Why I am not proud to be Singaporean
While I agree many things that Stephanie Koh(aka Steph Micayle) said – it hurts to hear the truth from your own kind, however I don’t like her fake Australian accent and being a “quitter“. If not for Singapore, where did she get the chance to be able to see the world outside? Instead of paying back, she chose to condemn the system that feed her well. Kind of remind me of an ex-colleague, an Indian-born Canadian, who is now an Canadian who shameless said “I am not Indian, I am a Canadian!”. you can change your name, your passport, your nationality, unless you go to the extreme like Michael Jackson, you will be an Indian till the day you die, like it or not.
Askmelah also has a disdain for people who left their country who have provided them with overseas educations or train them well only to lose them to another, it is easier to understand those who jump ship due to political or economic hardship or family circumstances (e.g. marriage), I have difficulty to accept people who renounce their citizenship purely for economic reasons or for greener pasture. Everyone has a moral obligation to pay back to the society that makes him/her successful, the one that gives you the good life, it is just the right thing to do. It is for this reason you understand why countries like Philippines can never be great and their people are not highly regarded with droves and droves of countrymen leaving their motherland who provides for them, as compared to say the Thais or the Vietnamese (who many were forced out in the 60s/70s due to political circumstances). They can call themselves Singaporeans, Americans, Australians or whatever, but they are still remain Filipinos forever, like it or not. Askmelah stands being corrected.
[Updated 4 Feb 2014: ‘Not proud to be Singaporean’ girl says aunt assaulted and poured hot tea on her. This spoil brat picked a fight with an elder (her aunt) on the most important holiday in a Chinese Calender (which supposed to say and do all the auspicious and nice things) showed that all the education and good upbringing (if there is ever one) by her parents had officially gone down to drain. Shame on you Stephanie Koh!]
* Scholar in its traditional sense is a learned and respected person for his scholastic achievements or a person who has studied a subject for a long time and knows a lot about it. In Singapore, the term has been hijacked to mean a child who has done well academically and received a scholarship from universities, government agencies or private organisations. Many these so-called Singapore “scholars” wear the title on their sleeves as if to differentiate themselves from their peers and colleagues and a new “elite” social class has emerged over the last twenty years or so. Many “scholars” felt that they have earned it and thus are entitled to all the privileges, entitlement and guaranteed career progressions that comes with such a title. It really demeans the true meaning of being scholar. A true scholar contributes much more than they receive – with humility and well regarded for their contributions to the society !
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