i.justrealized

Our population has reached 5.08 million in a recent survey by the local statistics department. Singapore has always been a country that welcomed foreigners and they have played a part in our success. Our forefathers are largely foreigners too and without them we won’t be here.

Here’s the related the blog article:

S’pore population tops five million, one in three are foreigners

SINGAPORE, Tuesday 31 August 2010 (AFP) – Singapore’s population crossed five million this year and more than a third of the total are foreigners, the statistics department said Tuesday.

The city-state’s total population stood at 5.08 million people at the end of June, it said in a statement.

Of the number, 3.23 million are citizens, 540,000 are foreigners with permanent residency and 1.3 million are foreign professionals and workers along with their dependents, resulting in a 36% share for foreigners in the general population.

The population growth rate was 1.8% in 2010, reflecting a slowdown in the number of permanent residents and foreign workers being admitted into the country, the department said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged the problems in a speech on Sunday and vowed to review immigration policies, cap new foreign hiring this year and enhance benefits accorded to citizens. (via Yahoo Singapore News FTP)

I feel there’re some unjustifiable resentment towards foreigners. Had Singapore not opened the country to foreigners in the 1900s, many of us probably won’t be here. In the 1900s, people are just here to earn some money back home. No one’s probably loyal to Singapore. We went through a world war to bring about this loyalty and this sense of belonging. Foreigners who did not leave Singapore during the 1940s (yes, they probably have nowhere to run to, too) fought for Singapore and later earned their right to be called Singaporeans. Foreigners today don’t have the chance (and thankfully they didn’t) to earn the title “Singaporean” in a similar way. The most they can ever do is to work in the country and thereby contributing to the economy. Today, we seem to be overvaluing our right as citizens when we haven’t do a thing. We just happen to be born in the right place.

Now, what is the difference between a foreigner and a citizen? Have we undervalue their presence? We are citizens and are enjoying the wealth that the country has produced. We are just refusing to share it with foreigners, aren’t we?

I’m just asking that we reexamine how we reached the conclusion that foreigners are not good for Singapore and why we can make claim we are better off. Is curbing the foreigner influx just a convenient way to ease, what appears to be, overpopulation?

[I am a Singapore by virtue of birth and I count myself lucky since day one. I've just heard one too many negative remarks toward foreigners.]

Not everyone is merry over Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Even as the YOG comes to a closing today, I still hear the resentment. I am largely indifferent over the matter and I don’t know enough of it to contribute an opinion.

Singaporean arrested after Facebook attack on govt

In a statement, police said they had arrested a “man in his late 20s” on Tuesday “in connection with investigations into offences related to incitement of violence”.

…Abdul Malik Ghazali, 27, who posted a series of comments on the social networking site critical of how Singapore is hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The August 14-26 event, held for competitors aged from 14 to 18, has generated limited public interest, with many events blighted by empty seats and the host country’s athletes faring badly.

Vivian Balakrishnan, the minister for community development, youth and sports, has come under particular fire from online critics over the games.

Abdul Malik’s postings on his own Facebook page and on a separate group account called “I hate the Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee” are also critical of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

He said it was time to “burn” the sports minister and the PAP. “Rally together and vote them out!!!” he wrote.

“I did not intend for it to be taken literally. I did not mean for someone to actually burn,” he said. –AFP (Source: Asiaone)

Here’s what the group has to say and what they describe themselves to be:

We are Singaporeans who are disappointed and angry with the YOG organising Committee (SYOGOC).

The SYOGOC ballooned its initial budget of S$105 million for the YOG to S$387 million. In contrast, this government allocated only $92 million to the ComCare and Social Support Programme for needy Singaporeans in 2010.

The SYOGOC chose to fake its ticket sales results by having MOE to purchase the bulk of the tickets. This has led to the strange phenomenon of the half-filled stadiums and competition halls, despite tickets being fully “sold out”!

Students were coerced by their schools to support the torch relays and to attend YOG events. The volunteers were badly treated with substandard and even unsafe food!

It is an event organised by the politicians for the politicians to look good in front of foreigners, and the government is splurging on taxpayers’ money like nobody’s business.

We hate the YOG Organising Committee!

The group has 2,796 members currently.

Okay time for Merly:

(Merly Youth Olympics Singapore 2010.)

Singapore youths are quite attached to their mobile devices, according to a recent survey by research agency Synovate. This article is from this Channel News Asia article.

Some statistics:

• 28% indicated they couldn’t live without their handphones – highest group among Asian youths.
• When it comes to having the most number of contacts, Singapore youths are second with 108 contacts – after Indonesia.
• The average number of contacts across youths surveyed in Asia is 77.
• As for laptops and smartphones, Singapore youths have the highest ownership in the region.
• 43% of Singapore youths blog.
• 36% read a blog without making comments.

It’s time to make mobile applications.

Saw this in a bookshop. Probably MPH I can’t remember. It is on Ubuntu.

You can’t just do Ubuntu
You have to be Ubuntu

Ahh… We learn something everyday.

Ridzuan was telling me merlion is a male. It clearly has long hair and is very feminine here:

(Merly Youth Olympics Singapore 2010.)

The Merly soft toy is available is many malls. There’s also a Lyo.

Here’s the cheer song of Singapore Youth Olympics 2010, whatever that means:

JJ林俊杰 ~ You Are The One, Singapore (Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010)

Meanwhile, this is the theme song:

Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Hey Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Ho. It’s hilarious, somewhat cringe-inducing too.

Apple iPad to come in Singapore this week, July 23 (Friday). And that’s the Apple iPad release date.

iPad Available in Nine More Countries This Friday

CUPERTINO, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that iPad™ will be available in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore this Friday, July 23. iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPad is 0.5 inches thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life. (Source: PRNewsWire)

Keen to get one?

Whheeeeee:

Slide in Changi Airport, Singapore

You actually have to pay for this slide I think.