Is the hatred against foreigners in Singapore justified (especially against foreigners from developing countries)?

It took me a long time to want to answer this question. The question is rooted in the premise that there is indeed a hatred. Regardless of the questioner's intention, there is no real hatred for we are of immigrant "stock" and our extended family (be they Chinese, Malay, Indian or Others) hail from the neighbouring countries. It would be pure irony to possess such a hatred. And whatever hatred that exists is misguided, because the average Singaporean (who is affected by the effects of the past 5-10 years of misguided policies) is simply lashing out in frustration behind the mask of anonymity. What no one wants to question though, are these: 1. Why is this frustration deliberately framed as xenophobia? 2. Who does it serve and benefit? 3. How have they controlled the narrative and vernacular? People fail to understand how politics is played and don't appreciate how well our politicians play it, despite the veneer of ineptitude or affability that some may choose to portray.

tAfter 13 years living in Singapore I would say that the idea that there is hatred of foreigners here is ridiculous. Whilst there is some racism against some nationalities (more on this in a minute) are foreigners hated? No. Most Singaporeans are ethnically tolerant. However, as Ryan mentions, there is resentment of policies that seem to favour foreigners over locals and this applies at both the lower unskilled end of the labour market and at the executive level -  although paradoxically there seems little appetite to express these resentments through the ballot box. Housing costs in particular, but living costs in general are one of the really big concerns. Ryan, its not just Singaporeans, I couldn't afford to buy property in Singapore and its very unlikely I ever would be able to. The housing bubble is generally harmful. And I do agree that there needs to be most trust in locals to assume executive roles. There is some racism - most notably towards PRC nationals, and towards Indians, and these are mostly due to culture clash. North Indians in particular just seem to get under Singaporean's skin But hatred of foreigners? Compared to most countries of the world, Singapore is an oasis of tolerance

Whilst I am against immigration in Singapore, I do not "hate" foreigners from developing countries. I don't care for ridiculous, essentialist arguments about how "People from X always behave as Y". That's not the reason I'm against immigration at all. Rather, I'm against immigration because it's driving unsustainable property prices, and I don't want to see my country turn into another Monaco. Wealthy foreigners purchase property in Singapore at any price, because it's bound to go up. Often, they purchase the property at prices that locals cannot afford. The government's argument that wealthy foreigners provide investment is vague; for example, my neighbours from Thailand, when asked to invest in Singapore for their citizenship, merely invested by buying MORE property at inflated prices. The average Singaporean cannot afford to live in places like Sentosa Cove, which are now virtual enclaves of foreign residents. Every day, locals are pushed to fringe regions while foreigners dominate the inner city. Hence my recent relief at the new stamp duty: http://www.moneysmart.sg/housing-property/additional-buyers-stamp-duty-relief-for-singaporean-home-buyers/ In terms of jobs, I object to the constant outsourcing of work to foreigners. Reverse discrimination has established a prejudice that European or American executives are bolder, more creative, more intelligent, etc. This belief is so ingrained it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course, I don't "hate" Americans and Europeans for that. In fact, it's entirely our fault. We choose to cling to a colonial mentality. But it's an attitude we need to shed. Our time of learning from other nations is at an end. We need to make an intellectual declaration of independence, and that means trusting locals to lead and direct. In terms of low paying jobs, what happens to the local cleaner who's trying to raise a child? Or the janitor who already struggles in a system without minimum wage? Low income Singaporeans need more protection, not less. If they lose their jobs to foreigners, what then? Should they attempt to price war foreign workers, despite living in a country where their cost of living is three times higher? If a foreigner from a developing country competes for your job, and you had to choose between a 50% pay cut or not working, how would you feel?

