As I geared up to move out of Singapore, I have come to know about the many rules and regulations of the Singapore Immigration and I could say how touchy and ignorant some Singaporeans can be. Moving out of here has been my ultimate goal and I have work hard all the time to achieve that golden goal of mine. The time is almost here and I have made some checks to make my dream a reality.
As many Singaporeans are aware of, it is compulsory to contribute to the Central Provident Fund (CPF, it is call EPF in Malaysia) when you are earning more than two hundred dollars a month. Regardless of full time employees or part time, so long as you are getting paid more than two hundred dollars a month, CPF contribution from you and your employer is necessary. Those who did not obey this rule will face serious consequences and risk becoming a jailbird. Mind you, when you are in Singapore, the law is not something you want to mess with. This CPF, according to the government of Singapore is for use when we are at a retirement age, which is at 55 years old determined by the Government. Every Singaporean is entitled to withdraw their CPF account once they reach that age.
I have no reservations about this in fact I think it is a very good idea. There are other means to withdraw your CPF account earlier than the age set and it is when you renounce your Singapore citizenship. However, before you can do that, you have to first hold a citizenship of another country and second, that another country could be a country anywhere else but if it is West Malaysia, then you will lose the privilege of early withdrawal of your CPF account. Many Singaporeans who had have known this fact and share the same plan like I do and think how unfair it seems to us are not able to defeat it. I still think political issues have got something to do with it but I will keep my opinions reserved to myself.
I was upset when I made the check because residing in west of Malaysia was the plan and yes, to withdraw my CPF account was part of the plan too. Like few other disgruntled Singaporeans, I am unhappy knowing the fact that some rigid rules and regulations have successfully spoilt my day and made the smiles on my face disappeared. I ate my lunch with anger and almost choked on a carrot the size of my thumb. I turned to look at the hawker who was responsible for the size of the carrot with hate and contempt for adding another misery to the events of my life for that day.
I would suggest to her to go for cooking classes and learn what is the appropriate size for carrots for the convenience of chewing and swallowing. I am not a snake neither a crocodile whose eating habit does not include chewing or tasting before swallowing. I let the matter rest and spit the carrot out of my mouth. I took out my mobile phone and started to do what I do best. I clearly voice out my frustrations over the CPF withdrawal rules to my friends. I was eager and excited to see how would they have responded to that issue. Some who also wish to migrate elsewhere shared their dissatisfaction with me while others were in a state of curiosity why is the rule different for West Malaysia. I have no answers for them. One hour later, an acquaintance responded to my text. She seemed unhappy with my opinion and asked me,
`Singapore rules?? What about Malaysia's rule then??'
Upon receiving her text, I sensed that there will be a hot debate about this issue between I and her and somebody better be prepared for a tongue bashing, brain teasing and wit talking skills competition because I was really in the mood. What has Malaysia's rule got to do with how the rules and regulations of CPF withdrawal work? My main concern was the withdrawal of CPF account for ex Singaporeans who decided to reside in West Malaysia. I am here to argue on that fact alone and nothing else. I will not say anything about Malaysia's rule. My focus is on CPF rule and regulation of withdrawal. I would not like to go out of track from my main focus.
The second response came and she asked,
'So why tell me?'
My response,
'Because you are another Singaporean and I thought you would be open enough to hear opinion instead of being so sensitive about Singapore your one people, one nation country. I guess you are not like my other Singaporean friends who give their comments to make me think about the issue. I didn't know you are so shallow...'
Her response,
`What Singapore did is deserving. People like you should not receive proper treatment because you shouldn't be rewarded for your disloyalty. hahahaha. Be prepared to be a destitute.'
My response,
'I am not expecting anything from Singapore except for what is rightfully mine. What I have in my CPF account is what I deserved. If you want to stay loyal with Singapore your one people, one nation country, by all means be my guest. I hope you will be happy with your job in the government sector regardless of your skin colour and what is stated as your race in you IC. I wish the new generation of Singaporean knows and understand the meaning behind MAJULAH SINGAPURA instead of just singing it out of obligations to the school and not the country.'
Her response,
'Your obligation to settle outstanding bills are present. How far you go will not lead to a peaceful life. CPF law is clear cut that betrayal people like you will not deserve a single cent. Let me remind you that my inbox now doesn't wish to receive a single sms from you. Go and help to employ all beggars in KL before they eat you up! Bye. '
My response,
'My opinion on you for being over sensitive at the wrong time is confirmed. You should do a lot of brain storming to differentiate on what is an opinion, a criticism and an argument...you are shallow to the core and unnecessarily sensitive, and that's a shame, Singaporean...'
