Equality, fairness and justice are not expensive commodities.
It is 430 in the morning and I was intending to move away from blogging about politics for a bit but I am motivated to reply to a particularly long comment.
First of all, nobody is complaining against the fact that Singapore is doing quite prosperously. We need to thank everyone who had a part in it. The ruling party and its leader, the people of Singapore who built the country, the British, the Dutch Economist that advised the government on how to build the country from 3rd world to 1st, etc. We are all very grateful.
But the issue here is that it is a hierarchy of needs. The first layer would be basic sustenance, the stuff we need to survive from day to day. The second would probably be the stuff we're enjoying in Singapore, relative prosperity.. low crime, clean streets. These needs have been met by the PAP and the way it runs the country. We are grateful. The next layer of needs would then extend to the kind of values that we would like to have in our society. A sense of fair-play. A just society.. a free judiciary. A country where the citizen feels that he has a voice and a say. It is not only the young that asks for this and I dont believe that asking for such is wrong. I believe that these people are justified in their disquiet over the "dangle of 100 million dollars in upgrading" to buy their votes or the various other tactics that the PAP has pulled during the elections, whatever they are.
We talk about how the government has brought Singapore to its present state and how we do not show our gratitude by complaining and pointing out what the PAP is doing wrong. It is wrong not to show our gratitude and so we must. However, we should also be allowed to speak our mind up on things we dont agree with. Done constructively, it is reasonable to insist on this right.
So you say we're not thinking about the bigger picture (as in the many things we take for granted) when we speak our mind up on what we're unhappy with. The fact is, we can have our prosperity as well as a sense of fair play and justice. It is not an either-or. We are not in the hostile political environment of the 1960s where people in politics had their lives openly threatened. It is not completely docile but you cannot disagree that is not as hostile as it was before. Soften up a bit then. I don't think the hatchet needs to be taken out at every possible opportunity.
The real question is do the ends justify the means? Is high GDP growth reasonable justification for politically motivated character assassination? Singapore's history, what Singapore is, what the government has done.. does it justify covering up what it has not done.. and justify what it does wrong.. and justify shutting an eye to what is obviously the wrong thing to do?
Surely all the good things we enjoy as citizens of this country does not justify acts like the detainment of Mr Chia Thye Poh for 23 years without trial.
The other question, and no one can really conclusively provide an answer, is yes the government is good.. but can it be better? Can we ask whether the country could be better run if it was not in the hands of the PAP? The answer would most probably be that there are few who could have done or could do a better job than the PAP in running Singapore today. But it is wrong to say that nobody else would or could have come around and led Singapore to where it is today if MM Lee didn't.
I am grateful for the relatively clean and efficient government we have in Singapore compared to the rest of the world. I am grateful for the infrastructure, the low-crime rate, the cleanliness, the affordable education rate and the peace that all Singaporeans enjoy everyday. All Singaporeans except for those currently being detained or in some form or other feeling the brunt of the hatchet.
First of all, nobody is complaining against the fact that Singapore is doing quite prosperously. We need to thank everyone who had a part in it. The ruling party and its leader, the people of Singapore who built the country, the British, the Dutch Economist that advised the government on how to build the country from 3rd world to 1st, etc. We are all very grateful.
But the issue here is that it is a hierarchy of needs. The first layer would be basic sustenance, the stuff we need to survive from day to day. The second would probably be the stuff we're enjoying in Singapore, relative prosperity.. low crime, clean streets. These needs have been met by the PAP and the way it runs the country. We are grateful. The next layer of needs would then extend to the kind of values that we would like to have in our society. A sense of fair-play. A just society.. a free judiciary. A country where the citizen feels that he has a voice and a say. It is not only the young that asks for this and I dont believe that asking for such is wrong. I believe that these people are justified in their disquiet over the "dangle of 100 million dollars in upgrading" to buy their votes or the various other tactics that the PAP has pulled during the elections, whatever they are.
We talk about how the government has brought Singapore to its present state and how we do not show our gratitude by complaining and pointing out what the PAP is doing wrong. It is wrong not to show our gratitude and so we must. However, we should also be allowed to speak our mind up on things we dont agree with. Done constructively, it is reasonable to insist on this right.
So you say we're not thinking about the bigger picture (as in the many things we take for granted) when we speak our mind up on what we're unhappy with. The fact is, we can have our prosperity as well as a sense of fair play and justice. It is not an either-or. We are not in the hostile political environment of the 1960s where people in politics had their lives openly threatened. It is not completely docile but you cannot disagree that is not as hostile as it was before. Soften up a bit then. I don't think the hatchet needs to be taken out at every possible opportunity.
The real question is do the ends justify the means? Is high GDP growth reasonable justification for politically motivated character assassination? Singapore's history, what Singapore is, what the government has done.. does it justify covering up what it has not done.. and justify what it does wrong.. and justify shutting an eye to what is obviously the wrong thing to do?
Surely all the good things we enjoy as citizens of this country does not justify acts like the detainment of Mr Chia Thye Poh for 23 years without trial.
The other question, and no one can really conclusively provide an answer, is yes the government is good.. but can it be better? Can we ask whether the country could be better run if it was not in the hands of the PAP? The answer would most probably be that there are few who could have done or could do a better job than the PAP in running Singapore today. But it is wrong to say that nobody else would or could have come around and led Singapore to where it is today if MM Lee didn't.
I am grateful for the relatively clean and efficient government we have in Singapore compared to the rest of the world. I am grateful for the infrastructure, the low-crime rate, the cleanliness, the affordable education rate and the peace that all Singaporeans enjoy everyday. All Singaporeans except for those currently being detained or in some form or other feeling the brunt of the hatchet.
posted by undergradbyday @ 4:30 AM
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