repeated again this year. It is like a game of

roulette where picking the right questions make you a winner.

There are controversies amongst Canadian educationists if standardized examinations can accurately assess students’ subject knowledge and the application of that knowledge. Not knowing how to apply the knowledge is no knowledge at all.

In the pursuit of academic excellence, Singaporean parents force their children to study long hours to make the grade. In the fierce process, Singapore children are denied the joys of childhood. This explains why Singapore children are more stressed and tensed than the carefree and happy attitude of Canadian children. Children of Singapore friends who visit me in Canada tend to be more reserved and do not interact well. More interestingly, almost all of them would bring their school work during these visits. The parents made sure that their kids did certain hours of studies everyday despite the fact that they were on holidays. It is a strange trend amongst Singapore parents who want to be one-up on others. It is a reflection of the typical Singapore “kiasu” and "kiasi"culture.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint

Canada is one of the few countries that do not have a central or federal education ministry. All the thirteen provinces and territories have their independent education ministries to coordinate the national system through the Council of Education. This system is has worked well for the country. Canada’s literacy rate is 99 per cent and placed at 19th in world standing, while Singapore’s is 94.4 per cent and placed at 74th, according to UNESCO in its 2007 annual report.

Canadians believe that life is a marathon and not a 100-meters sprint. Children are encouraged at a young age to develop at their own natural pace. There is no streaming. Mentally-challenged children are put in the same class as the normal and gifted children. Exceptions are made for severe mental cases. Under this environment, Canadian kids learn to develop compassion towards the less fortunate and realize that the world comprises different kinds of people. Hence they grow to be less arrogant and less prejudicial.

It is mandatory for students to do part-time jobs or perform volunteer duties at seniors’ home and other charity organizations in order to graduate from high schools. The students get marks for doing charity or part-time jobs. It is not uncommon to see volunteers in the hospital reception areas, families picking litter on the streets, distributing food/clothing to the needy, volunteers in senior homes, even the mentally and physically challenged are taken care of by volunteers. In Singapore the handicapped are considered an embarrassment and kept in the homes by their families whereas in Canada volunteers bring them out shopping and they are encouraged to participate in recreational activities. Canada host annual national handicap games.

Canadians constitute less than 1 per cent of the world’s population but provides 10 per cent of the world’s peacekeeping forces in its selfless and unceremonious way. Volunteerism has become second nature to Canadians.

Singapore – just study and get good grades

This is in contrast with Singapore where an increasing number of parents would have maids attend to every need of the children. The maids carry the school bags, bring the drinks and food. All the children need to do is to study and get good grades. It has come to a point where many kids cannot do without maids. I have friends whose kids would scream to their maids to do simple chores like getting a drink. Few of these kids know how to make a cup of tea let alone a simple meal for themselves.

Even our much respected MM Lee, despite all the fine education and good grades he had, did not know that one needs to peel off the egg shell before a hard-boiled egg can be eaten. (As related recently by his daughter in a Straits Times article.)

It is a common practice for Canadian university students to take a year or two off to travel the world and return to complete their studies later. My daughter took a full year off to backpack in Australia two years ago. With another classmate, they bought a used car and drove all over Australia. Most of my friends in Singapore thought I was crazy to let a young girl postpone her studies and travel aimlessly for a year.

Perhaps to most Singaporeans, it was a complete waste of time and money. My two other boys similarly backpacked in Africa, South America, Asia and Europe during their summer holidays. They learned more from their travels than from text books. Most importantly, they enjoy their lives. It is difficult to reconcile how forcing our children to go on a relentless paper chase can be the right thing to do.

Canada may not compare well with the Singapore education system in world rankings. Canadian students may not compete well in mathematics and science tests against Singapore students. Despite these, however, Canada has produced twenty one Nobel Prize winners (year 2011) , 44 Olympics medalists, with 9 Gold Medalists in the last three games, plus hundreds of world-renowned entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, writers, actors, singers, etc. By population ratio, Singapore should produce at least three Nobel Prize winners and scores of artists and writers, etc. Even Hong Kong and Taiwan each managed to have one Nobel Prize winner, many Olympic medalists and entrepreneurs.

Trade-off and compromise

The Canadian and the Singapore education systems are built on different premises. Singapore trains its students to be 100 meters sprinters for fast results to show the world whilst the Canadian system train its students to be marathon runners for the long haul in life. Canadian public education is free for all its citizens and permanent residents - from kindergartners to high schools. Tuition fees for most universities cost an average of C$6,000 per year.

