What are we afraid off?
Why are swedish people in general so concerned that immigrants should get swedish as fast as possible?
Have the general swede ever asked himself the question; do they want to become like us, do they want to become swedish?
Maybee they want to continue to be Malaysians, Ethiopeans, Americans etc?
Why is it so important to minimize the differences ASAP?
Does differences trouble us?
Are we afraid of differences?
If we are, what is so frightenning about differences?
The general swede would claim that he wants the immigrant to become swedish ASAP because it's the best for the immigrant. We want the immigrant to become like us because we are so warmhearted and understanding. In a way it's true because we know deep inside that it is difficult to not be a swede in Sweden. That is because of many reasons: The general swedes doesn't want to talk in english longer then 10-15 minutes. After 10-15 minutes the general swede gets tired and switch over to speak swedish. And that is of course not kind to the immigrant.
The general swede is in general only interested to listen for 10 minutes about how society is managed in other parts of the world. The general swede believes that the swedish way is the best. After all we are one of the richest countries in the world. haven't had a war in 300 years, has one of the best social security systems in the world etc. We don't need to be interested in other ways.
A swede look very satisfied after listening 10 minutes to a foreigners story if the story is about their terrible experiences of war and poverty. All these stories confirm to the swede that we are the best!
Of course we swedes should be proud of our country, we have a great country, we have done a lot of things right. But that doesn't exclude that there are other smart ways or even smarter ways of doing things and that does not necessarily mean that everybody coming here must become a swede-swede?
My idea is the opposite from the general swedes: Let the immigrants be what they are, Chinese, Polish, Portugese etc. Let the immigrants speak their languages so that their children learn and sweden become a country with lots of multilingual people. What a resource for Sweden! Let the immigrants be different, think different, eat different, dress different, pray different, make love different, socialize different, sing and dance different, play football different, have different festivals. Let them maintain their traditions, stick to their roots as much as possible. I believe that will make every immigrant happier. I believe that will make the swedish society more dynamic and make it develop faster. I believe this will be a win win situation for everybody except the rasists that once again will be proven wrong.
We swedes must understand that Sweden already has become a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religous country. Most of us swedes have not undertood that yet. We must not be afraid of that, because it's a huge resource for our country. We must learn to listen and not believe we are superior. Because if we do we will not be able to understand the resources we have.
Or to give you an image to illustrate this: We swedes cannot continue to send immigrant groups to places in sweden where we have lots of apartments but no jobs.
Thats all for today folks.
Have the general swede ever asked himself the question; do they want to become like us, do they want to become swedish?
Maybee they want to continue to be Malaysians, Ethiopeans, Americans etc?
Why is it so important to minimize the differences ASAP?
Does differences trouble us?
Are we afraid of differences?
If we are, what is so frightenning about differences?
The general swede would claim that he wants the immigrant to become swedish ASAP because it's the best for the immigrant. We want the immigrant to become like us because we are so warmhearted and understanding. In a way it's true because we know deep inside that it is difficult to not be a swede in Sweden. That is because of many reasons: The general swedes doesn't want to talk in english longer then 10-15 minutes. After 10-15 minutes the general swede gets tired and switch over to speak swedish. And that is of course not kind to the immigrant.
The general swede is in general only interested to listen for 10 minutes about how society is managed in other parts of the world. The general swede believes that the swedish way is the best. After all we are one of the richest countries in the world. haven't had a war in 300 years, has one of the best social security systems in the world etc. We don't need to be interested in other ways.
A swede look very satisfied after listening 10 minutes to a foreigners story if the story is about their terrible experiences of war and poverty. All these stories confirm to the swede that we are the best!
Of course we swedes should be proud of our country, we have a great country, we have done a lot of things right. But that doesn't exclude that there are other smart ways or even smarter ways of doing things and that does not necessarily mean that everybody coming here must become a swede-swede?
My idea is the opposite from the general swedes: Let the immigrants be what they are, Chinese, Polish, Portugese etc. Let the immigrants speak their languages so that their children learn and sweden become a country with lots of multilingual people. What a resource for Sweden! Let the immigrants be different, think different, eat different, dress different, pray different, make love different, socialize different, sing and dance different, play football different, have different festivals. Let them maintain their traditions, stick to their roots as much as possible. I believe that will make every immigrant happier. I believe that will make the swedish society more dynamic and make it develop faster. I believe this will be a win win situation for everybody except the rasists that once again will be proven wrong.
We swedes must understand that Sweden already has become a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religous country. Most of us swedes have not undertood that yet. We must not be afraid of that, because it's a huge resource for our country. We must learn to listen and not believe we are superior. Because if we do we will not be able to understand the resources we have.
Or to give you an image to illustrate this: We swedes cannot continue to send immigrant groups to places in sweden where we have lots of apartments but no jobs.
Thats all for today folks.
posted by Man in Love with Life at
7:43 PM
5 Comments:
I can understand the message you are trying to send across. Unfortunately, the western world is not open (rather too stubborn to) to the idea that it actually benefits all of us if we allow our societies to be a melting pot.
Sometimes I Q myself ... are they afraid we might eventually conquer their lives or are they just stereotyping?
