Gong Li Made a Mockery of Singapore Citizenship!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Aug 31, 2008
YOUR LETTERS
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Was Gong Li granted Singapore citizenship too soon?
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I refer to last Sunday's article, 'Citizen Gong Li'.
Many of us are baffled by China-born actress Gong Li's choice to take up Singapore citizenship. What could have prompted her move?
While she is an extraordinary talent and has contributed much to the motion picture industry, I cannot help but question Singapore's criteria in granting her citizenship.
Gong Li had said in earlier reports that Hong Kong and Beijing would be her bases because of her work.
It was also mentioned in your Sunday Times article that she visits Singapore only two to three times a year.
Based on that, I wonder if our authorities have granted her citizenship too soon.
In Australia, many foreign nationals who wish to obtain permanent residency need to live in the country for a few years before they can be accepted.
In some European countries, applicants must pass a language test before they can be given permanent resident status.
Some countries even make it a requirement for foreign nationals to take national history tests. This is to ensure that these foreign nationals can assimilate into their new countries.
Many foreign nationals from China and India take up Singapore citizenship in the hope of obtaining citizenship in a third country later.
For instance, it has been said that it is easier to get United States citizenship when you have a Singapore passport.
Singapore passports are also coveted by people who travel frequently to other countries.
As Gong Li is establishing her presence in Hollywood, one wonders if she has the intention of using her Singapore citizenship as a springboard to greener pastures there.
It was reported that she failed to turn up at the National Citizenship Ceremony.
What could be more important than being present at the ceremony, at which a new citizen will learn to sing the national anthem and recite the pledge with pride?
I find her absence a sign of disrespect and a mockery of our system. Edmund Lin

 

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>No-show by actress a sign of disrespect
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I refer to last Sunday's article, 'Citizen Gong Li'.
It was unbecoming of a superstar like Gong Li - who was said to have been granted Singapore citizenship - to give the National Citizenship Ceremony a miss.
It is the sacred duty of those becoming Singapore citizens to attend the event.
Whatever reasons some people may have for not attending the ceremony, they must bear in mind that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they should be present to receive their Singapore identity cards with pride and joy.
Failure to do so is tantamount to treating the whole thing as trivial, as well as showing disrespect to the country that has granted them citizenship.
Where is their sense of nationalism and belonging if they cannot even spare a couple of hours to attend this solemn ceremony?
Even if some were to regard getting a Singapore passport as an expedient measure for business or personal reasons, the least they could do is to accord due respect to the country that has accepted them as citizens. Jeffrey Law

Why Should an FTrash respect that stinking pink IC when 66% Sporns dun even have the least self-respect to do the right thing during the GEs?

 

[DerekLeung]

Right said !

 

[joker88]

Agree. I think she is making a mockery of our system by her absence.

 

[madmansg]

NS is an insult to sg citizenship. Only retard NS slaves cannot see this.

 

[chinkangkor]

Perhaps Gong Li is ashamed to be a S'pore citizen. She is only interested to have the travel convenience.

 

[myo539]

Can she become a citizen of a foreign country when he is a member of the Communist Politburo - an MP of sort? It's like our MP Lily Neo holding an Indonesia passport. How to show loyalty? I think Singapore Government shouldn't be so hard-up for a China national.

If holding a Singapore passport is for the convenience of travelling, isn't her marrying a Singaporean man, a marriage of convenience?

 

[travelbug]

101% agreed! Not only that, Gong Li is shameful of admitting that she is a Spore citizen. So if China Embassy in Spore denied that she renounced her Commie citizenship in Spore, could she have renounced Commie citizenship in HK instead since that is where she is permanently based? Any updates?