Singapore Expats

Hello

No offence to anybody but i am very angry when i read in EU and USA that we must learn about singapore.


OK , i tell you what i have heard from white people about singaporeans on internet

myths
Singapore free drug society , like no-alcohol beer

facts
Few Thousand of detainees for drug abused each year

Small abusers for first-time and second-time offences must go to drug rehab centre some days per week during some months . For third offence they are jailed 5 years .

Big abusers first offence and second offences stay up to six months on centre drugs. For third offence they are jailed 5 years

Rarely first offenders are jailed

Drug trafickers are sentenced to jail and some strokes with the cane

Big drug traffikers (15 gram heroin 1 kilo marijuana…) are sentenced to death

So , drugs rate is low this is true and good but singapore is not 100% a Drug Free Zone as commonly supossed.


myths


Nobody in singapore use p2p for illegal purposes because they have respect to copyright and they could be fined.
Nobody in singapore watch porn.
Nobody do shoplifting in Singapore

Fact . xD


myth

heavy fines is to deter people to commit offences

fact

actually the govt is fining people with the only object of collecting money , nothing to do with deter people to commit offences but i'm not against fines.


And good example of ridiculous fine.

A 65-year-old Australian man was fined 10,000 dollars for pronouncing the word 'bomb' on a flight of low-cost Singaporean company Silk Air, local daily The Strait Times reports. Riccardo Paulin reportedly got into trouble for asking a flight attendant "where do you keep the bombs" after he couldn't fit his hand luggage in the overhead compartment. The Australian was subsequently forced to leave the aircraft, which was bound for the Indonesian city of Surabaya.

Judge Liew Thiam Leng rejected the man's apology on the grounds that his comment was "only a joke" and fined him under anti-terror law which says that causing unjustified alarm is illegal.

First , caused he alarm saying that expression ???? NO
Second , i think that the judge Liew Thiam Leng get profit fining people.

pd1: i'm not against fines but against for disproportionated fines specially for ridiculous offences and IMO that wasnt a offence
pd2: please dont delete my post

i talk about this because i'm not agree that we (the whites) must learn about singapore.

OK , i tell you what i have heard from white people about singaporeans on internet

How do you know they were white people?!

Myths

All people from the USA and EU are white.

i talk about this because i'm not agree that we (the whites) must learn about singapore.

Myth

Are you really 'white'? I suspect you are from Singapore otherwise you would have said Europeans rather than EU.

Fact

Weird post.

True , in Europe and USA are many blacks and asiatics.

How Me Forgot This One... he was very unlucky saying it to a flight attendant who need a good psychiatric because has a mental problem because most of flight attendants are affable and im sure that if he said "where you keep the bombs" to other flight attendant , he wouldn't have had problems. Most of flight attendants wouldn't have paid attention.

and "Your" < edited ; dear jugde was happy fining him , the jugde would go to casino or play on beting exchanges with that money

matheum wrote:How Me Forgot This One...

Haha, you are quite a funny guy. Just out of interest, perhaps you could tell us where you are from, and "How do they force you to learn about Singapore". If it is at school, then OF COURSE you have to learn about Singapore, if it is part of the curriculum. We have to learn loads of stuff that we do not want to at school, and even at work. Regarding myths ... every government paints a "rosy" picture about their own country, and a not-so-good one about other countries. That is what propaganda is.

Otherwise, I would have to question why you are deliberately mispelling words (i.e. All cases of "judge" spelt correctly in the previous post, but "jugde" in the next) and writing in a supposedly "English-is-my-second-language" style. Even for people whose language is not their first, they would not write like you. You write like someone who is pretending to have bad English, just like the character BORAT

matheum,

I think you better get off of your daddy's PC before he catches you.

Thanks for the reply , i am not english , i have learnt it for only one year and my english is bad yet but i hope for 2 o 3 years for speak better english than now thanks to internet forums.


thanks to moderator for not delete my post , i I just wanted give my opinion about those things because in USA and Europe many town councils paint a "rosy" picture about singapore and not not-so-good one about their own countries. IMO no country is 100% perfect.