Take Malaysia for instance, we are rich with multi cultural values ... one person can speak at least 3 languages eg. mother tongue, English and the native language, Bahasa Malaysia. This further boost our confidence and create opportunities for us. We also enjoy the privilege of tasting different food and experiencing the life of other races. Not just our own.
Of course, I do hope one day, Finnish will open their hearts to the immigrants to allow them to freely express themselves and also promote their cultures to them.
By
Hippyblog, at 8:17 PM
Dear Hippyblog
I've been to Malaysia and it is an ethnic melting pot, I love that country.
Finland must be the total opposite.
In Sweden there are many Finnish labour immigrants and second and third generation of Finnish immigrants. During the sixties the Finnish immigrants were the largest immigrant group in Sweden. I have had Finnish friends in school and Finnish colleagues at work.
When I was young I worked in the painting factory at Volvo. At that time the labour in that factory (800 workers on two shifts) was 80% Finnish!!! The first language in that factory was Finnish. Other minority immigrant groups in that factory learned to speak Finnish better then Swedish!
Once I had a Finnish girlfriend. I loved her very much but she dumped me.
Generally I like the Finnish people; they work hard and have some kind of pride and integrity that makes me respect them. Finns I know are as private as the general Swede.
Maybe Finland has been a bit segregated geographically and also politically. Being the little neighbour to the communist Soviet Union for around 70 years.
Finns are also from a different ethnic origin than Swedes. The Finns came from east of Europe and the Swedes from Central Europe. That’s why we look a bit different, you can sometimes tell by the Finns higher cheekbones.
I have a feeling the Finns have less exposure to foreigners then the general Swede. Finland has had a much more restrictive policy, towards refugees, for centuries then Sweden. And Finland has not had as much labour immigration as Sweden.
But still, I can’t say that Finns are more racists then Swedes. After all Finns has not, to the same extent as Sweden, had to deal with the problems of immigration which is used as fuelling racism by the racists.
Why do I tell you all this? I don’t really know. I’m trying to relate to your situation and your dream about a more open Finland. That’s a great dream, I Love it.
Let’s just try to be good examples to prove the ignorant wrong. Let’s do that for our children and grand children
By
Man in Love with Life, at 8:05 PM
my finnish boyfriend came to Malaysia for the first time last year. Surprisingly, he didnt comment much about this mutil-cultural thingy, most probably he has a very slight idea of it or not interested about how we, the multipeople can live together. He was pretty lucky to arrive to Malaysia where he had gone thru the Hari Raya(muslim's new year), Deepavali(Indian's new year) and Christmas but unfortunately he wasnt interested with all these festivals except Christmas..hehe
But I think to know a country is to go thru the cultural events. I am his malaysian girlfriend and never been to Finland before but I have started to get to know more about his country, the life and culture. Loving another person from a different region is to love the person's region as well because thats where the person comes from, where the person has been shaped up.
At some point he found that Malaysia is a boring place because he cant do his fav motorsports like he can do back at his home. Once I told him that he just cant live in any other region than his own country.
Maybe could be thankful and grateful to malaysian who has been coping very well in Sweden, Finland and in other countries as a wife and mother. We will respect them more.
Thank You for your place to put my thoughts in. I hope it doesnt sound messy and sidetrack
By
nilij, at 6:37 AM
Dear Whiterabbit,
I get so encouraged when anybody writes a comment on my Blog. And I get delighted when it's an intelligent and reflecting comment like yours.
My wife and I know a couple, she is from Singapore and he is Swedish.
She worked for a Swedish company in Singapore and was sent for 3 years training at the Swedish companies head office in Sweden. During that period she met her Swedish boyfriend. They were very much in Love.
During her stay in Sweden she learned about the Swedes and the Swedish society, she learned to speak fluent Swedish. When her training period was getting towards the end, she and her boyfriend had to discuss their future.
She felt that he had too little knowledge about where she came from. She told him that she didn’t believe their relationship would last unless he came and lived with her in Singapore for some years. After that they could decide where to put down there poles.
This was about 5-6 years ago and the job market in Singapore was not very good. But he followed her to Singapore. He is an Art Director, a good one with good recommendations. It took him over a year to get a job. He was close to give up a couple of times but he didn’t.
They are still together and they are still in Singapore.
When my wife and I decided to get married my becoming wife said; ”I follow you where ever you go”. I had lived and worked in her home country for more then three years so I was familiar with where she came from.
In our case it was even more complicated, because I had children in a previous marriage. In other words we couldn’t just go anywhere, we had to go to Sweden where my children live.
What is right and what is wrong to do, I don’t know.
My advice to you is; listen carefully to your heart, because in your heart is the answer for you.
Or in other words, if you feel uncomfortable with your boyfriend’s attitude to where you come from, don’t try to convince yourself it’s not a problem and that it will go away. Deal with it now.
By
Man in Love with Life, at 7:45 PM
I told him what I think about his attitude after that and he admitted that he is not so good about cultural-thingy. I wasnt mad at him but I would like him to be more participate.
hmm...loving someone from different country is challenging and yet interesting. We learn so much, we widen our views and see more things. Somehow I think when it comes to relationship, it's not about just 2 of us. Everyone is involve...parents, friends and etc. We just cant ignore them.
Good news, he is coming back to Malaysia this October and Im looking forward to it.
Have a nice day!
By
nilij, at 10:47 AM
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