Foreign Workers - A Balancing Act

Immigrants have been a topic of discussion among my friends I late. Well, more precisely, immigrant workers. There are quite a good number of them now in Singapore. They're frontline staff at shops, clean up after us at food courts, call us to sell us a credit card or insurance plan, drive our cabs and buses. I'm sure there are many other jobs they are hired to do but these professions I've listed now suddenly put them in front of us. And that's a big change.

They used to be in the background - workers at a construction site or road sweepers. We took notice but were able to quickly ignore them or rather, their impact on our day-to-day was minimal for most. We smiled and said hello when appropriate but largely, our lives were quite separate. But a tight labour market, an educated workforce and locals' preference for less menial jobs have pushed employers to look far and away for willing hands to fill any job that locals deem beneath them. Someone's gotta do the dirty, boring work, right? And costs gotta stay down right? Viva l'economy!

So this little country is awash with new migrant workers who are cheap for businesses to hire and look after. And inevitably there are many issues that have surfaced.

An odd xenophobia that has come to the fore.

It's strange because we are a nation of migrants ourselves and a young nation at that.

Strange because we seem to be biased against personal habits and unfamiliar accents rather than colour of skin.

Strange because we do not think they are trying hard enough to adapt to our way of living.

Strange because it is Singaporeans as a collective that are speaking against the perceived excess of foreign workers, not just a single race voicing concern (is this now our unifying trait? A bunch of complainers).

Strange that we feel disadvantaged in our own country by those who have less, who have come here like our forefathers did before to make life anew.

Other the other hand, there are Singaporeans who have stood up for fair treatment, better conditions and pay for these workers.

The Japanese are infamous for frowning upon importing foreign workers. They've run their factories on their own for centuries, extensions of the single machine-body-culture that is this island nation. Now the population is rapidly greying and no one knows what to do. There's already a shortage of caregivers and medical staff to look after the elderly. Young people, highly educated and pumped full of Western ideals, do not want to live their parents' lives. There is a clash of ambition and expectations and tradition it seems. Somehow it seems that the road to progress and happiness will damn a mighty country because minds are closed.

This should bother us. There are many parallels we can draw amid the stark differences. We can learn lessons from Japan's closed doors. Yet admittedly we shouldn't feel like strangers in our own backyard. It's a funny balance to get at, because any moves at stemming this flow of workers will increase labour costs and ultimately the price you and I will pay for goods and services. A connected problem, one the average thinker on the street needs to understand and accept. We'll always have immigrant workers passing through our shores. They way we feel about them is perhaps a mark of our maturity, or how much we still need to grow.

Rihanna - Diamonds

I'm so in like with this new Rihanna song and I know why. She's grown up. You can hear it her voice. Diamonds has these amazing subtle nuances and inflexions that strike at one's emotions. The way she utters 'You and I, you and I" almost breathlessly it's as if she was on drugs, or in the throes of passion or whispering in one's ear. And there are so many. These clever bits are stunning, whether they were consciously orchestrated or not. I keep thinking about the coaches on American Idol or The Voice suggesting these vocal highlights to a good voiced singer. Perhaps Rihanna has simply got better.

The lyrics themselves are down to earth and yet wonderfully metaphoric. "Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy". Maybe it's the hopefulness that radiates from the song. And in the end she's singing to you, the listener. "You and I, we're beautiful like diamonds in the sky". I can easily imagine this song playing in a sea of lighters overhead - the diamonds - as a finale in her concert.

I dare say this is 2012's Umbrella. I'll be listening to this for a long long time. The beat is just awesome too.

Turn the volume on the video and close your eyes, and listen.

One Heck Of A Ride Or Two

There are things about roller-coasters. The mere mention of them lends power to a myriad of thoughts and emotions to manifest as physical and aural expression. People freak out. Others sweat in apprehension. Some turn arrogant with stories of their conquests. Most are happy at remembering the thrill of being at mercy of a monstrous speed demon and of course its partner gravity. Others simply are glad to be alive after. If well done, roller-coasters give their riders a beautiful experience. Beautiful because it's a journey, articulated from masterful planning and science, some even designed for the best views. Beautiful also because one is helpless. When was the last time you felt helpless but in a good way? There isn't any turning back, no brakes to pull or step on, no matter how the adrenaline makes you scream and shudder and laugh. It's a wonderful feeling, strangely. And after, when the heart is decelerating and the breath still heaves and you're a little light-headed, you know you can take a little gravitational pressure. Or even attempt a jump off a cliff into blue seas. Or contemplate a bungee jump. What could be worse than being at the mercy of an uncontrollable event? Surviving is emboldening. Liberating. What's office politics and pencil pushing after descents at 60 degrees at 9.8m/s2, and a couple of loop-da-loops helixes with legs dangling, disrespecting the sun with their soles? A ride makes you feel alive, again. Like anything is possible. Everyone leaves with a new found strut, and a woo-hoo.

Both the machines at USS freak us out mostly because they accelerate to the first apex. Unlike the good old crick, crick, crick to the top, the Human and rides hurl you towards gravitational destiny quicker than one would expect. Brilliant design.

It's always the first drop that gets me. I resolve to scream early, prior to almost losing my sanity and life as I am propelling downwards. It helps cushion the shock to the system. Admittedly, I was afraid but then who isn't. I was light-headed too but damn it was shiok.

Veni, vedi, vici I guess.