Sorry for my bad english but i hope that you can understand me.

good night to all !!

Vincent,

".....and our dear jugde was happy fining him , the jugde would go to casino or play on beting exchanges with that money" if he wasn't a local I doubt very seriously he would refer to the judge as "Our" Judge. He doesn't proofread his spoofing very well does he.

This guy/girl is a piece of work, I have to agree with your assessment because even in his last post he does the same thing. The bad sentence structure and spelling in his first paragraph and back to proper (more or less) english in the second paragraph.

Is it getting near a full moon?

Wonder what the fine is for writting that word on an internet forum

And dissing judges on the same forum is bound to get you some understanding from "the system"

I've heard they are getting reall turkey this year in Changi

i meant "your judge " and not "our judge" , i was mistaken. sorry .

Nobody in singapore use p2p for illegal purposes because they have respect to copyright and they could be fined.
Nobody in singapore watch porn.

I'm sure so such myth exists
in fact what I was often told is

Myths

singaporeans have no respect to copyright. But they are afraid of getting caught.
singapore's porn-surfing traffic is the highest in the world.

Facts
Not sure.

Singapore is not much different to other Countries, when it comes down to breaking the law, I discussed with a couple of locals, why they are so law abiding, it appears like every where else, the majority are law abiding, however there are those that evaluate, the risks and fines, like myself.

Commonsense is I believe my savour, although some policeman may not thinks so, and I would be fined. It wouldn't stop me from repeating the offense, there are varying reasons, for making laws, some of them, are confusing and plain old fashioned for the 21st century.

I believe we should encourage the learning of all Countries, that are relative to English history, the same way I believe, that Singlish is part and parcel of a Singaporeans identity, that should be protected and recognised as the fundimental survival language of a trading nation, striving for survival.

The government and foreigners may criticise the local dialect, however if they stopped and considered what is being achieved, in such a short time, then it must be relevant to history.

There are for that fact many English dialects which are also difficult and personally I hate to listen to the low working class language of my own roots, and quite often cringe at the sound, these locals in UK cannot speak English at all, it only takes me a month to fall into the trap, when mixing with school collegues.

Myths are myths and exploring them for oneself, will open ones eyes, to the realities of the world Of course better English communication is needed, however the government should be blaming itself, and not the parents of children, the correct tutors at the time would have significantly improved the standard of English, Swings & roundabouts!

ksl wrote: The government and foreigners may criticise the local dialect, however if they stopped and considered what is being achieved, in such a short time, then it must be relevant to history.

Of course better English communication is needed, however the government should be blaming itself, and not the parents of children, the correct tutors at the time would have significantly improved the standard of English, Swings & roundabouts!

ksl,

It would seem to me that these two paragraphs are directly at odds with one another. What has been achieved in a short space of time is the language has been bastardized beyond recognition. Talk to any English Educated Singaporean over the age of 55. Their English is English! Agreed, the blame rests solely on the government in using local teachers instead of native speakers as was done in the 50's & 60's. It's more like "what hasn't been achieved, but destroyed in such a short period of time". I cannot see giving credit where none belongs. Math & Sciences fine but not English.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Talk to any English Educated Singaporean over the age of 55. Their English is English!

I am not over 55!

Yeah, but you will be in a couple of decades!

Yes I agree, SMS, I was trying more to indicate that fact as always been government responsibility, although I did hear on TV, the prime minister, say that parents have a responsibilty to teach their children English.

I believe many have been privileged in the past, to good education here in Singapore, especially the one that can afford to go over seas and study, I'm not sure, although I think maybe the education system here is also very close knit with UK.

For example our grammar schools, will not except other religious pupils other than the the church of England, although it is not broadcast, it is policy and only the specifically chosen few are selected, not always on achievement, but more on the complexity of, who you are and your social standing. the ranks of freemasons is still very prevalent. although I am making a point rather than complaining. (although I would have difficulty proving this point) it is my opinion based on a Chinese family who tried to get their daughter into grammar school and was first asked her religion and then no!

