Foreign Talent

There is something i saw yesterday which bother me
It has something to do with foreign workers in Singapore...

Yes, in recent days, due to the general election, the issue of having
too many foreigners in Singapore is a hot topic.
Many citizens have been complaining that the number of foreign talent are growing too
fast too soon. Singapore has about 1/3 foreigners now it seems..

Nicole Seah from NSP also campaigned that whenever she board the train,
she feels like she is on a holiday in another country... No need to bring passport somemore, she said... Many opposition parties are calling for a check in the government's policy to review the intake of foreginers into Singapore.. Anyway, this is not unique to Singapore since most other developed nations also faces the same issue.. A classic example being Australia.

So, back to the incident yesterday ...
Back to the incident that brought me guilt...

I was queuing to order my dinner at subway restaurant yesterday after my game of golf. Then, there was this young china chinese lady in front trying to order her sandwich. The only problem is, she couldn't speak any English.. not one bit.. The young man taking the order, couldn't understand her too. He is from Philippine and speaks only English. The chinese lady was pointing to the bread, and the pictures on the poster, but it was still not clear to the waiter what she wanted... Because for subway order, you have to specify what kind of bread you want, what kind of cheese, and do you want it toasted etc etc... All these require communication... And the two people from two different nationalities just can't communicate to each other.

There were many other other customers around too
2 others behind her, and 1 in front of her in the queue
None offered to help her....

And athough i was 3rd in the queue from where she was,
i could have easily walked up and help her be the translator to get her sandwich,
but i didn't...

And this is what's been bothering me...

How can i stood so low, as not to offer help to someone clearly in need of help
when i know i can be of assistance...

Why was i so selfish, and thinks that she do not deserve to be here since she can't
speak English...

In any case, it wasn't her fault that she was allowed to work here
even though she has a language problem, and clearly not able to blend
into our society...

Foreigners came to Singapore to earn a living..
And i agree sometimes too many of them makes us uncomfortable..
But we should always be gracious, be helpful
for they, are human too, and have feelings like we do.
We should treat them with respect, and offer to help when needed.
This is so we can be a 1st class citizen.

When i was studying in Australia, i always felt welcomed in their country.
People are always kind to help
And i brought this good memories and impressions back to Singapore.
Why not do the same,
and when they returned home, they will say...
Singaporeans are a gracious lot and helped them enjoyed their stay here...