The debate on foreign workers

The decorations on the trees at Orchard Road, Singapore Can you point out the foreign workers in the crowd to me, please?

Sept 14, 2006
There I was, absolutely tired after a long day, sitting at the bus stop, waiting for the lady who gave me life (so we can go to dinner), and contemplating the nature of the weather in Singapore. You see, the sun was suddenly out and super bright and shiny - forgetting the fact that just an hour ago, it had decided to sulk and hide away, leaving the gods to rain down on this particular area of Singapore hard. You see, the rain had raged, it had pounded with a vengeance - causing the heat from the grounds to rise up - wrapping you in their humidity like a cloak, a film you can't get rid of, on your skin. I was thinking that this kind of unpredictable weather can't be healthy for people --- when I saw a man running in the middle of the traffic - right smack in the middle of the street.
I noticed him because the traffic in front of me was at a standstill - rush hour cars trapped in a mini jam and the guy was running so hard in his black shirt and army green Bermudas, he made the cars look obsolete. Then I thought, "why is there a man running in the middle of the street?" And oh wait - "he is being chased by a policeman!" "Oh no, why is he being chased?" This man was running faster than any sprinter I have ever seen at the Olympics - so fast that he turned a corner and was gone before I could think of anything else. Next thing I know - there is another one, similar to the first runner, running towards us. He takes the opposite turn from the first runner - and this man too was being chased by a policeman. This other running man took the opposite turn from the first one - I guess splitting up makes it easier to escape. Good call on their part.
I kind of instinctively knew that the men where illegal foreign workers running away from the policemen on patrol who tended to question random people they thing are not Singaporeans on the street for their ID (my dad used to always get asked for his papers). Well I hope at least - I didn't see any stolen goods on either of them and I hope either of the runners from the law - hadn't done anything deadly.
Naturally - the heathen in me - the one who roots for the underdog - immediately hoped that the policemen won't catch them, that they would be safe.

First of all, I don't even think that I had to hope very hard because the policemen who were doing the chasing did not look as though they had been running recently. They looked kind of out of shape and besides, one of them stopped running and started walking (limping, more like) after the men took different turns and they were holding on to their walkie talkie and batons to their body while running - so they won't drop or something - which probably makes it awkward to run, you know.

You know, maybe I have already lost some readers when I wrote that I rooted for the men who I thought were alleged illegal workers. Maybe I've angered some people who disapprove of illegal workers by saying that. However, you won't understand why I feel a natural tendency to protect and defend foreign workers, even the illegal ones, unless you have actually been in the situation where you, yourself, or a loved one were reduced to the option of having to work in a foreign country to survive, feed your family (or give them a better life) or worse, had to work illegally in that foreign country, because the alternative was too awful to think about.

I was an illegal worker once - a very long time ago - in a country that I used to live in. Did I have a choice not to become an illegal worker? Yes. I could choose to not work illegally but that would mean I couldn’t' stay in that country I loved, I wouldn't earn that currency - that I would have to move to another country where my choices would be even more limited, where I would earn less money, would have no freedom, and more. Also, I was very young, foolhardy and thought I was invincible.

When you work illegally, you are always kind of scared. I mean, you can't trust your colleagues, you are afraid you will be found out; you are scared you might piss someone off and they would report you. You go out of your house everyday, knowing that there was a 50-50 chance of being found out and thrown out. And then if you were thrown out - you can't come back, ever. Can you imagine, risking not being able to come back, just so you can stay for a few years to support your family? We are talking about desperation here.
Fear and paranoia wears you out - it's not something you want hanging around you all the time, especially if part of your fear was that if you lost that job, you would be unable to support yourself, your family or the way of lifestyle and freedom that you think you deserve because everybody else got it too.
Where am I going with this? Well, in the last 2 months, at least 5 people have told me how foreigners are just taking over Singapore and how Singaporeans are losing out because of foreigners, and how "foreigners are dirty, smelly, illegal, trouble makers", etc. And when I open my mouth and say, "well, thing is, the people who hire the dirty smelly illegal foreigners are actually Singaporeans" and how "I didn't exactly see many Singaporeans vying for the $3 an hour jobs the foreigners get", -I get scorn, or quietness or people just shake their heads at me.
And because I cannot shut my big fat mouth, I continue and I say things like: "well, besides, everyone in Singapore were foreigners in the beginning of this country - dirty & smelly too some of them, and how they all made Singapore to be this nice, clean place - so why are the second wave of immigrants being in tolerated?" And "why would the Singapore government be granting Permanent Residency and citizenships left and right if they didn't need people?"
So I just wanted to say that - yeah - there are foreign workers and some of them are illegal workers - but honestly, they are people just like everyone else - only they had choices that were different from the rest. If you and yours truly are seriously worried about illegal workers, then I suggest that you talk to your government, your councilmen, your congressmen, who ever that will change the system. Because - they are the ones who "ok" for the foreigners to come in and work for you for half of what you, as a citizen would get as an hour, just to survive. I also suggest that instead of taking your blame out on the workers, why don't you talk to the bosses who are citizens just like yourself who hire them - ask them why they don't hire the citizens instead. I mean, vote against it, vote for foreign workers to not work in your country if you think you can do all the jobs by yourself, you know.
And I know - I know security is a big issue for everyone, myself included ( I mean, I know people of different levels of comfort, myself included - i.e.: lookie where I chose to live) . I don't expect you to welcome every foreigner with big open arms and I don't expect you to invite them into your homes for buffets and I don't pretend that some of them aren't criminals. All I ask for is that you keep an open mind. That's it.

So how did the story of the running men end? Well, unhappily for the policemen - they came back 10 minutes later to meet at the bus stop I was at - huffing - scowling and whispering to each other, pointing in all directions. I was smiling. I think I smiled too long because they looked up and saw me smiling. So I feigned a coughing fit to cover up my laughter and I turned around. My mother messaged me to say that she was around the corner and I left the humidity and people filled bus stop and entered the salvation that was the air conditioned mall.