The Dark Shadow Shrine

embrace the darkness; that you may see the light nestled within it......

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Germans pitch in to help refugees

Click HERE

note the usual for and against arguments for letting in migrants....but here are a few interesting ones:

-Migrants who take huge risks to get where they want to go often tend to be more entrepreneurial people

-The 6.6 million people living in Germany with foreign passports paid US$4,127 (S$5,834) more in taxes and social security on average than they took in social benefits in 2012.
This flies in the face of accusations that immigrants are a liability and burden as they sap up the social benefits meant for the citizens.---useful rebuttal.

"It's probably something to do with our history, German memory. Almost every German has someone in their family who was once a refugee or a migrant
Doesn't this ring a bell for us here in Singapore? We similarly have ancestors who are migrants, unless u are a Malay. We are a nation of immigrants to begin with, yet unlike the Germans, we don't seem to be that accepting of immigrants. WHY?

-Historian Arnulf Baring feels that "whatever good we are doing today has to do with the crime we committed, above all during the Nazi era".
Guilt complex --- an interesting point unique to Germany. Now look at the xenophobic tendencies of Japan, who is notorious for being unwelcoming towards migrants....Given the WHY about Singapore above, is there something to be said about Asians and Western attitudes?

Qns:
1) 'Migration should be discouraged, not embraced.' Discussed. (NYJC Prelim 2015)
2) Is there still a place for charity in today's world? (Cam. 2006) [note 'charity' is not just about donating money, but has the larger meaning of being kind and generous towards others...can include volunteerring, and in this case, being accepting of troubled migrants]