polls...gotta love them
Ahhh, polls. Dont you just love them? I mean, people ask questions that might be on your mind, put it up and then you vote on what you think the answer should be. Granted, they always seem to give a couple of answers, but yours might not be in the possibilities. Of course there is the problem with bias based on the skew factor. People that take the time to make a call are usually ones that have a huge and passionate view point on that subject. Those that don't really care either breeze through it or randomly pick something without thinking.
Some polls I have found are in http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate which are commonly associated with Canadian news events and people respond to those. Others are found at http://edmsun.canoe.ca/poll_archive.html which tends to stick to Edmonton concerns or questions, but can branch out to federal news events as well, though the general answers here will be from Albertans, if not solely Edmontonians.
However, the one place that I had to top my head for polling is the Singapore polls at http://www.channelnewsasia.com. The polls that I am used to are either a one sentence question followed by either a one or two word answer (no, not really, possibly) or at the most extreme a 7 word answer (Why should I? not like I care). However, their polls are amazing because they ask a question and then give usually 3 answers that are near paragraphs. I usually breeze through it but dont vote or throw in my two cents worth. However, this last one today caught my eye and I had to make a mention for posterity.
The Poll:
It's National Day week. And what makes me proud of Singapore is...
our food. After all, where is there such a delicious variety ? 20 % 296
our easy tolerance. Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasians and foreigners are all respected and accepted. 46 % 694
our chilli padi factor - a little red dot that's only small in land size. 34 % 507
(as of 9:34pm August 16 Canada time/11:34am August 17th Singapore time)
Now, since I am not Singaporean, I can not pick on the responses. Also because I have not lived in Singapore, I can not comment either. However, being a visitor of Singapore a few times to visit my first friend, then girlfriend, then fiancee, and now wife, in Singapore, I think I can comment briefly. 'easy tolerance' of all? 694 people living in Singapore out of the 1497 people giving answers think that Singapore is tolerant towards other races? Granted, the different races are not hunting each other down in the street, forming massive gangs of 'chinese' and 'malay' roaming gangs doing "The Warriors" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/)down their streets in the dead of night. Though, tolerance? I wonder if it is a natural tolerance where the nation realizes that the people are basically the same underneath, though their skin is a different colour and the language is a little different; or could this be a legally enforced tolerance?
Why do I say those things? I remember when the elections were happening in Singapore and I got to ask questions. I remember the Mentor Minister saying that the GRCs exist because if the people were given just candidates of a race (Chinese, Malay, Indian) then the people would vote solely for their race regardless of the qualifications. Thus the majority of the gov't would be Chinese since Chinese is the main percentage of Singapore population, and that would lead to racial distrust and unrest since how can all the races be governed respectfully by a pure (or highly scewed) chinese gov't? When I asked a people that I was introduced to through my wife, they responded with a nod saying "yeah, that would most likely happen if it came down to voting for an individual person".
Then there is the personal level. I have walked down the streets of Canada holding my wife's hand, and I have walked down the streets of Singapore holding my wife's hand. I have never seen so many stares, glares, frowns or shaken heads at us in Singapore than in Canada. It was even told to me that parents usually prefer their children to mingle with their own race, though the children are learning to be more accepting with the whole racial harmony thing, though it just so happens that when it comes to pairing up for marriage, I get the feeling you stick to your own race. I get the feeling it is almost like the farm yards I see here scattered around Canada. Chickens can play with ducks, ducks can play with cows, even a horse can run with the kittens, but when it comes to breeding and settling down, you stick to your own live stock. Of course, there are exceptions such as my wife and a few of her friends when it comes to settling down they selected different races, but on the whole it seems that if you are going to mix a race it is usually a caucasian with another. Though, I am sure there are some that an Indian woman would marry a chinese man, or a Malay man would marry a chinese woman, just not that common.
Another thing that got me was the use of renting where they would actually put on the 'for rent' notices "Chinese Only" or "Malay not accepted". How can you have tolerance where races are "all respected and accepted" when some of them can't rent a flat or apply for a job because of their race? Not really accepting or respectful now is it? Wonder if the people who voted for the acceptance part actually read the paper or the rental notices and see those. It also doesn't even have to be a straight forward writing or 'these people only', but it can be seen in the smaller details of the language of the posting. English in Singapore is to be the official language of administration and I have read that supposedly the signs are all written in English, kids speak english and most of the people speak english as well. However, signs are posted in all 3 other languages of Tamil, Malay and Mandarin. So, if you are Malay, taken English and Malay in school (because of your mother tongue race) and you see a sign in Mandarin, sort of excludes you from that sign doesn't it?
