Attitude towards foreigners

We have been told repeatedly that our country needs foreign talents if we are to progress and remain competitive. These people come with their skills and expertise and make a vital contribution to our country and economy. This in turn leads to the creation of jobs for our local people. So we have in our midst those in the top echelons of our society like executives, lawyers, medical specialists, university lecturers, teachers, scientists, consultants in different fields. They are welcomed and respected and on the whole socialise well with local citizens.

On the other end of the scale there are many who are here to perform the menial tasks, by no means less important. They work as cleaners, sweepers, construction workers and domestic helpers, the latter known as maids. They come from third world countries now facing much hardship and unemployment. They cannot get jobs in their own homelands and to survive have to leave their families and be here to earn money and send home for their families.

Take for example, the maids who work in individual homes, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry and looking after children or the sick elderly. They form a vital part of our workforce and to a certain extent quite indispensable. Without them many of our women would not be able work outside the homes. There are an increasing number of local women who have special skills needed by the Government as well as the private sector.

The majority of maids work well with their employers. They are accepted into the families they work for and their services are appreciated. However, we do read and hear of conflicts between employers and maids. The media reports incidents of “maid abuse” with horrendous descriptions of punishment meted out by the employers at times. The maids may be at fault in not complying with instructions, or maybe they were caught stealing or neglecting their duties. Whatever the wrongs may be, these can be dealt with in the proper way without resorting to violence and abuse. Quite often it is due to misunderstanding which can be cleared if both sides are willing to listen to each other.

I cringe with horror when I read of “molest of maids.” There is no justification at all to treat someone as a sex object or to satisfy the male employers’ lust.

Let us treat those who come to our country to live and work with dignity and respect for they too are made in God’s image. Let us be aware of the dangers of stereotyping or lumping together all those who come from one particular country or engaged in one particular occupation. We attribute the same behaviour patterns to the individual person the characteristic traits of the group where he belongs. Let us love one another for we all have the same Father – God.

How do we treat these people who are living in our midst? What should be our attitude towards these “aliens” as the Bible puts it? What does the word of God tell us? Let us look at some verses from the Bible.

"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” Exodus 22:21 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Deut. 27:19 “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Lev. 19:33-34

Here are clear instructions on how to treat those who have come to live in our country. To the Israelites, they were reminded of their ancestors who were once upon a time foreigners in Egypt. We need to remind ourselves too that our ancestors came from other lands like China, India and Europe. They were at one time the “strangers and aliens” in the land. They had their share of suffering and it is important that we should not inflict pain and suffering to anyone regardless of their racial origin.

Darwin wrote a book called “On the origin of species” The sub-title of his book is “The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for human life.” Darwin had the belief that the white races had evolved separately from the other races and therefore are a superior people. He was racist in his thinking. Are we any better when we think that as ethnic Chinese, Indian, Malay or Caucasian we are better than say the Filipino, Indonesian or Burmese? Such thinking grieves God the Creator of the whole universe.

One race cannot be better than another because we are all of one blood. We can trace our ancestry to the same couple whom God created at the beginning of the world – Adam and Eve. Everyone living in this world is precious to Him.

God does not assume one race better or superior to another. He shows no partiality to any one race. He is hurt when any one person regardless of race or occupation is hurt. Peter after receiving the vision from God said, “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”Acts 10: 34-35. Let us respect one another for we are all His offspring.