Newcomers keep society on its toes (Today 1 Jan)

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‘Newcomers keep society on its toes’
Waning drive of settled generations a concern for MM Lee

05:55 AM Jan 01, 2010
by Derrick A Paulo derrick@mediacorp.com.sg
SINGAPORE – Keeping society on its toes – that is what a regular inflow of migrants, “without too huge a deluge”, will do.

And while Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew recognises that their arrival “worries” the current generation of Singaporeans born here and their parents, he believes it will give a fillip to the sense of drive within the Republic.

“The settled ones have become less hard-driving and hard-striving, and we’ve got recent migrants – they’re hungry, they’re determined to succeed, having uprooted themselves, and they’re doing better,” he told journalist Mark Jacobson for a National Geographic magazine article in this month’s issue.

According to the transcript put online by the Prime Minister’s Office, the aspiration for a slower pace of life here and a shrinking population is a worry, Mr Lee said, in an interview that covered a wide range of issues, from competition to casinos.

Asked what he would say to parents of second- or third-generation Singaporeans on competing with the newcomers, Mr Lee said: “They have got to work harder or they’ll become stupid. It’s just that they don’t see the point of it. Why race when you can canter and save your energy and do other things? Art, ballet, sports – whereas these new migrants, they spend all their time slogging away in the library or at home.”

While Mr Lee recognised the importance of the arts, he felt “an inordinate amount of time is spent on extra-curricular activities”.

Asked why it was a challenge for people in general to keep up a certain level of drive through the generations, he replied: “I think the spurs are not stuck on your hinds. They are part of the herd, why go faster? But when you’re lagging behind, you must go faster to catch up with the herd. I’m quite sure that there are children of the migrants who strive arduously.”

a strong sense of curiosity

Is it a matter of complacency?

No, said Mr Lee – “complacency in the sense that their expectations are high and they expect their expectations to be met. But they want … more and more opportunities”.

He also rejected the “stereotype view” that life is too easy here and people have lost their curiosity, as Mr Jacobson put it.

“If they’ve lost their curiosity, they wouldn’t be striving so hard to get to university, to travel abroad, to go to higher education institutes abroad, to learn higher skills,” he said.

His own physiotherapist, Mr Lee related, is an example of how Singaporeans are upgrading themselves.

She intends to go to Australia to get a degree in physiotherapy, even though the hospital is not sending her; she is paying her own way, with no pay rise guaranteed upon return. But there will be chances of promotion after that.

With a small population, the Republic needs to “top up” with migrants, said Mr Lee. “The trouble is, the moment they come here, they also have one or two children because they begin to think like Singaporeans.

“Why? I will lose my chance of promotion. So I’m out of business for … nine months, I come back, the others have overtaken me.”

Mr Lee was also asked why Singapore has to be “number one in everything”.

“You try to be number one, you might be number two or number three. Do your best. You don’t have to be number one, but do your best and try to be number one. That’s our attitude,” he said.