A Forest of Ideas
Off the back of 2 interviews the day before today and surging ahead: greener pastures here we come.
Several high points of the day, i feel, while having a chat with 连超小姐 (anglicised as Forester). here’s what she said, in brief:
- revisiting the theme of tensions amongst chinese people from different provinces
- to view china, not as a culturally unified country, but as a collective term for the 22 provinces
- because she is from the south (guangdong province) she finds assimilation with the locals and malaysians here a breeze, which brings me to her next point: she doesn’t identify with the Chinese from the north
- likes LKY, LHL but thinks JZM is a joke
- eureka moment: chinese nationals who come here and convert to Christianity, and she knows people
- and lastly, “I [连超小姐] think your topic is very broad.”
So, whilst in the shower (where all great ideas are born), i think there might be a possible way for us to narrow our ambitious project down. even if it’s a slight alteration, it’s a start.
A basic theme here would be: ‘the new Chinese community in Singapore’. in which we talk about the differences (cultural, geographical, political, etc) between the northerners and southerners (or are there more factions?), which lead to them forming different cliques here, how/to what degree (or not at all)/how successful do each of these 2 groups assimilate into the local community, what do they do after they come here (i’m taking the cue from the eureka moment: they convert to Christianity, we’ll see what other trends come up along the way), how different are the north & south groups from the one here.
But of course, we will still have their sentiments regarding local Chinese, bad experiences, why come here, etc… the current stuff that we’re doing. just an expansion and perhaps even putting all the information we have/will gather into a proper context.
Other things to note today:
- Earthquake of magnitude 7.9, off the coast of Sumatra @ 6:15pm. tremors felt around the island. but i didn’t. pfft.
- PSI hits 64.
- Eyes and nose in discomfort.
- Watched The September Issue for the second time.
- Arsenal won 2-0 in the Champions League.
As night descends upon me, it’s time i rest me sore muscles and aching bones. till then my friends.
-Shan.
Face recognition for this ‘new generation’
In this pilot post:
Proof of our visit to Soon Lee Lodge! Very close to NTU...
we shall thank the heavens for our exceedingly obliging friend agreed, without hesitation, in accompanying us for our interviews with 2 chinese workers. Qin Di has progressed from ‘first interviewee’ to ‘translator’ to ‘extremely helpful mate’ in a matter of seconds. thus, it was with his help that our spirits were boosted. if you’re wondering why such help was enlisted in the first place, it was because our very proficient in-house translator (i.e. may chen yingjia), was sadly unavailable. whilst fellow group-mates (nabila and myself) were highly incapable of handling an interview conducted in heavily accented mandarin.
So with that out of the way, let’s recount the day. Our (figurative) chapter on Singapore’s transient workers begins today.
At the gantries to welcome the workers home
One of the ‘new generation dorms’, we were told. and boy, was it aptly put. turnstiles, access cards, face recognition devices, little pictures of pretty ladies but i digress… except for the last bit, everything else sounds pretty high-tech. but then, it’s nothing new. just that its application is. this high-level security facility happens to be Soon Lee Lodge (SLL). a worker’s dormitory, located in our mini hinterland, more collectively known as Jurong West, for… well, the workers. literally containers stacked upon the other, they make up the homes of the thousands of foreign workers that pour into our little country; making our secondary sector tick. so why does a dormitory require security on such levels? a measure to prevent illegal immigrants from sneaking in; to keep track of their residents, their safeguard their well being and ensure everyone is accounted for. SLL is truly a self-subsistent community of 4500 residents, with the luxury of a supermarket, beer stand, mama’s indian food stall, open space, mini park, gym, sick bay, etc…
So you see, there are tremendous efforts that are being made in making life enjoyable for our foreign friends. dorm events consist of a day dedicated to the game of kebadi (an indian version of lao ying zua xiao ji, we were informed). take the little park, with a man-made stream filled with fresh water hyacinths and a blossoming population of frogs (not really a great idea in my opinion) for instance, it is being created as a place for the residents to relax. and also because many of them come from villages, it is to make them feel at home.
Poster on Kabadi event at the main entrance
Prior to our visit, contact was made with said dormitory’s friendly manager, Mr Lee, who kindly provided us with 2 chinese nationals, with whom we interviewed. both men, are here upon selection, based on outstanding performance, by their respective companies. they are hired on a 2-year basis, with each contract renewable after satisfactory assessment by the employers, at the end of the previous one. it wasn’t difficult in getting them to open up about their views on their life here, so in all, it was a rather enjoyable experience.
Our first interviewee
Interviewee no. 1: 汤傲雪先生, a 33 year-old married man from Shanghai was first up. as a technician for an aluminum manufacturing company, he rakes in a monthly pay of $1700 (inclusive of a substantial amount of OT). he’s been in Singapore for 2 years. he works nearly everyday, with a chance to return home once in 2 years (fully paid for by the company), and 14 days of leave in total. any additional day off would mean the docking of salary. that may seem harsh from a local’s POV, but we could tell he really liked the way of life in Singapore and a general sense of optimism accompanied his demeanor – simply put, he is happy with life here.
He did not want to be pictured.
Interviewee no. 2: 殷小斌先生, 39 year-old, from Shan Dong province. he’s married with 2 children, with the eldest making his way in the working world and the youngest in primary 6. he’s also been here for 2 years (and has already signed another 2-year extension), and he earns $1200 without OT and about $1500 with. However, opportunities for OT have been few and far in between. he lacks the rather youthful optimism and education-level possessed by 汤先生, and with a more worn-down appearance. as a construction worker for a wood manufacturer, the many scars his arms are proof to the kind of hard labour he does. he is unhappy with the high cost of living here as he barely makes enough each month and has complaints about our fast pace of life but, generally happy with life here too. has heard of Singapore in the 70s and 80s but didn’t know how big Singapore was back then.
As bus loads of residents streamed through the gantry, it was our time to take a bow. and so, the day ended on a rather exhausting note.
A last look at the dormitories before we left
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okay, i might have over written for my first blog entry. no wait, second.
[but who cares, a test drive this is. anyone (other than my group mates) who thinks otherwise, please go shoot yourself =D]
-Shan.