05 November 2006

A bit of Kenya in Singapore

We're beginning to see more Africans in Singapore these few years. I met three of them recently in, of all places, Jurong East -- not quite the backwater of Singapore, but a rather "heartland" kind of place. Full essay.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

As much as we wish to help others, one should be aware of scams.
It is common knowledge that Kenya is a very poor country, those who manage to find their way out of Kenya is in itself, 'interesting?', putting it mildly.
My point?
Beware of scams,and drug runners.

Singaporeans have to be aware of what they are dealing with.
So head with CAUTION.
We all re-call the 'Tochi trial'?
Innocence and Ignorance cannot be used as a defence if a Singaporean gets unintentially 'involved' in a drug bust. All the drug dealer has to do is 'plant the drugs in the person'.
Beware. Don't fall for a sob story.

Anonymous said...

It is interesting to note that Hezron comes n goes into n out of Singapore. I am curious, does Hezron function on an Employment Visa, or enters Singapore on a Tourist Visa? To function a stall, he would need an Employment Pass from the Singapore Govt, won't he?

Anonymous said...

He most probably has registered his own business and applied for an EP that way.

Anonymous said...

'Lately however, we're beginning to see more of them around, some of them visitors, others studying or working here.'-YB
This is a valid question.
Could this be the beginning of a new culture/socio-economic group of Afro-asians? Will this community continue to grow in Singapore?

Anders said...

To anonymous:

Yes, I suppose he has an "EntrePass" (entrepreneurs pass). And...?

Anonymous said...

There is an 'EntrePass'? good to know, as I am thinking of setting up my own stall as well.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I saw them at Jurong east when I was home couple months ago. I really wanted to buy some of the figurines but the thought of lugging fragile things back..
They had interesting stuff and if i remember, it wasnt expensive.
I thought it their stall was a nice change from the usual clothes and cellphones at jurong east central.

Anonymous said...

And yet, there they were -- three guys manning a stall -- in Jurong East, of all places. Jurong East is one of the further suburbs of Singapore, populated by the typical Chinese-, Malay- or Singlish-speaking local with little curiosity about the outside world.

If Singapore were half as big as Malaysia, that remark of yours would have made sense.

Stupid remark really.

locky2ky said...

a cabbie once ignored an African to pick me and when i asked him why he said he had many bad experiences with them.

he revealed that it is usually over fare charges but the subsequent slamming of door as they get off is what caused them to be ignored by most cabbies.

Anonymous said...

Jordan, just because someone is from Africa doesn't mean that he's poor, or he made his money illegally, or is in Singapore illegally. The western press is biased and paints Africa as one big battlefield and Singapore as a developing country. Say you have 900 million people, most of them surviving on around US$1 a day. Then say you produced basics like corn flour, cooking oil, and soap, and sold them at less than a dollar each to hundreds of millions of people, every day. Will you or will you not be a dollar billionaire? Some of us live in 5 bedroom houses on 2 acre compounds and not in miserable flats like in overcrowded Singapore. Kenyan guy in Kenya.