Her response,
LOL. Why should I?? Whatever lah. I had bunch of friends here kept on laughing like hell cos of this stupid joke of a day...Fajar, relax laa, siapa yang sensitive. Awak ke?
My response,
'Yes my friends are enjoying this too. It seems that everybody is having such a great time and it's ironic that the very person who sounded so sensitive just now is suddenly so lively out of a sudden...it's true that people say Singaporeans are funny and maybe great pretenders as well. Long live you for being so melodramatic; you are a classic drama queen. hehehehehe, I am having such a great time here...'
It ended there.
It is annoying when people question me about my loyalty when they fail to question the very reason why I am not. I grew up in Singapore and I know what it is like. As far as I am concern, a sense of loyalty doesn’t apply to Singaporeans. I went to schools here and I know what my friends felt when we sang the national anthem or when we recite the national pledge. I know what most students think of the flag rising and lowering ceremony routine in school. I know if those students attended those ceremonies for the sake of the country or out of obligations to the school, or they were just doing the thing everybody’s doing. I know whether the students knew the significance of Majulah Singapura every time they sang it. I know if they sang it sincerely or otherwise. What is even worse, some did not open their mouth at all and just stood still eager to wait for the monotonous ceremony to end. And mind you, this did not apply to the students alone, even teachers were like that. I watched all these students. I observed them in my own time. I saw right in front of my eyes how much loyalty and patriotism a citizen of a country could have.
When the ceremony ended, those students rushed to the bus stop nearby trying to catch the busses home and for those whose buses had not arrived, waited impatiently. How can you expect a kid growing up in a country as a minority to be patriotic after all that she has seen was nothing but merely acts of disrespect to one’s country?
I never remembered a day in school where I was taught to love my country. All I knew was teachers reprimanding students for skipping the national anthem ceremony. All I heard was the cheers of joy every time a teacher announced publicly that there will not be any flag lowering ceremony because of rain or other reasons fit enough to cancel the ceremony. Majulah Singapura is in Malay and Malay is not widely spoken in Singapore among non-Malays, it is not even the official language. There is no denying that non-Malay students cannot sing the National Anthem properly let alone appreciate its meaning. Students made fun of it because they simply cannot pronounce the words in the anthem. They were laughing and joking about it among themselves, careless to know that they had just shown me how a true Singaporean can be. Those kids would not have done what they did if they had had enough respect for their country regardless what language the national anthem is. How often can you see a student sings the national anthem with pride, honour and dignity? Therefore, for everybody’s sake do not talk to me about betrayal.
When it is national day, I never see people carrying the country’s flag on their car. I never see kids riding bicycles with the country’s flag hanging at the back of the bicycle. I never see people voluntarily decorating their cars with the country’s flag. The spirit of celebrating national day here will only be felt in the stadium where it is the official place to celebrate. There will be cars that chauffeured the Prime Minister and the President into the stadium and sadly to say, those will be the only cars that have Singapore flag on them decorated. The stadium is the only place where I will see Singaporeans shouting and yelling ‘Happy National Day’ at the top of their lungs. The stadium is the only place I will see people singing all the national songs that have been composed for the yearly event. The stadium is the only place I will see thousands of Singapore flags being waved frantically to tell the whole world that it’s Singapore’s birthday.
All those songs sang by Singaporeans to Singaporeans did not make me feel truly Singaporean at all. I do not believe in them anymore. I have stop believing. And I do believe that if there were ever going to be someone who would decorate his car with the Singapore flags, he would be a laughing stock to many Singaporeans and I guess would win the ‘Clown of the Year’ award if there were ever going to be one. It is madness to do such a thing in Singapore. To openly show spirit of nationalism and sense of love for the country is regarded as unusual here. Never have I seen any of such acts. I have been to a neighbouring country on its National day and it was a different experience. I felt the spirit, it was so alive and vibrant and I wonder if Singapore is ever going to be like that one day.
I often question why isn’t there any recruitment for Malay officers in the navy. I repeatedly heard that the Malays are somehow barred from joining the Singapore Navy. I do not know how true it is but I have never seen any Malays in the navy for the time I have been living here. I have heard people telling me all sorts of reasons for that. They make me sick. I began to have reservations about the integrity of the Government. I began to have doubts. Every Malay Singaporean can tell if we have a bright future in the Singapore Armed forces. We know how far we can go and how much we can do. Tell me how many Malays can you find in the Army assigned to Armour unit and how many assigned in the Artillery unit? Give me names of any Malay pilots in the Air force flying a fighter jet. If there isn’t any, do not tell me that the Malays here are under qualified. Do not tell me that out of hundreds of thousands of Malays here not even one or two qualify to meet the requirements in terms of academic and character. Tell me how many high-ranking officers in the army are Malays? I can go on and on but I will stop right here.
