Singapore—On Thursday (May 20) The Straits Times’ former editor Leslie Fong wrote an opinion piece entitled, “What lies beneath the unhappiness over Covid resurgence in S’pore?” to explain the disappointment some have felt over the Government’s failure to prevent the entry of the B1617 variant from India.
Mr Fong used a Greek word, thumos, which has been defined as the inner force motivating someone to act in fear or resentment when they feel dismissed by others who think little of their perspectives.
“Anecdotal evidence and open expressions of disaffection in the social media space would suggest that there is certainly unhappiness that early calls for a pause to arrivals from high-risk countries had gone unheeded,” he wrote, adding that those who have complained have felt their “honest misgivings” have been met with silence or were deflected by those in authority.
Mr Fong also wrote that the oft-repeated reminder of how much the country depends on migrant workers has been a sore point with Singaporeans. He claims they do not understand that migrant workers fill jobs that locals do not want, including those in the construction and nursing sectors.
He noted that there are also those who have expressed “exasperation” over dependants of employment pass holders being allowed into the country.
Mr Fong asserted, however, that the thumos some are expressing is not xenophobic or racist, but merely a desire to have the Government secure the Singaporeans’ safety first.
He ended his piece by writing that this thumos is not necessarily negative, deeming it “in all likelihood, a plaintive cry for meaningful engagement on the part of the authorities, beginning perhaps with an honest acknowledgment that the issue could have been handled better.”
Calvin Cheng’s rebuttal
Former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng responded to Mr Fong on his Facebook account shortly afterwards.
“This writer spent many words and an explanation of a Greek term whingeing about what others have for weeks (been saying) in far simpler terms.”
Mr Cheng explained that travel restrictions can’t apply to just one country, because by the time a variant has been found, it has already spread to other countries, in the same way that the original Covid virus was able to spread.
“You must restrict to all countries, if you want to restrict,” he added, “If you need to ask why Singapore cannot be like Greater China, Australia or New Zealand, stop reading now. You have failed the basic IQ test.”
The former NMP also wrote that Mr Fong had suggested a ban on computer programmers and their dependents, but Mr Cheng said what is needed in Singapore is actually to reduce dependence on low-cost manual workers.
“On the contrary, we need more high-value employment pass holders like…computer programmers.
“And for high-value foreign employees, they have privileges to bring in children and parents.
“Not all. The more you earn, the more privileges you have.”
He also pointed out that the dependants have gone through a difficult process “that involves many many refusals, and trying again and again. In a fluid situation, we do not immediately shed them like ballasts in a storm.”
According to Mr Cheng, the country’s safe entry measures had been sufficient, and that a more transmissible variant would have broken through them at some point.
He added that some high-value expatriates have already been cut off from their families after Singapore banned travel directly from South Asia for non-Singaporean citizens and permanent residents. Others have got stranded without pay, or are in danger of losing their jobs, which he calls reprehensible.
“Our long-term pass holders are also members of the Singapore family,” wrote Mr Cheng. He ended his post by writing, “I agree that the Government is not explaining the above enough. They have only focused on migrant workers. But sooner or later they will say what I have just said.”
/TISG
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