*prepares to get flamed*
First some clarifications - when we say "foreign talents", I think it usually refers to white collar workers and not the ones who work under the sun and build our homes etc. (they are more generally and usually termed "foreign workers").
I appreciate the "foreign workers" doing work that no Singaporeans want, but watching them go about their work at times, you can't help but wonder if that many of them actually needs to be "imported" to perform their tasks.
"Foreign talents" on the other hand, are sometimes real talents, sometimes overpaid foreigners, and most times an excuse for companies to get cheap labour.
Go to Little India or Jurong Point and youll see lots of foreign workers. Go to Orchard Road and youll lots of tourists and highly paid foreign talents. Go to heartland shopping malls and youll still see lots of foreigners. Granted that there should be plenty of Singaporeans in the mix in all these places, but if you consider the ratios, it shouldnt be hard to see why the locals are getting defensive. If foreign imports are at a manageable rate, theres usually sufficient time and space to assimilate them into the local culture. If however, they come in droves, then it is likely that they will bring with them, and stick to, their own culture. (E.g. fighting to get on buses so crowded that people have to cling on to the window bars while standing on the exterior. I hope Singapore never has to go that way.)
Take for example, a small group of 8 (be it a task force group for work or a school project group). If there are only 1 or 2 foreigners, and assuming the locals are gracious, they will likely attempt to befriend the foreigners so that they dont feel ostracized. If you have a ratio of 4:4 or sometimes even 2:6 of locals to foreigners, then banding, or cliques, occurs and the group becomes spilt into two sub-groups, rarely mixing together to understand each other. Brought up in such an environment, is it surprising that we have developed an each man for himself mentality as a society?
When it comes to graciousness, Ive seen how a group of youngsters of the same nationality, took up a whole row of MRT seats while playing on their PSP, joking and talking with each other and comparing their how lousy their host country is compared to their home country, all the while being totally oblivious to the pregnant lady standing right in front of them on a crowded train. And within the same day, I also saw people of mixed nationalities (I believe some are Singaporeans) took up an entire row, each minding their own business such as reading, napping, or staring blankly into space, and once again ignoring the pregnant lady standing right in front of them. At other times Ive witnessed locals and foreigners alike giving up their seats on the bus to the elderly, pregnant women, or parents with young kids.
My point is (if you actually bothered to read through all that), graciousness, or the lack of it, cannot be blamed on any one group or nationality. Its just that our environment, crafted in the name of remaining competitive for survival, isnt conducive for developing a gracious culture. Regardless of how many courtesy campaigns the government starts.
