Protectionism vs Racism/Xenophobia

Protectionism that stems from a sense of responsibility and accountibility to one’s own citizens by the State (especially a small State like Sg) , I support.

Racism/Xenophobia that stems from a sense of irrational prejudice and unjust discrimination is totally a different matter, that is often disguised as Protectionism, and I am very against it.

I’ve argued for my case for Protectionism in Singapore here ‘Put Singaporeans First ‘ http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/singapore_protectionism/

About Racism/Xenophobia, I’m going to say that one policy I applaud our govt for, is there policy of Racial and Religious Harmony. I may disagree with some of their underlying motives, or some of their methods of implimentation, or question the degree of success of this policy, but I agree with the principle of racial and religious harmony.

What I think has been neglected, by the State, by our NGOs, our Media, EVERYBODY is this. We’ve got plenty of new immigrants, or migrant transitory workers. While I will respect you if you disagree with our immigration policy because of job competitiveness, economics etc etc, what I will not respect you for, is if you treat them as less than human. And I will strongly protest against any organisational/institutional effort to express personal irrational prejudice against any groups of people, including foreigners.

Let me give you an example where our Press blatantly propagates Racism/Xenophobia, and as far as I know (I hope I am wrong), NO ONE, no MP, Minister, NGO, or even the VICTIMS spoke up against it.

Discard Prima Deli chocolate cakes: MOH, AVA
TODAYonline • December 4, 2007 http://sgforums.com/forums/8/topics/295158

CUSTOMERS of Prima Deli have been advised by the authorities to throw away the bakery’s chocolate cakes, after at least 106 people came down with food poisoning.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) was first notified of a food poisoning incident on Nov 23. As more were reported, investigations showed “that the common food item between the various incidents were Prima Deli chocolate cakes purchased as early as Nov 19″, said a joint statement by the MOH and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

So far, samples taken for analysis suggest the bacteria salmonella as the likely culprit. Investigations are ongoing, said the statement.

Prima Deli deputy general manager Pansy Wong told Today that all production of the chocolate cakes – which cost roughly $33 each — had been stopped since Friday.

“We worked very closely with the MOH and the AVA, and found that one of our China national workers was a carrier of the bacteria,” said Ms Wong, adding that he had earlier passed the required medical check-ups. “We are planning to disinfect the factory in the next couple of days. The worker has been quarantined.”

 

This is a HEALTH and HYGIENE issue which the COMPANY has failed in its responsibility to its customers . Whether or not the worker is a Chinese, Malay, Singaporean, Malaysian, American, Chinese National, Indian National WHATEVER, his race, religion, nationality, place of origin has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the case.

By bringing in the workers natioality, Prima Deli demonstrates its Racist/Xenophobic prejudice. And when TODAY chooses to publish it, TODAY has to take responsibility for propagating this view, and participating in the Racism/Xenophobia.

 

I hope in this econonmic downturn, no matter how much we disagree with our lax immigration policies, we still treat all humans with equal respect and dignity. When your guest has stayed beyond you bedtime, you don’t call your guest names. You just explain nicely that, it is time they leave, and they will be welcomed again when it’s bright and shiny.

Put Singaporeans first

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/300239print.asp

So protectionism has been tabled in Singapore.

From the look of things, every country is going to go down this road, albeit to varying extents. I think most people know the consequences of protectionist policies, and i don’t think that’s a good road to go down personally.

However, when the crisis hits home, to Singapore, I began to rethink my position.

We depend heavily on foreign labour & foreign talent in Singapore. In a recession, when jobs are cut so drastically, it seems like the foreigners are the hardest hit (if the newspapers are to be believed, that is). It makes sense, because the State’s first responsibility is to its own citizens, whereas the responsibility to “care” for the foreigners falls primarily (not totally) on their own home countries. Given 2 people of identical calibre, if there is only 1 position left, my conscience tells me it should go to the local, because the foreigner can go home, to another country, and he was here for the money to begin with. For the local, this is his home, and mobility might be more complicated and difficult.

In a sense, we are using the foreign labour pool as sort of our buffer, to be shrunk in a recession, to be increased in a labour shortage situation. Is that protectionism? I think it is. Do i like it? Yes I do. Do I think it is fair? Yes I do. Do I think it is kind? Perhaps not. Do I think the global situation will improve if every country has the same practice? Of course not.

While calling for large countries like the USA to resist protectionist policies, I am very unwilling to do the same here.

The main difference between Singapore and the US, is that if we don’t practice protectionism, we hardly make a difference to the foreign labour’s home country, but hurts us trememdously. I somehow doubt the US electorate would see things that way though, I suspect they would feel like we do, and hence support protectionist policies.

 Honestly, I think it would be better if Obama were in his second term when re-election would not be on his mind, and he can do the right things. I think he is really smart, so he knows the global impact of American protectionism, but I wonder if he is willing to sacrifice votes, or even a 2nd term in office, by abandoning a protectionist stand. Although, of course, the counter argument would be that protectionism is a short term measure and would hurt America in the long term — but I’m sure that long term might be longer than the 4 years before re-lection time.

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Fargoal said, on February 3rd, 2009:

FYI, I did not realise that International Migration was such a big thing until I started doing my current job. There is a worldwide movement to develop consensus on how to manage migrant labour properly and with due respect for humanitarian concerns. Check out http://www.un.int/iom/index.htm. I’m no expert on this but I am quite sure we (Singaporeans in general) are no boy scouts when it comes to migrant labour issues.

The pragmatic Singaporean response in support of your position would be this (and I would generally go along with for lack of a better alternative). We are a small country with limited economic capacity, i.e. don’t compare us with the US – the land of plenty and economic motor of the world. Our first priority must be to our own citizens, and it would be politically untenable to argue otherwise. There is no point in keeping foreign workers if we can’t afford them or if there is no work for them. We need to recover from this crisis and start making the bucks again. Then we can recruit foreign workers all over again. In other words, we have to be unkind now to stay afloat, so that we can be in a position to re-create more jobs (and hire more foreign workers) in future when we start to prosper.

(Just count how many typically Singaporean and pragmatic arguments there are in the above paragraph!)

In some ways, we are maximising the benefits of having foreign workers, while minimizing the disadvantages. A possible case of trying to have your cake and eat it? Possibly so. Going forward, if an international consensus does emerge on the rights of migrant labour, then we may find it increasingly difficult to minimize the disadvantages.

It may be too early to say, but the new US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner got off the wrong footing by accusing China of “currency manipulation” during his Senate confirmation hearings. That doesn’t bode too well for US-China economic relations, and the Democrats may find it hard to resist protectionist sentiments. But let’s keep our fingers crossed.

 

(Since this has become a national concern, and that just yesterday, this has been discussed on my blog entry ‘Happy Chinese New Year’  (http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/cn/ ) , I thought I should at least spend 10 min doing a copy-and-paste adaptation to add in my 2-cents worth. The above are adptations of the exchange between Fargoal, a reader, and I. Thanks Fargoal! I hope it’s OK for me to increase the prominence of your view. It makes so much sense = )   )