My Perspective: - We HATE the idea that foreigners are coming into so easily into our country, given scholarships, jobs and opportunities that a lesser-deserving local might have gotten. Keyword: Lesser deserving. - We HATE how our government continually justify their approach by our ever-increasing GDP without taking into account how for a certain segment of the population (the very people they were sworn it to protect) have had their real incomes cut year-on-year. - We HATE how our government keeps telling us we need to buck up to fight the incoming foreigners, and that how it will make us a better nation, when they, and their cronies in the government agencies continually justify their own pay increases with zero threat of competition. - We HATE how our infrastructure (again despite the amount of high-end condos coming up) has failed to keep up with population growth. This is a planning error. Period. - We DO NOT HATE foreigners. Just about everyone in Singapore has friends from different nationalities, countries, backgrounds and ethnic groups. - THANK YOU foreign friends for making Singapore a better place, a more open society and for sharing your perspectives and cultures with us. However, screw the people administering things behind the background who screwed things up so badly. Singapore boleh?

There are several issues here. The anger and hatred expressed by 'some' respondents in the newspaper are really unlikely to represent the majority. There is an element of 'self-selection' at work here. These individuals feel strongly about something (which is completely unjustified) and they feel compelled to voice their opinions. There will be many more individuals who do not feel this way but they don't have the same compunction to voice their feelings. You also ask if this hatred is 'justified'. In my opinion, hatred of someone else just because they have been born in a different country to yourself or because they have different coloured skin or a different religion is NEVER justified.

Unfortunately, though I have not personally experienced it, I see it in blogs, sites, all the time and I am sure is real amongst certain Singaporean (not all of them luckily). I have just today read an article from an ang mo about "10 reasons why I love Singapore" and most of the answers where racist complaints asking foreigners to leave! That's shocking. Let me start saying I am Italian, I have lived in London, Shanghai, Manila and Singapore so I think I have a bit of experience in such matters. Usually complaints (even on this forum) are: 1. Foreigners (ang mo) take the good jobs and get paid more. This is a lie or a myth. Gone are the days when multinationals were sending expats here on golden packages and when they were doing it there was a reason, lack of local talent. No company wants to pay more for skills they can get locally, they are not stupid. Lots of foreigners here are on local contract. When I moved to Singapore I had no job, and the fact I was Italian was detrimental as most interviewers were wondering if I had the network, the cultural fit to achieve the same result a local would. So I had to fight to convince them I was a good candidate and I was hired because my employer thought I was better than the other candidates, despite me being foreigner. In other words, not only being ang mo is not an advantage, often times can be a disadvantage if we cannot show real skills. 2. Foreigners drive property (or other) prices up. This is inaccurate. Singapore is a small country, in order to grow requires foreign investment. Your founding father, Lee Kwan Yew, made an amazing, historical, job, by raising a small island that was thrown away from Malaysia into a first world country, appealing to top talent from all over the world. A good part of why he succeeded is due to opening Singapore to foreign investment, but most importantly to foreign expertise, to bring skills that were not present locally. It is very hypocritical now for Singaporean today, enjoying a good lifestyle also thanks to foreigners, to ask foreigners to go back home. Do you seriously think Singapore will keep thriving without foreign direct investment? Keep dreaming...the fact prices go up has nothing to do with foreigners themselves, but the fact the economy is growing. Government should make sure all Singaporean benefit from that growth, but this completely unrelated to sending foreigners home. 3. Not all foreigners live in a 20M villa in Sentosa Cove. Most of us live in condo and HDB, like Singaporeans. If you look at the major global hubs, London, Shanghai, New York, they are all highly international, with people from all over the world, way more than Singapore today. Mixing nationalities and cultures open up new opportunities, bringing talent together yields always good results. Your government gives you all the tools to be successful in life, use them. Whining that your jobs are going elsewhere is an indication you are not self confident enough and want preferential treatment, which is the very same reason why Lee Kwan Yew was fighting against Malay in Malaysia. So be coherent, be grateful for the great country you live in, do not be afraid to compete with others, whether they are local or foreigners...Singapore has become a global hub, be proud of it and live it fully. When new opportunities are created, everyone can enjoy, the pie get bigger, get your piece. From an Ang Mo who loves Singapore.

