RE: DRE: CTS community mail

  • From: "Donaldson, Alasdair" <alasdair.donaldson@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "cpt-fgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <cpt-fgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 14:05:58 +0000

Interesting read.

Although the problem of people working too hard seems like a nice novel one, 
from what I’ve read about Singapore it doesn’t seem like a place where I’d like 
to live. The place seems to run perfectly, but I don’t know if the people are 
all that happy.

From: cpt-fgc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cpt-fgc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Ilitirit Sama
Sent: 16 February 2015 3:28 PM
To: cpt-fgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: DRE: CTS community mail

The author of that piece leans to western (read: US) conservative values.  She 
also happens to believe that women should not have the right to work after 
giving birth.  They should stay home and look after the kids.  Basically a 
right-wing crackpot.

She does touch on something that was highlighted as a problem in Singapore by 
an ex-intelligence officer with whom we happened to have a conversation.

In short:

There are basically 3 generations of Singaporeans:
1.  People whose family originated on the island ("ethnic" Singaporeans)
2.  People who emigrated there or who were slaves (mostly Malaysians, 
Indonesians, Indians and Chinese)
3.  People who emigrated in the last few decades (mostly Chinese)

All 3 generations fiercely identify as Singaporeans.  Generation 2 + 3 form the 
biggest part of the population.  However, generation 1 and 2 have a slightly 
different idea of identity, or what it means to be a Singaporean.  For example, 
they value family, so they tend to get married and have kids before the age of 
30.  So what happens is that in practice, Generation 1 and 2 leave the 
workplace sooner, and Generation 3 overtakes them in terms of business success 
(but not family success).  This results in a ruling elite (in business) that 
has different values to the rest of the country, which Generation 1 and 2 don't 
agree with.  Generation 1 and 2 are typically older, more conservative, and 
have more power in government.  So they basically enforce rules which level out 
the playing field between people who want to have families when they are 
younger and people who focus more on business.  This leads to a problem where 
the young Chinese get educated in Singapore, but then leave because they feel 
that they are being held back by the Equity Laws.  When they become successful, 
they return, and use their new-found wealth and power to influence politics in 
a way that benefits them, which ultimately means that Generation 1 and 2 
Singaporean values are slowly being replaced by Generation 3 ones.  How to 
handle this problem?  The guy we spoke to was not sure.  In fact, he thought it 
might already be too late.

This is the kind of thing that the Japanese author is afraid of.  She wants 
Japan to retain its culture and values (which is ironic considering the Western 
influence on her political ideas), and is afraid that by treating immigrants 
equally they will lose their identity.  Well, I'm sorry to have to break this 
to Ms Sono, but that's exactly how the world works.

In any case, what a wonderful predicament Singapore is facing.  Imagine living 
in a country where one of your problems is that the people are working too 
hard, and are too ambitious.  I'll take that over the crap we have to deal with 
any day.


On Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 1:46 PM, Ryan Williams 
<ryan820509@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:ryan820509@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Yeah, read about this earlier. How fucked up can you get.
On 16 Feb 2015 13:04, "Manase Zote" 
<bmlzote@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:bmlzote@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Japan please...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11414141/Japanese-author-provokes-furious-South-African-response-by-suggesting-a-new-apartheid.html
On 16 Feb 2015 12:53, "Moshe Shevel" 
<jaguguarang@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:jaguguarang@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Haha thanks guys :)
On 16 Feb 2015 12:47 PM, "Sameegh Jardine" 
<sameegh@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:sameegh@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Happy Birthday Jag, hope you have an awesome one :]

On 16 Feb 2015, at 12:41 PM, "Donaldson, Alasdair" 
<alasdair.donaldson@xxxxxxxxxx<mailto:alasdair.donaldson@xxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Oh, nice one Ilit. You couldn’t have posted that first thing this morning, 
could you? So we’re now all the schmucks who didn’t realise it was his birthday.

In other news, HDB Jag.

From: cpt-fgc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:cpt-fgc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
[mailto:cpt-fgc-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ilitirit Sama
Sent: 16 February 2015 12:37 PM
To: cpt-fgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:cpt-fgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: DRE: CTS community mail

HBD Jag!
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by it.

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information could be intercepted, corrupted, amended, lost, destroyed, arrive 
late or incomplete, or contain viruses. 

This email is being sent out by KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG 
International") on behalf of the local KPMG member firm providing services to 
you.  KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International") is a Swiss entity 
that serves as a coordinating entity for a network of independent firms 
operating under the KPMG name. KPMG International provides no services to 
clients. Each member firm of KPMG International is a legally distinct and 
separate entity and each describes itself as such.  Information about the 
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