News Stories

[Ithekro]

Things work differently at different scales. Ancient Greek Democracy works at the city-state level, but not at the national level of today (at least not at this time).

Singapore is basically a city-state, so the rules for what works for nations and what doesn't are different.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Things work differently at different scales. Ancient Greek Democracy works at the city-state level, but not at the national level of today (at least not at this time).

Singapore is basically a city-state, so the rules for what works for nations and what doesn't are different.

it correspond to a observation i made about humanity a while back.

People work better a small groups. Once you get beyond a certain size, the collective IQ drops in proportion to how many people in the group.

[ChainLegacy]

A US soldier searches for his Vietnamese son

This was a sad story, but at least there's a tentatively happy ending. The fate of the children who were born of these unions is horrific.

[Fireminer]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

A US soldier searches for his Vietnamese son

This was a sad story, but at least there's a tentatively happy ending. The fate of the children who were born of these unions is horrific.

Most of them left Vietnam. There are even story of the Church sheltered them, and some end up as priests.

[Fireminer]

"No Indian, no PRC" in Singapore renting industry

I could understand the arguement of cultural clash, the lack of facility, the rise of criminal,... Point at the wave of immigrates. But on the other hand...

1. They do job they no one want. Believe it or not, in every country with high-Chinese influence, being a blue collar does put you lower in the spectrum. Except when your country is a Communist one - which consider China and Vietnam now, is also pretty much a thing of the past.

2. The rise of criminal rate. Yes, they're undereducated - if not, then why the heck did they have to move out from their fatherland? But that is also a part of social security - I always feel the aspect of education and entertainment is underlooked with the lower-class. For example, the lack of government school in an industrial area hampers the future of the workers' children. Or, imagine you're a worker that work 3 shift a day - that is more than 12 hours in Vietnam. You just don't have time to learn, read, watch,... And even when you do, what are you going to do with your limited salary?

3. Keeping "the intergrity of the race". Pure racism.

4. "They have custom that bother us". Yes, yes, can't blame anyone on this. But like 2. above, I believe education is needed for this.

[aohige]

Charlene, an estate agent, said it was common for landlords to prefer not to rent to tenants from India or mainland China because such tenants "are not people who are house proud".

"Many don't clean weekly, and they do heavy cooking, so dust and oil collect over the months. They may use a lot of spices that release smells people don't like."

There are also fears that those tenants will illegally sublet to others, she said, adding: "Cleanliness and culture is a very strong factor."

Then they need to pronounce the acceptable conditions and restrict what is permitted in the premise, and NOT simply discriminate based on ethnicity.

The landlords are choosing the easy way out, since apparently there's no legal consequences.
They're being assholes, but the problem is clearly in the legality and/or enforcement of it.

[SaintessHeart]

@Fireminer : Whatever point you brought up are ridiculously put out of context that I don't know how to start correcting it even as a local. Please shove it back up whichever hole it was pulled from.

Originally Posted by aohige

Then they need to pronounce the acceptable conditions and restrict what is permitted in the premise, and NOT simply discriminate based on ethnicity.

The landlords are choosing the easy way out, since apparently there's no legal consequences.
They're being assholes, but the problem is clearly in the legality and/or enforcement of it.

Er there are legal consequences. Under the Internal Security Act. Just need a little bit of twisting.

[Fireminer]

@Saintess: It's not about the context of the newspaper. I'm merely using it to reinforce the idea of Racism is everywhere, even in developed country.

[ganbaru]

Subway trains crash in South Korean capital, 200 people hurt
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A4105S20140502

After bombing in west, China angered by U.S. criticism in terror report
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A4102L20140502

[JokerD]

Originally Posted by Fireminer

"No Indian, no PRC" in Singapore renting industry

I could understand the arguement of cultural clash, the lack of facility, the rise of criminal,... Point at the wave of immigrates. But on the other hand...

1. They do job they no one want. Believe it or not, in every country with high-Chinese influence, being a blue collar does put you lower in the spectrum. Except when your country is a Communist one - which consider China and Vietnam now, is also pretty much a thing of the past.