Personally, I view the resentment against foreigners as an outgrowth of resentment against the establishment, as dominated by the incumbent People's Action Party. (Unfortunately, as noted by Guy Hearn, we have yet to reach the tipping point at the ballot box. The electoral situation has a lot more to do with gerrymandering put in place two decades ago by Lee Kuan Yew for "minority representation". Two decades on and after GE 2011, I have yet to meet someone in my age/peer group who actually buys that reason any more after the PAP trotted out Tin Pei Ling, but enough digression...) For now, it is extremely vocal, and largely confined to online discussion where the echo chamber effect comes into play. In my personal opinion, the current situation is a gigantic socio-political time bomb waiting to explode in say, 10 to 15 years time. That is why I no longer vote for the PAP. Any individual who sets up this time bomb for themselves or their successors to defuse is no longer an individual worthy to lead.

I have been living in Singapore for over 8 years now, first as a student at a local university and now as a Software Engineer. The evil that is racism is manifesting (With this intensity!) itself only I'd say over the last 2-3 years. Despite this, IMO this problem is very deeply routed in the psyche of every Singaporean. Just reading on the comments on an article with Foreigner content on the straits times website would give you a fair idea of what I am trying to convey (Some of which are truly barbaric and gut wrenching). Only in Singapore would you ever see news paper headlines directly hitting out at Foreigners/attacking a particular ethnic group. According to the Government, the whole idea of getting Foreign workforce is to make up for low man-power especially for jobs which Singaporeans refuse to take up. No Singaporean would be willing to work in a construction site or a shipyard as a welder/fitter; No Singaporean would be willing to pick up garbage off HDBs every morning; No Singaporean would be willing to dig up roads and fix cables! What actually comes along with a liberal immigration policy is that MNCs are so much more willing to invest in Singapore and set-up their APAC bases here. The locals however are not too concerned about minimum wage workers who go about doing meager jobs (except of course when they are cramped up on buses or trains); their concern got to do more with the so called PMETs who eat up jobs that could have possibly gone to Singaporeans. These FT inflate the prices and live a pretty darn good life which kind of irks the locals (understandably so). The average income of mid/low level Singaporeans has hardly increased over the last 15 years, however the cost of living, COE rates, MRT/Taxi fares are all over the roof these days! The foreign managers and bosses also to their discredit usually employ a strategy which doesn't go too well with locals: Ethnic purging of their direct reports and employment of folks from their own race/country!  There is a cloud of looming uncertainty and lack of confidence while competing with foreign talent who are more often than not smarter and cheaper. It takes quite an effort on their part to accept FT wholeheartedly and to co-exist amicably. But, truth is that Singapore is too dependent on FT and cutting the foreign influx will cull the revenue from MNCs and thereby take the economy on a downward spiral. It is now, oh so important of the locals to take this fact with a pinch of salt and also for FTs to imbibe more of the Singaporean values and spirit; if Singapore is to develop like it has over the last 50 years.

I think the ratio of Singaporeans to immigrants living in Singapore is somewhat upsetting and horrifying to most of Singaporeans now. For Singaporeans to get along with immigrants (be it developing or non-developing) is not that easy to do because the immigrants still have plenty of their country-pride while Singaporeans have theirs as well (although our country-pride is running low considering the current situations). The amount of China immigrants in Singapore cause Singaporeans to coin the name 'Chinapore'. We don't like for other parts of the world coming to Singapore having the impression that Singapore is like mini-China. The PRC are only increasing crime rate and decreasing job opportunities for working class locals here. It is equally hard for high-educated locals to find a job in Singapore cause they will probably have to compete with a high-educated immigrant from a developing country. I don't think Singaporeans are too vocal about their hatred towards foreigners. I feel like we've been keeping quiet for too long already. Mostly the hatred is online. And in the end we always blame the government.