Ladies and Gentlemen,
You often read of Singapore students excelling in eduction both in Singapore and abroad, such news immediately splashed across Singapore's state controlled newspapers as headlines in bold print, intended I presume to show how smart Singapore students are.
But are they really?
Sometimes you wonder what sort of students are these? Have they no opinions about anything else other than their school curriculum, no convictions, no value judgements, no knowledge of the difference between freedom and servitude, no nothing?
A Singapore student apparently gets all As in school; tops his studies at prestigious foreign universities under Lee Kuan Yew's scholarships.
But yet none of them appear to have any idea or opinion of the political system they live under! Having been able to get all As, have they never heard of the word democracy? Do they have any opinion on the Constitution of Singapore? Have they not realized even now that the Constitution of Singapore is deliberately violated by Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew who appears to have other ideas?
You don't have to have a PhD or even any qualification at all for that matter, to know that Singapore has a Constitution and under it, Singaporeans, including them, have certain rights; all you need is curiosity, which astonishingly none of these Singaporean top students, not a single one of them, appears to have!
Take the Singapore scholarship students at foreign universities. You realise of course they are bonded to serve Lee Kuan Yew's government upon return, a government that sends Dr. Chee Soon Juan to jail merely for distributing a leaflet in public. With their brilliant wisdom and high education, have they no opinions about this unimaginable injustice; do they still accept serving a dictator as a respectable career? Do they not find it distasteful? If they do, have they ever thought of refusing to serve and live under a dictatorship? Better still, have they ever thought of working to bring about political change in Singapore?
Apparently these high exam achievers of Singapore are a bunch of weaklings with no soul and no value judgements whatsoever.
I guess they pass their exams for a lucrative career waiting for them through the generosity of Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporeans dictator.
These are not brilliant students. These are soulless spineless opportunists. And that is why Singapore continues to limp along always losing out to real brilliance seen in students from the West.
You could put it this way. They work hard at their exams with the view of returning to Singapore to lick Lee Kuan Yew's boots, violate the Constitution by throwing Lee Kuan Yew's detractors in jail and getting a comfortable pay check from the Singapore Treasury.
Having passed their exams, their abilities will lie in carrying out the orders of their master and doing anything their master needs to the best of their ability. Other than that they would have no opinion about anything else.
None of them would turn out to be another Dr. Chee Soon Juan, JB Jeyaretnam or Gopalan Nair. They probably would claim not to have even heard of any of us!
And they will live their lives happily ever after, Singapore style, as Lee Kuan Yew's obedient servants. This is, sadly, according to it's state controlled press, Singapore's brilliance!
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
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11 comments:
as a student from a prestigious singapore school (pre-university level)hwa chong institution, my opinion on singaporean students vis-a-vis politics would be that
80% are completely politically IGNORANT (they have never thought about the singapore political system beyond what they need to write in their GP essays)
15% are politically apathetic (they have given some thought to the political system but prefer to ignore it)
5% actually realise there is something seriously wrong with the system and feel inclined to do something about it
this representation is probably only accurate for relatively prestigious schools(of the pre-U level) in singapore which make up maybe 5-10% of the student population
for the other 90-95% of the student population, i'm guessing that political ignorance/apathy is even worse if i'm right to assume that its the more academically-inclined/intellectual students who are likely to show greater interest in politics
the root problem is not primarily because of the political repression in singapore (which may account for the 15% who are politically apathetic)
the primary problem is that Singapore society and culture is so steeped in a mad drive for an illusory "success", "stability", "security" that they don't really care about anything else beyond what society tells them they should care about.
to be apathetic, you need to be aware that something is wrong and action needs to be taken. most of the students aren't even aware that anything is wrong.
Tan Jung Yan, thank you for your well considered comment. But do you not think it odd for this to be the case? Why is it that a Singapore student who concentrates on his school mathematics problem, is not curious about the French Revolution for instance. And if he did, would it not lead him to perhaps a book on freedoms, perhaps a book on Gandhi and then realize that what is happening in Singapore all wrong.
This sort of curiousity should be expected in any student, let alone the best sutdents.
