More convulsions of outrage

More rants.

I'm disturbed by all those ads for the handicapped pleading with 'society' to let them contribute, because they're all useful people. I can't remember the exact wording of the ads, but it goes something to the effect of 'I can contribute too.'

When I was in my final year of undergrad, I went to ICA in a futile attempt to apply for citizenship. I shall ignore the misinformation that led to me going to ICA twice. On my 2nd visit, I was trying to pin down the eligibility criteria (which I couldn't find on online) by interrogating (yes, I was miffed that I filled in all those forms and went down twice) the counter staff. I suppose the lady was so frustrated with me, she finally said it didn't matter even if I got my degree, because "as long as you don't have a job, you don't have any value."

When the lady at the counter said that, I was shell-shocked. My mother (who was with me at that time) told me later that I looked as if I was going to cry.

It is a bitterness and sense of betrayal I've not quite let go of. I've lived here all my life. I love this place. Unlike many of my Singaporean friends, I do not want to emigrate. I love Singapore more than many Singaporeans, and I love it, not because of National Day Parades or standards of living. I love Singapore because of the memories and the people. I know about the economic rationality that seems to underlie government policy here. However, this is the first time I've personally confronted it in its most blatant, undisguised form. I am Singaporean, but the state does not recognise me as such because I don't have a job.

I know that at some point in my life, I will be able to apply successfully. This is not about a failed application attempt. It is about the way the state (or rather, the government) perceives us, its people.

I know every country does this, but there is something fundamentally wrong with seeing people in terms of the economic utility 'society' can get from them. There is something profoundly disturbing about the way the Singapore government (and perhaps, other governments) treat people as commodities, units of labour, for example, in their pro-family policy (increase the amount of future labour) and their education policies (improve the quality of labour).

People are not units of labour to be used, moved around, redesigned, discarded for the welfare of society and state. The state exists for the benefit of individuals. The government is not meant to rule us. It is meant to serve us.

The Singapore PRs, the foreigners, the handicapped, the homosexuals, the unemployed, the elderly... these are not true 'members' of society, they are not to be acknowledged as true members of society unless they can prove themselves 'useful'. And even then, acceptance might only be fleeting and superficial. How can the marginalised be accepted? The marginalised have to prostrate themselves before the altar of economic rationality, and beg to be used.