The other set back for UK, would be if you never took your 11 plus exam in the 60's, you would automatically be in the bottom class, throughout the remainder of your educatiion in secondary modern and the school leaving age would be 15, for all in the bottom class.

These under privilaged, where at that time stamped, with a below I.Q and recieved only the basic of the poorest teachers one could find, who didn't teach, but entertained on their life experiences. even at the age of 13 I had never even heard of algebra, and we where actually treated has delinquents, from very poor social backgrounds.

The bastardization of the language started from day one of trading i would believe, in Raffles day, hence singlish. and those privilaged would get the good English education, Investment in the populous of the country, would not, I would think be in the interests of government, until now, where international competition is a matter of survival within Asia.

If the investment like you say was in the native English tutors long ago, then the populous, would not be so bastardized, although I think the reliance on foreign experts and labour, was predominantly more important at that time.

Denmark is a prime example of how a country can jump well in advance of the competition, when it needs too, with a very high labour cost, and high tax. With the dangers of the EEC running the agricultral quota system, Denmark have had to evaluate other fields of investment for survival.

Export of services and technology seem to lead the way for Denmark, the UK could learn much from them however, it's all about liberation of the people and investing in the people, Denmark, I don't think had all native tutors of English, and were not a multi cultural population for 25 years ago.

Today with the rich mixture of culture, the problems are evident, language bastardization is one of them, integration of foreigners is another, although Denmark does invest in the people, the initial cost is enormous, to the extent of damaging the whole of the Danish way of life.

With a multi racial community the threats of stability and harmony are of paramount importance, and the more power to the people may threaten, the foundation of a Countries long line of power. I guess it is a balancing act for the good of the Country.

Myself having lived in Denmark for over 25 years, and knowing the people, and the freedoms they have, weighs heavy on me, I owe Denmark my life, they gave me the opportunities, that my own Country never did, and never would.

The difference between UK and Denmark is one of democracy, and the people knowing they have democracy, an example of the young involved in political aims of the Country and the opposite in UK, where the populous are not encouraged to understand politics, but are lead like sheep, just to vote, and let those you vote for, take on the responsibility.

Out of 60 million in the UK, how many speak good English, I think we would all be very surprised of the results, if we are to grade the results A, B, C which would also reflect the standard of English within the class system.

Education is free and compulsory in UK, although what is it worth to a Country in terms of employability? If the standards are very poor? Which they are in UK, becuase government policy is to recruit investment and we all know you only get what you pay for.

So that is a labour force not very well educated, but very cheap, on the lowest of minimal wages by law. There communication ability in English is well below standard, and they would not be excepted into further education, without their own time and investment in good education.

It is very easy for me to criticise from my own experience and comparisons, becuase I have not lived in Singapore 25 years and have not had to raise children here, has my home.

But I can see from my daughter of 6 years, speaking Singlish every day, that I have to invest the time and effort, to correct her, and I also know, that 6 months in UK, and she will adapt, the frightening thing, is what is she going to adapt to.

Looking at the pro's & cons, I see her getting a better education here in Singapore, and I like to think Chinese is her first language, I rather choose the ethical values of foreign communities, than allow my daughter to fall prey, to a state run school in UK, although a short spell is excellent for survival training, Sorry for ranting on, although I do find the subject geographically interesting, with UK having planted the seeds.

I would just love to listen to what goes on behind closed doors in a Country like this. From my point of veiw, having lived here 30 years ago on Dover Road, I'm pretty impressed and I like all the people here, apart from the snobs, in 40' years they have done well, and although there are many suffering still, and the rhetoric maybe slow, It will happen, and benefit, the further growth and prosperity of Singapore, but I would like to see the government liberate the people, and be more involved, rather than outside influences. The cake needs to be evenly divided!