I do not want to be a hypocrite because I have never been raised to be one. If I dun feel belonged to my country it is time for me to pack my bag and leave. At least I do not work for the government and then grumble and whine of being mistreated for not given a fair chance to progress further and beyond. It is a faint-hearted, gutless and spiritless act. I have been raised to love my race and to believe in myself. The spirit of nationalism towards my own people has been instilled in me since young. I have been raised to fight the stormy seas and walk on mountains. Many times people have mistaken me for Chinese.
You do not have to look like Malay to be Malay. I have always been patriotic for what I am. I am not going to struggle to be in a better position in a place where I feel I do not belong. I am not going to contradict myself by putting up a false front doing the things I do not desire and be in a place where my heart is not. Leaving is a far better thing to do than continuing living here and then complain. If I am disloyal, then you can say that to many other Singaporeans who have migrated out of here. I am not the only one. Wherever they are, and for whatever reasons they did it, I will always salute them for taking one big leap in their lives for not being a hypocrite.
Moving out of Singapore is what I will do, regardless of where I go; I know I will survive if I stay humble. Do not question my loyalty when I already feel unwanted in the beginning. Do not attack me with my personal flaws because I am only human. With or without my outstanding bills, I still have a life to lead and Singapore is not my choice. Do not say I am a destitute because I know where and how tall I can stand on solid ground. Do not question my integrity when all I wanted is to be successful elsewhere. I believe I can and I will no matter where I am or how long it takes. If I were going to make an economic contribution, I would rather make it in a place I feel it’s worth making.
Do not tell me I do not deserve a single cent from my CPF account when the tax I paid contribute some if not little to your salary you take home to put food on your ugly dining table. Do not tell me I have betrayed my country when the leadership of the government has not earned my respect. If Singapore is not proud to have me as her daughter, then neither do I. And she need not worry anymore because I am leaving for good. Do not blame me for being unfaithful when I can see clearly where we stand now. Why have song like ‘One people, One Nation, One Singapore’ when we are not united at heart? Why have song like ‘Stand Up for Singapore’ when we are not even trusted to be on board of a navy ship as part of the crew to defend the country if we were attack? Why have slogan like ‘Singapore, My Home’ when some of us feel like we are adopted? We may not be oppressed but we are being discriminated.
You know how much truth there is and it tickles me at how you stated your facts and arguments. How are the beggars in KL link to the issue? It’s totally out of point and irrelevant. Even my outstanding bills became your pitiable weapon to attack me and it is pathetic. You argue with poor quality, second-rate, shoddy neither here nor there facts that a reasonable man would not use. You certainly need to drink more water to produce enough oxygen to your brain because oxygen is the food to the brain and you unquestionably lack of it. On the other hand, it suddenly occurs to me that you are a person unsurprisingly with zero charisma, whose ego is as big as Singapore Changi Airport with brain the size of a pistachio peanut. It is no wonder that you short the skill of understanding an issue that is not so complex. This explains why it was hard for me to comprehend the past emails, which you wrote in a manner so horribly unfashionable and horrendously unbelievable with only 0.01% readability ease. My greatest sympathy goes to you.
It is amusing to me that how much some Singaporeans ill talk about their neighbour, still I find them visiting that neighbour for a short holiday or to pump in petrol into their cars or motorcycles. They boast about the properties they have there and are very arrogant when visiting there and we all know that it is all in the currency exchange rate. They are all conclusively unanimously declared cheap, miserable and immodest opportunist. It is contradicting. What they say oppose what they do and that’s very appalling and shameful. Where is the honour to what they are saying? Who is lacking of integrity here? The general rule, if we hate some food, we do not consume it, if we dislike a person, we stay away from her and when we ill talk so much about a country and still visits the country for leisure, doesn’t that show what kind of person we truly are? I rest my case. Now that you have read my thoughts on your one people, one nation, green for life, green for Singapore country that you call your home, what are you going to do about it? Sue me? Last but not least, to all truly, madly deeply Singaporeans, Majulah Singapura!! (That is if you ever know what it means.)
