Do we really want them to integrate?

[KARTer]

Do we really want them to integrate?

 

(An article in TODAY 19 June 2012)

 

Quote

 

These days, if one listens to the complaints about foreigners, one sentence crops up inevitably: They cannot integrate into our society. Every time I hear this, I wonder what we mean by

 

[Ah_tee]

do u think the Foreign Trash gives a damn about us or the red passport ?

[Tigerwoods]

Cool post from a really cool guy!

I agree. but I won't know whether if you cook curry during deepavali not in Indian town your British neighbor will complain?

 

[Elfenstar]

Do we really want them to integrate?

 

(An article in TODAY 19 June 2012)

 

Quote

 

These days, if one listens to the complaints about foreigners, one sentence crops up inevitably: They cannot integrate into our society. Every time I hear this, I wonder what we mean by

“integrate”?

 

While one should expect foreigners in a foreign land to play by certain rules, my impression is that we want newcomers to become like “us”. I look back at the decade I spent in the United Kingdom: I never wanted to be an Englishman; I do not even support English sports teams; I found solace in London’s Chinatown, speaking Cantonese.

 

I felt good knowing that I could speak a language other than English and that I was the only person on class trips not to be on a collective passport. My Caucasian English friends never held that against me. I was given kudos for holding onto my culture. This happened because I had several advantages in being a Chinaman in England. For a start, English is my mother tongue. I was also a foreign student; my father paid English institutions to educate me with cash earned in Singapore.

 

The British attitude was not restricted to me. Chinatown was full of people who could not speak English. Yet, they operated freely and even prospered. I suspect the British understood the real ingredient of mixing cultures. Instead of expecting new arrivals to become British, they expected them to merely respect local norms, a case of practise your own culture in your space.

 

For example, Chinese in the UK can celebrate Chinese New Year privately. They do not insist it becomes a British public holiday. I believe the key to successful integration lies in creating a dialogue

that both sides understand. New arrivals should be encouraged to hold onto their values, but these cannot over-ride local laws or offend local sensitivities.

 

New arrivals should be welcome to work and set up businesses. They should not be invited to live off welfare. They should be encouraged to pick up local languages. This, rather than expecting them

to become like the natives, should be the basis of getting people to live in harmony.

 

Unquote

 

Becoming like us = assimilation not integration. I think the writer mistakenly thinks the two things are the same. The problem is that right now, a lot of these FT's don't even bother to integrate. The want to follow their own culture all the time and expect us to put up with their crap.

 

Think of it this way. The SG Chinese can put up with the SG Indian and SG Malay cultures, just like the SG Indians and SG Malays can put up with the cultures of the other two main races. If we can do that already, obviously some aspects of the FT cultures must rile us up badly enough for our reactions. Afterall we already show we can accept different cultures.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Elfenstar

[Elfenstar]

Cool post from a really cool guy!

I agree. but I won't know whether if you cook curry during deepavali not in Indian town your British neighbor will complain?

 

They won't. The British (and Aussies too) have a love for curry that other than them, only native Indians have

Edited June 19, 2012 by Elfenstar

[Felipe]

Do we really want them to integrate?

 

(An article in TODAY 19 June 2012)

 

Quote

 

These days, if one listens to the complaints about foreigners, one sentence crops up inevitably: They cannot integrate into our society. Every time I hear this, I wonder what we mean by

 

[KARTer]

Becoming like us = assimilation not integration. I think the writer mistakenly thinks the two things are the same. The problem is that right now, a lot of these FT's don't even bother to integrate. The want to follow their own culture all the time and expect us to put up with their crap.

 

Think of it this way. The SG Chinese can put up with the SG Indian and SG Malay cultures, just like the SG Indians and SG Malays can put up with the cultures of the other two main races. If we can do that already, obviously some aspects of the FT cultures must rile us up badly enough for our reactions. Afterall we already show we can accept different cultures.

Agreed. Since the previous century till even today and more the locals of all races basically live in harmony.

[KARTer]

They won't. The British (and Aussies too) have a love for curry that other than them, only native Indians have

Isn't curry already one of uk's unofficial national dishes?

[SimonTan]

Precisely.....

I think the integration concept and speeding millions of dollars for the programme was from the scholars. These scholars must come up with something to keep their ricebowl n show that they are thinking and working.

 

 

 

Think of it this way. The SG Chinese can put up with the SG Indian and SG Malay cultures, just like the SG Indians and SG Malays can put up with the cultures of the other two main races. If we can do that already, obviously some aspects of the FT cultures must rile us up badly enough for our reactions. Afterall we already show we can accept different cultures.

[KARTer]

Cool post from a really cool guy!

I agree. but I won't know whether if you cook curry during deepavali not in Indian town your British neighbor will complain?

The gatherings in groups chatting/eating in open spaces eg those in Little India etc add colours to life. As these activities usually do not infringe on the lives of others, they are ok, even welcome. People need space to relax, especially away from their home countries.

 

PRC people are not the same, they are everywhere and behave as if they own the place.

 

[I-LOVE-CARS]

Do we really want them to integrate?

 

(An article in TODAY 19 June 2012)

 

Quote

 

These days, if one listens to the complaints about foreigners, one sentence crops up inevitably: They cannot integrate into our society. Every time I hear this, I wonder what we mean by

 

[Babyt]

the write is more like talking about ah moh vs chinamen.

 

now we are talking about foreigners from different nationalities not integrating with locals which already include malays, indians, chinese and eurasians.

[I-LOVE-CARS]

Isn't curry already one of uk's unofficial national dishes?

 

[laugh]

[Gizmore]

Do we really want them to integrate?

 

(An article in TODAY 19 June 2012)

 

Quote

 

These days, if one listens to the complaints about foreigners, one sentence crops up inevitably: They cannot integrate into our society. Every time I hear this, I wonder what we mean by

 

[Ender]

Cool post from a really cool guy!

I agree. but I won't know whether if you cook curry during deepavali not in Indian town your British neighbor will complain?

Britian and Paki there also got problem there. The writer is just ignorant about the things going on there..

[Xanavi]

Isn't curry already one of uk's unofficial national dishes?

Oh yes, while chatting with my English friends when in UK, they mentioned the national dish wasn't just fish and chips but curry too.

 

I think from the British- India time

[Babyt]

Britian and Paki there also got problem there. The writer is just ignorant about the things going on there..

 

cos the write is not fully integrated and still living in his own world lol

[Maroon5]

the article mus hv been written by a kid. in a small cooking pot like sg, asking diff nationalities to live within themselves, its simply a racial event waiting to blow up.