And if this need to know or curiosity should be expected in any human being, let alone a student bright or otherwise, why is it totally absent in Singaporean students if what you say is true!
Surely such people cannot possibly be good students by any standards.
Half witted morons at best.
Tan Jung Yan, one more thing. You use the word "politics" in reference to Singapore students disineterst in the way they live under Lee Kuan Yew.
Truly, Jung Yan, it is not politics at all. It is just simply humanity.
Lee Kuan Yew's refusal to allow Dr. Chee Soon Juan to speak in public is not "politics". It is simply a denial of his human right.
I am suprised why Singapore students don't take objection to living a life where Lee Kuan Yew can throw them in jail merely becasuee they showed oppostion to his policies.
You don't need to be interested in politics to object to this. All you have to be is a self repecting human being, who prefers to live like a man, rather than a dog.
I trust you see my point.
"the primary problem is that Singapore society and culture is so steeped in a mad drive for an illusory "success", "stability", "security" that they don't really care about anything else beyond what society tells them they should care about."
Who need visible political repression if the students can be so easily socially engineered to behave politically apathetic especially at their age ? It doesn't really matter which way if all road leads to Rome. Our Political repression really work invisibly, making use of PAP-engineered environment and condition to do the dirty work. Only if the last resort fails, will they resort to violence. See how old fart talk about using army for freak election ? How many Gurkha guards he surrounded himself with ?
Democracy and Chinese culture may not be culturally compatible.
They need to be led. They look to their 'elders' for guidance. They dare not question people in authority.
After a couple of thousand years, this type of compliant behaviour and servitude, gets infused into one's DNA.
Maybe, the old fart, LKY, knows what he is doing.
Might explain why the JBJs, Chiams, GNs cannot get their message through.
Google investigates China staff over cyber attack
The row over internet censorship intensified at the weekend when Yahoo's Chinese partner, Alibaba, called Yahoo "reckless" for supporting Google in its standoff with Beijing.
What about ISPs and internet companies in Singapore? Are they monitoring traffic for the LKY-LHL clique?
First Google, now Avatar.
China censors to pull Avatar from screens
Move comes amid government anxiety over links being made between film and plight of those evicted by developers.
Will Singapore follow suit?
To Anonymous Monday Jan 18, 1026,
I am not sure whether Chinese culture and democracy are not compatible. Just as China, every other country in the world was ruled by kings. Democracy today is a recent phenomenon. If some people are capable of it, Chinese can too. I think it is all a question of education. With education everything will change.
Take the Arabs. They are a tribal people. The Sunnis, Shias the Kurds all belong to different tribes. That is why bringing democracy to them is also difficult. But edcuation has to change it all.
And that is why, Lee Kuan Yew's clock is ticking. The end has to come soon, Chinese culture or no. Education is his biggest enemy, not Chee Soon Juan.
Jokingly an Arab friend of mine once told me. If the Arabs did not go to Iraq, they would fight between themselves. They need someone to fight.
Consider the Afghans. After fighting the Mongols, then the Ottomon Turks, then the British, then the Russians, the Afghans now fight the Americans. If the Americans left, the Northern Alliance will be fighting the Taliban. They are a fighting people.
In the entire history of Afghanistan, they were never colonized except for a small area around Kabul by the British. Surely that speaks volumes for anyone messing with them.
But I digress. Thanks for reading.
Please read "if the Amercans did not go to Iraq" instead of "if the Arabs" in my comment above. Typo error.
well.. the purpose of public education is merely to groom people who are competent enough to carry out the job but not competent enough to change the status quo. that's one of the key points from the book "conspiracy of the rich".
"Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him, or give it up! This is not a game of cards! This is your life and mine! I spent a whole life-time building this, and as long as I am in charge, nobody is going to knock it down." - 1980 Lee Kuan Yew, Undisputed Autocrat ruling a pro western small island state.
It is apparent while many peasants are lifted from poverty, one clan has benefited from the tax dollars from peasants toiling for MNCs. A peasant merely lose his pigeonhole while a clan stands to lose their millions of dollars and properties with exclusive address.
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