Heshe’s a ‘he’.
First up: why are there so many flies in NIE? Those things were constantly in my face, on my arms, bothering my legs while we were interviewing Chenri today.
Today, we met Hui Chenri, a 29-year-old Chinese National who works as a research assistant in NIE. I’d say we learnt quite a number of things from him.
One of them being majoring in English is actually very sought after in China. I would never think that Chinese would actually want to major in English. I would think that they would choose Chinese Literature, or some other Chinese-related topic that they would most definitely excel in. On top of majoring in English, and thereafter teaching the language in a university back in China, Chenri even did his Masters in applied linguistics at NIE.
I’d also say that it was a surprising find to learn that Chenri also adopted Christianity after coming to Singapore, a trend that we’re beginning to see slowly after talking to more interviewees. It’s interesting to discover that our Chinese friends actually open up pretty easily to religion after coming here.
Other interesting points:
- Chinese sometimes do bring their differences with each other from China, here to Singapore. Many do have a prejudice against their own countrymen, such as those from a specific province or area.
- He hangs out with both his comrades and Singaporeans, engaging in sports activities like squash, going to the Henderson Wave for a hike, or to MacRitchie Reservoir.
- He attends BOTH Mandarin and English services at his church, City Harvest Church, and his cell group is made up of 90% Chinese Nationals.
- He is open to the idea of settling down here (or anywhere else, for that matter), but has often been warned by friends that local Singaporeans are not suitable as partners.
I’m excited about the idea of crashing their squash sessions and cell group meetings – lots of more contacts and more importantly, good photo opportunities!
Toiling hard to give back home
They are often misunderstood, and some locals look down on them with dislike and even scorn. Foreign workers in Singapore may hail from many distant lands, such as India, Cambodia and even China, but many would admit that they are not free from discrimination in this multi-ethnic country.
While Singaporeans may view these workers as foreign to their country, foreign workers are here because they want to make a better living; to improve their family’s quality of life back home.
Workers from China make up a significant number of the foreign worker population. China workers alone take up almost half the percentage of foreign workers. Some end up taking low-skilled and low-paying jobs. From construction work to cleaning, they choose jobs very few or no locals are willing to fill.
Locals may have seen many Chinese workers in the service industries when they shop. Yet, some China workers are almost cut off from locals due to the remote site of their workplace. It is difficult for the ordinary locals to have contact with these workers, especially those in the construction and manufacturing industry.
A majority of these transient workers are here on two-year contracts, which are renewable upon their employers’ assessments at the end of them.
Factory technician Mr Tang Ao Xue had recently signed a new contract keeping him for another two years. He works nearly everyday and looks forward to over-time opportunities, so as to keep his job and earn as much as he can for his family back in Shanghai.
“The working life is more competitive here. There are also longer working hours,” said the 33-year-old in heavily-accented Mandarin. So far, he has really enjoyed the kind of life that Singapore has to offer.
However, there is one aspect that he particularly likes. “It [the bureaucracy] is very fair here. There’s no bribing. It all depends on my performance at work,” said Mr Tang.
His employer recommended Mr Tang for work here when his parent company expanded into Singapore. He had to make the shift from glass manufacturing to aluminium but he adapted quickly while learning on the job.
Mr Tang, however, has not been home for almost two years. “It’s too expensive to go home often. I just can’t afford it,” said the lanky man who is married with no children. He is not intending to return home anytime soon and wants to continue working in Singapore for as long as he can.
Like Mr Tang, many of the other Chinese workers possess the willingness and desire to put in the hard work, such as Mr Ying Xiao Bin.
He is a construction worker from Shan Dong, and works on Jurong Island. He was proud to attest to those qualities.
“We Chinese, when we want to do something, we do it fast. We won’t slack off,” said the father of two, who feels that Singaporeans are being unfair in their judgment of foreign workers.
Mr Tang and Mr Ying exude positive working attitudes, which are exactly what got their employees attracted to them.
Both men have been staying at the Soon Lee Lodge in Jurong West for the past two years and are used to the life here but they do miss their family. Mr Ying, who has not been home since arriving here six year ago, said: “I miss my little girl. She’s in primary six. When I have the money, I will go back to China and set up a small business or a restaurant.”
For many of them, Singapore represents the pot of goodness that is a necessary step towards a better life.
Being so far away from home, Chinese workers search for those who come from their homeland when they are missing home. Hence, the workers come together and form their own communities. Since they share the similar experience of being alone in a foreign land and speak the same dialect, they are able to reminisce about things they miss from their hometowns.
When asked how he celebrates the Chinese festivities, Mr Ying replied: “I will meet up with the people in my hometown. During mid-autumn, I will make mooncakes and cook delicacies from my hometown.
For a man who is used to eating home-cooked noodles for lunch every other day, such festivities bring him a step closer to home.
Mr Tang and Mr Ying may be away from home, but home is exactly the motivation for them to persevere every day in Singapore.
The Localised Immigrant
It is easy to understand why Qin Di, a 22-year-old Chinese National undergraduate in Singapore, stands out among his other fellow countrymen here.
Qin Di has been in Singapore for more than six years
Having been here for more than six year now, the extent of his “Singaporean-ization” is obvious – he speaks in fluent English peppered with the occasional Singlish terms of “lors”, “lahs” and “mehs”. The Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) alum is also a hall fellow at his alma mater’s student hostel and the NTU undergraduate even took part in a week-long community service to help Cambodian street children with the school’s Muslim Society.
Language barriers formed the bulk of woes
But that’s not to say that it was always a bed of roses for Qin Di, who, like many other Chinese students who came to Singapore on scholarships, felt lonely and faced many uncertainties and challenges initially.
Language difficulties were something he had expected from the very beginning. He said: “I learnt English when I was in China, but it was of a very fundamental level. What is used here is very different from the Chinese education system. What I knew was totally irrelevant when I came here.”
Things were made tougher when after just three months of English bridging courses, he found himself thrown head-on into Secondary 3 at ACS(I), a school with strong English backgrounds.
“I think even if it were not a school with such a strong English background, Chinese students would still find it quite difficult to cope with the language when they are first here.”
The head start he got has given him an added advantage in being here – he is able to understand lectures without having to constantly refer to an electronic dictionary.
Fellow countrymen discriminated against
While working as a part-time waiter at a restaurant last year, he even experienced preferential treatment on the job.
He said: “There were other Chinese Nationals who had just come from China and were working as permanent staff, but I was paid better even though I was just a part-time worker.
“The boss and other Singaporean staff treated me differently because I’m able to speak English and also because I am educated. But the other Chinese Nationals were treated badly.”
Qin Di described how his Singaporean supervisor and colleagues made fun of the other Chinese workers’ accent and less-than-perfect pronunciations and the way they dress.
“The Singaporeans called the Chinese workers “china man”, even though they knew their Chinese and English names. They would even gossip about my Chinese friends in their face, because they know that my friends don’t understand what they are saying in English.”
Singaporeans’ complaints: Unfounded and unfair
Qin Di eventually left his job at the restaurant because he couldn’t take things lying down.
“The Chinese who come here to work mostly take up low-paying jobs, but to them it is a very good opportunity to find a job here. It’s really difficult for them, so Singaporeans should give them some time to adapt.”
To him, the complains and murmurs that he hears about Chinese Nationals in Singapore are not always fair.
“A lot of Singaporeans see foreigners as competition, but I think they are just complaining. If there are people willing to do the jobs they don’t want, why not? It’s as if you don’t want the job, but don’t want others to have it either.”