I guess from my observations of Singapore culture, the food is the most identifying factor of the small island country. As for their acceptance, I would say it is more like a 'hang out with who you want, but just dont marry into the race'. chickens can run with the turkeys, but don't look at mating and bringing any chirkeys into the world.
Some polls I have found are in http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate which are commonly associated with Canadian news events and people respond to those. Others are found at http://edmsun.canoe.ca/poll_archive.html which tends to stick to Edmonton concerns or questions, but can branch out to federal news events as well, though the general answers here will be from Albertans, if not solely Edmontonians.
However, the one place that I had to top my head for polling is the Singapore polls at http://www.channelnewsasia.com. The polls that I am used to are either a one sentence question followed by either a one or two word answer (no, not really, possibly) or at the most extreme a 7 word answer (Why should I? not like I care). However, their polls are amazing because they ask a question and then give usually 3 answers that are near paragraphs. I usually breeze through it but dont vote or throw in my two cents worth. However, this last one today caught my eye and I had to make a mention for posterity.
The Poll:
It's National Day week. And what makes me proud of Singapore is...
our food. After all, where is there such a delicious variety ? 20 % 296
our easy tolerance. Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasians and foreigners are all respected and accepted. 46 % 694
our chilli padi factor - a little red dot that's only small in land size. 34 % 507
(as of 9:34pm August 16 Canada time/11:34am August 17th Singapore time)
Now, since I am not Singaporean, I can not pick on the responses. Also because I have not lived in Singapore, I can not comment either. However, being a visitor of Singapore a few times to visit my first friend, then girlfriend, then fiancee, and now wife, in Singapore, I think I can comment briefly. 'easy tolerance' of all? 694 people living in Singapore out of the 1497 people giving answers think that Singapore is tolerant towards other races? Granted, the different races are not hunting each other down in the street, forming massive gangs of 'chinese' and 'malay' roaming gangs doing "The Warriors" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/)down their streets in the dead of night. Though, tolerance? I wonder if it is a natural tolerance where the nation realizes that the people are basically the same underneath, though their skin is a different colour and the language is a little different; or could this be a legally enforced tolerance?
Why do I say those things? I remember when the elections were happening in Singapore and I got to ask questions. I remember the Mentor Minister saying that the GRCs exist because if the people were given just candidates of a race (Chinese, Malay, Indian) then the people would vote solely for their race regardless of the qualifications. Thus the majority of the gov't would be Chinese since Chinese is the main percentage of Singapore population, and that would lead to racial distrust and unrest since how can all the races be governed respectfully by a pure (or highly scewed) chinese gov't? When I asked a people that I was introduced to through my wife, they responded with a nod saying "yeah, that would most likely happen if it came down to voting for an individual person".
Then there is the personal level. I have walked down the streets of Canada holding my wife's hand, and I have walked down the streets of Singapore holding my wife's hand. I have never seen so many stares, glares, frowns or shaken heads at us in Singapore than in Canada. It was even told to me that parents usually prefer their children to mingle with their own race, though the children are learning to be more accepting with the whole racial harmony thing, though it just so happens that when it comes to pairing up for marriage, I get the feeling you stick to your own race. I get the feeling it is almost like the farm yards I see here scattered around Canada. Chickens can play with ducks, ducks can play with cows, even a horse can run with the kittens, but when it comes to breeding and settling down, you stick to your own live stock. Of course, there are exceptions such as my wife and a few of her friends when it comes to settling down they selected different races, but on the whole it seems that if you are going to mix a race it is usually a caucasian with another. Though, I am sure there are some that an Indian woman would marry a chinese man, or a Malay man would marry a chinese woman, just not that common.
Another thing that got me was the use of renting where they would actually put on the 'for rent' notices "Chinese Only" or "Malay not accepted". How can you have tolerance where races are "all respected and accepted" when some of them can't rent a flat or apply for a job because of their race? Not really accepting or respectful now is it? Wonder if the people who voted for the acceptance part actually read the paper or the rental notices and see those. It also doesn't even have to be a straight forward writing or 'these people only', but it can be seen in the smaller details of the language of the posting. English in Singapore is to be the official language of administration and I have read that supposedly the signs are all written in English, kids speak english and most of the people speak english as well. However, signs are posted in all 3 other languages of Tamil, Malay and Mandarin. So, if you are Malay, taken English and Malay in school (because of your mother tongue race) and you see a sign in Mandarin, sort of excludes you from that sign doesn't it?
I guess from my observations of Singapore culture, the food is the most identifying factor of the small island country. As for their acceptance, I would say it is more like a 'hang out with who you want, but just dont marry into the race'. chickens can run with the turkeys, but don't look at mating and bringing any chirkeys into the world.
posted by Capt_Canuck at 9:16 PM
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