PETALING JAYA: Malaysians who rave about how good life is in Singapore have probably never ever lived in the city-state and have a distorted view of the reality there, said controversial Malaysian sex-blogger Alvin Tan, who is living in self-exile in the US now.
In a Facebook posting on April 1, Alvin wrote, “They (Malaysians) have this utopian, idealistic view of the city-state, and they even think that the high GDP per capita actually trickles down to ordinary folks like them (har har har).
Listing six “truths” about Singapore, Alvin slammed the cramped quarters that Singaporeans called housing, saying their flats were “smaller than even the upstairs area of your terrace house”.
He also talked about how tough it was to own a car and how Singaporeans had to depend on “riding trains that break down” despite the fares being pricey.
He said many became “bitter, cynical individuals early on in life” due to the compulsory national service they attended in Pulau Tekong and spent their working lives “competing fruitlessly” with foreigners who stole their jobs.
Noting that monthly commitments were sky-high, he said many simply resigned themselves to their corporate lives and paid chunks of their salaries into a “compulsory saving scam” called CPF that he likened to a Ponzi scheme.
In comparison, he said life in Malaysia was relatively better.
“Our day-to-day cost of living is high, but at least the biggest things – transportation and housing – is more affordable. Hell, you can rent a room for RM250 in Kuala Lumpur (instead of S$700 in Singapore); what more do you want? And lastly, our EPF isn’t a Ponzi scheme to fund god knows what,” Alvin said.
He argued that the clean, safe streets of Singapore did not make up for all that was wrong with the country and that so many could not gain access to their “world-class education system” that Singapore boasted of and had to obtain an education overseas instead.
“I was offered Singaporean Permanent Residence (status) in 2007. I tossed the letter into the rubbish bin. I had no intention of becoming a cog in the wheel to fund the CPF, Temasek Holdings, and your ministers’ million-dollar salaries.”
Source:www.freemalaysiatoday.com
