Ladies and Gentlemen,
It was former President of Singapore Devan Nair, no relation of mine, who coined the phrase "department store dummies" for the vast majority Singaporeans who quietly take the suppression and the repression under Lee Kuan Yew in his island city state of Singapore without protest or complaint; with intelligence not more than what you would expect of the salesgirls working in the island's department stores.
No offence meant to the Singaporean salesgirls or the half starved skinny Singapore Airlines air hostesses who happily go about their lives in bliss, and of course there is nothing wrong with that; frankly the lack of awareness of what is going on in the world by many there should be worrying to the Big Boy.
My observation comes from many who dislike what I write in this blog, for instance they say it is good to live in Singapore because it is safe whereas it is not safe in the US. Anyone who has gone to the US or even had read about the country would know that the US is no more dangerous than Singapore. In any case if that were so, then why the hell am I living here, and why are 9 out of 10 Singaporeans able to leave the island coming here?
Many for instance argue that Singapore is an excellent place because it is peaceful and there are jobs there while abroad there is no peace like in Singapore and neither are there jobs. This again is the height naivety since anyone who knows would agree that this is not the case at all.
Others complain that I should not be criticizing their Dear Leader Lee Kuan Yew because it is he who has made Singapore prosperous, built all the skyscrapers and made what Singapore is today. But they refuse to see that anyone else could have also done it, and in any case whether Singapore is really prosperous depends on who you ask. For 3/4 of the population who have to scrape a living in the overpriced HDB flats, they probably are not having the goof life, but because these people are so unaware of what is happening outside, they actually believe it is paradise.
You have the same sort of situation in North Korea. In spite of all the poverty and misery that many undergo in North Korea, many there actually believe that it is in fact paradise all because of their Dear Leader Kim Jong Il.
The same sort of thing happens in Singapore's "department store dummies". Of course not every Singaporean is one. Those who are aware have already left the island and those remaining are biding their time to leave.
And another thing. These people who don't like me appear unconcerned about the inability to live as free men, none seem to appreciate the concept of democracy and all they care about are their worldly possessions, the more the better. You get the distinct feeling that they don't have much pride in themselves. Living under Dear Leader appears perfectly fine.
But those who hurl abuses and vitriol at me are these sad cases. Someone should tell Lee Kuan Yew that if this is the plaster that Singapore is hoping to build with, it is, shall I say, rather weak.
As for me, when I get these insults to Singapore Dissident, I just delete them. There is no point wasting time with these "department store dummies".
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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5 comments:
Insults?! Those are probably typed and posted by Singapore govt employee.
I too have been targeted specifically in sgforums.
Abuses and insults are one of the ways dear leader Harry Lee like to use to deter critics from posting their criticism.
Renaldi
Keep up the good work! Many Singaporeans are like frogs in a well and swallow down their throats whatever is dished out to them. Many of them have the inability to appreciate individual rights not to mention the concept of being free. Know that just as many disses you for your leaning, a lot more others value your contribution in words that describe the Singaporeans being suppressed and shoved in the closet. Cheers!
When told many young S'poreans (over half the poplation) wanted to migrate to other countries, Lee Kuan Yew reminded them that if they leave, they will be a minority in their adopted homeland and will never be a leader there.
Well, take a look at America. Obama is a racial minority president. In his cabinet are 3 Asian-Americans (Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veteran Affairs, is Japanese, Gary Locke Secretary of Commerce, and Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, are both Chinese). Assistant to President and Cabinet Secretary to the President is Chris P. Lu, a chinese-american. Brothers Harold and Howard Koh are assistant Secretary for Health and Legal Adviser of the Department of State, respectively. Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer are 2 Indian-Americans, Vivek Kundra and Aneesh Chopra, respectively. Nancy-Ann DeParle, a Chinese, is the White House's Health Reform Czar. Eugene Kang (a Korean-American) is the Special Assistant to the President. How's that for minorities not amounting to anything, LKY?
To Anonymous Feb 26 0458,
Not just that. In fact as a measure across the entire country, immigrants fare much better than locals. They are engineers, doctors and lawyers and in every other profession you can think of. This is true not only of US but also of England and everywhere else. Why, because we don't have someone like Lee Kuan Yew strutting around in his arrogance and treating others no better than "digits", and telling them fairy tales.
Lived in USA for 12 years.. Recently was back to Spore to help my parent with their flat selling process. Was told by my agent that HDB will collect and keep the cash -over-Val ( COV) from the buyer ($50k ) from the first appointment till the second appt, I made a remark, "why right do they ( HDB aka the government) have to keep my parent's money ( or buyer's $ depending on your perspectives) without any paying us any interest for one to two months?" I would rather have the buyer kept his money in his bank till the final closing at second appt!" The agent looked at me in disgust.. Commenting that I am a bad citizen to think that way of HDB. OMG.. This is how typical brainwashed think. I feel sorry for their ignorance.
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