I was chatting with a group of friends over late night drinks and food at the KTM train station along Tanjong Pagar when one of them told us about his experience as a doctor involved in the repatriation of the last Vietnamese boat people from Singapore back to Vietnam. This then triggered the sudden need in me to recall the name of the camp in Sembawang where they were housed temporarily pending acceptance by a third country. But no matter how hard I try, I couldn't. The closest guess I had was Wilkins Road Camp, which I think is incorrect.

Anyhow, I came back home and tried to search the web for an answer, but I had no luck there either. What I did find were these two very moving articles about them. One is by Mr Miyagi who recounted his time studying in Australia and his Vietnamese friend from law school. And the other is by an American named Don Hardy who visited the (now closed) refugee camp on the island of Galang (in the Indonesian Riau archipelago) south of Singapore.

My Very Own Glob {Curiosa Felicitas} - 'I like Singapore. It's very beautiful. We see it from the boat'

They Gypsy Wagon Expedition - Galang

I was very young when the Vietnamese boat people exodus started. But I do remember everyone in my church putting their hands together to collect old clothes, blankets and other daily necessities for those who made it to Singapore. And I still remember my own unhappiness about the actions of our government in refusing them entry. But at least they had the decency to order the navy to replenish these boats with food, water and fuel before towing them out to sea again.

Despite my disagreement with their policy, I do understand where they were coming from back then. If our government started accepting them, it would only encourage their compatriots and Singapore would soon be flooded by thousands of them. Yes, it was literally an exodus.

I guess we weren't ready to cope, not when we were still in the midst of the "Two Is Enough" policy and especially not with only 682.7km² of land at our disposal. But I do wonder whether that policy should have been tweaked a little given our current declining birth rates and potential population crisis.

When I was in navy school, one of my warrant officers was recalling the first time he had to fire live rounds (20mm) at a real target - a rickety Vietnamese refugee boat filled to the brim with men (some who were possibly armed and dangerous), women and children. They had repeatedly defied orders from the ship's CO not to head to Singapore. So to show that they meant business, my warrant officer (then a mere junior rating) was ordered to fire one shot across their bow, which in naval speak means "piss off, we mean it."

So there he was, given an order that he dread. It was not so much that he was afraid of firing live rounds; it was because he was afraid that he may hit one of them, especially the women and children. I guess when you come across one too many un-seaworthy boats filled with desperate, hungry and thirsty people whom you have to push away, it really gets to you. And I think all those navy guys (officers and men) who had to do this unsavoury job were really affected by it. Only the heartless wouldn't be.

Considering our country's declining reproduction rates and perceived lack of talents, I wonder whether Singapore would still come up with the same policy if the boat people exodus had happened now instead of then. Would we still turn them away? After all, some of them are pretty talented professionals in their own fields and their numbers would be able to make up for the population shortfall that our government is so worried about.

Labels: asia, singapore