The unscientific assumption by Singapore’s leaders that if you are not good at passing examinations with good grades, you are unlikely to make good for the rest of your lives, is laughable. History has shown us that there are scores of high achievers without degrees, i.e Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.

History teaches us that we cannot get something for nothing. If we push our children hard to be super human beings, we may push most of them over the edge. There is always a trade-off and compromise. Most Singapore parents are proud to have children that score straight As and awarded with prestigious scholarships and less concern about their long term future and happiness.

These children tend to grow up to be arrogant and blinded by materialism and money, potentially resulting in a lack of compassion, failed marriages, poor social interaction skills, aggressive behaviors, and so on. No one has managed to social engineer a super society. There are already signs Singaporeans are stressed out before retirement. If the people are pushed at an early age, they will wear out at an early age. Few people can last being stressed for their entire working lives.

Singapore may have a better education system (according to certain rankings and studies) and the citizens are proud of it regardless of the social cost and damages done. However, I still prefer the traditional Canadian education system where we are taught to be human beings rather than human machines. We may not be high in world rankings but we are happy. That is what life is all about. All the millions of dollars a year would not necessarily bring you genuine joy and happiness.

We were born with nothing and we will leave with nothing.

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Cartoon by the author.

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Why ex-Singaporean has the right to speak about Singapore

October 8, 2009 by admin
Filed under Forum

Leave a comment

I would like to response to comments regarding my article. (read here)

1. I have no right to talk about Singapore as I have emigrated-

I am now a Canadian citizen and my allegiance is to Canada but that does not prohibit me from speaking or writing about Singapore or any other country.

That is freedom of speech as stated in our constitutions – Singapore and Canada. MM Lee and many Singaporeans have expressed their opinions about other countries, i.e that the British healthcare is inferior to Singapore’s and how superior the Singapore system is compared to other countries, etc. etc. If they can speak on other countries, why can’t I? Do they have more rights than I? Let’s be fair and debate on a level playing field.

Let us be civil and not treat anyone with opposing views as public enemies. Canada has about half a dozen former prime ministers and they treat each other with respect even though they have different opinions. None was ever put in jail nor threatened with it. That is 1st World democracy.

I was raised in Singapore and have friends and relatives there. I am concerned about Singapore because a friend of mine committed suicide because he could not pay for medical treatment after his Medicare ran out.

A group of us regularly send money to his wife as she could not get any financial assistance from the government. Why do we care about Singapore? It is because we care about our friends and relatives in Singapore and we are not ashamed of it. Yes, we care and we cannot turn our faces from it regardless whether we are called quitters or losers.

2. Myths about us being treated as foreigners and second class citizens in other countries -

In Canada, all citizens have the same rights and privileges regardless of race. There are more than 20,000 ex-Singaporeans in Canada who will stand by what I said. To illustrate my point, the previous Governor-General of Canada – a position equivalent to President Nathan of Singapore, was a Chinese lady who came to Canada as a refugee from China.

The Police Commissioner of Vancouver Police Force is a Chinese from Hong Kong, the Solicitor General is an Indian and the list can go on and on. A Singapore friend who has a special need child was paid more than C$1,000 a month to help the kid’s living expenses. He did not get any help when he was in Singapore. Is that second class treatment? I suggest those Singaporeans check their facts before they make fools of themselves.

3. In Canada, the immigration program is well calibrated and managed. Canada has a population of 33 million people and a land mass of 9,093,507 sq km which is about 15,000 times the size of Singapore. Even with such a huge land mass, it takes in only 250,000 immigrants a year from all over the world.

Singapore, on the other hand, took in more than one million PRs in the last few years mainly from China and India. Singapore’s infrastructure could not support such an huge and sudden influx of people. There will be a breakdown of social order.

In Canada new immigrants are given free lessons in English or French to assimilate into the Canadian society. Immigrants from Africa are even taught how to use modern facilities like toilet bowls, hot and cold showers, ovens, etc. I have nothing against Chinese or Indian PRs into Singapore but it must be well planned like the Canadian system.

I am not writing to ridicule or hope for the demise of Singapore. Contrary, if you read with an open mind, I pray that it will improve and continue to be in the 1st World status in every meaning of the world. However, it cannot be done when opposition members are being intimidated, jailed or fine just because someone wanted absolute and perpetual control of the government.
Cheong Wing Lee