2. The rise of criminal rate. Yes, they're undereducated - if not, then why the heck did they have to move out from their fatherland? But that is also a part of social security - I always feel the aspect of education and entertainment is underlooked with the lower-class. For example, the lack of government school in an industrial area hampers the future of the workers' children. Or, imagine you're a worker that work 3 shift a day - that is more than 12 hours in Vietnam. You just don't have time to learn, read, watch,... And even when you do, what are you going to do with your limited salary?

3. Keeping "the intergrity of the race". Pure racism.

4. "They have custom that bother us". Yes, yes, can't blame anyone on this. But like 2. above, I believe education is needed for this.

Racism is acceptance of another person's race and culture, not about inviting them to live in your house...

Just like accepting gays does not mean you want see him have sex in front of you...

[maplehurry]

To be more precise, it's racial(ethnicity) profiling. My parents do the same thing. Don't have the time to examine each prospective tenants in depth, simply go with first impression and statistics. Though overall, it's not just based on ethnicity, those with little kids are rejected too, not because they hate kids in particular nor do they believe every kids are naughty, but simply trying to minimize risks based on statistics.

[SeijiSensei]

In the US, every one of those practices, including not renting to families with small children, is prohibited by Federal laws.

[maplehurry]

Understandably, even if the landlords don't have real discriminatory intent, the prospective tenants can still legitimately feel that they are being discriminated from their perspective.

[GDB]

But they have to be able to prove it to press charges or bring suit.

[risingstar3110]

As they put up ad that stated "no indian or prcs", i think it's fairly easy to press charge if the law does enforce properly.

[GDB]

There, yeah, but obviously you wouldn't do that in the US or somewhere where it was explicitly illegal to do so.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by GDB

There, yeah, but obviously you wouldn't do that in the US or somewhere where it was explicitly illegal to do so.

It's illegal now because of this:



Theatre in Leland, Mississippi, US Library of Congress

[Fireminer]

Dani Alves vs. Racism

See?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Their ad can be more subtle of course but what makes you think they won't turn away those they perceive as "potential trouble?"

As a home owner of course they are going to err on caution's side. And it's entirely in their right to do so since it's their bloody house


People will have different degrees of risk acceptance to varying things. Housing is one of the most personal so yes, they will have a higher treshold. It's not just race, background or what can also come into play.

Originally Posted by Fireminer

@Saintess: It's not about the context of the newspaper. I'm merely using it to reinforce the idea of Racism is everywhere, even in developed country.

You really have a simplistic view eh?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Their ad can be more subtle of course but what makes you think they won't turn away those they perceive as "potential trouble?"

As a home owner of course they are going to err on caution's side. And it's entirely in their right to do so since it's their bloody house


People will have different degrees of risk acceptance to varying things. Housing is one of the most personal so yes, they will have a higher treshold. It's not just race, background or what can also come into play.

Actually, a properly drafted contract would allow the homeowner to evict the tenant on short notice. Just put the phrase "putting the environs out of its original state" should work. Any smell or dirt will allow a full eviction without recourse.

Of course, partial refunds still apply under SOSA. Can't really escape from that.

You really have a simplistic view eh?

That is even worse than being a frog in the well; hardly simplistic.

Singaporeans are known for being brutally honest when it threatens their way of life, to the extent of our neighbours calling us snobbish (we are, though not always); unfortunately (or rather fortunately?) most of the discontent are vented online instead of out in tbe real world.

We have hammered tables at meetings with the foreign expats back in the 70s and 80s even when we are not in our homeground (hence the colliquial "bang table" when expressing outrage in formal situations, often through meetings). Being a city state means we do not wish to accept being zerged into changing our way of life too much to accept others in where we live. Like what JokerD said, accepting gays does not mean you accept them having sex in front of you.

Also, PRCs and Indians are notorious tenants for subletting, and using their sheer numbers to "bully" the owner into letting them do what they want. The owner often has to bring it to the magistrate to have a total eviction, plus a restraining order to keep away the harassment in order to get rid of them, a huge hassle compared to not even letting them in at all. It is an all too common horror story with the same characteristics, hence the perceived racism when these people are from a place where social etiquette is not a commonplace thing.

Doesn't help that the government officials often lack the spine to tackle the situation, preferring to push or delegate it away to other departments in order to avoid the black mark on their appraisals for promotion.