Ladies and Gentlemen,
An observer of Singapore must have noticed something unusual. There are no strikes in the island, there are no protests peaceful or otherwise. Except for well regulated government licensed associations and societies, there are no organizations that want to any further philosophical views. There are no Communist parties, no Machiavellian Club, no Flat Earth Society, nothing. No Skin Heads, no Round Heads, no nothing.
Everyday is just like any other day. There is no unrest of any sort. The Singaporean goes about his work quietly and without fuss. Other than some hobbies, his mind is devoid of anything else. The most boring conversation you could ever have is with a Singaporean.
Some people like to lead, some like to ride and some like to be taken for a ride. The Singaporean falls into the last category.
The Singapore government is a professional organization. They have been chosen by the Lee family and placed in positions of authority and given a license to lecture to Singaporeans on how they should live, how they should treat others, that there should be racial harmony and so on and so forth, despite the fact that no one solicited their advice in the first place, and in reality they do not have any real authority over anyone, having been handpicked to their positions by the supreme ruler Lee Kuan Yew.
As for the Singaporean worker who is trained only for a job, he knows nothing about government or how the country is run. He does not care who is in charge and will obey anyone who happens to have the position. He does not care what is written in the newspapers or what these officials tell him, which he usually ignores. In fact most of the time, he doesn't even know who they are and even if he did, he doesn't care.
The ordinary Singaporean does not aspire for leadership of any sort and if he does, it is solely for financial gain. The professional politicians handpicked who happen to hold positions as Prime Minister and Ministers are only there for the money it pays, millions of dollars.
Young students who aspire to be millionaires do this by doing well in school and get recognized and selected for scholarships abroad. Once they graduate, they return to Singapore and are fielded in national elections where it is impossible for them to lose since their opponents are bankrupted and removed through defamation lawsuits in their Kangaroo courts. After they win elections they are promptly placed in positions of authority and are instantly transformed into leaders, with a license to rule and preach over their subjects.
Someone in a free democracy would find this sort of a system totally unacceptable. For one they wouldn't respect any of these scholar turned instant leaders since in truth they are not leaders at all. But in Singapore through the deliberate attempt at shielding the citizens from any knowledge of politics, government and civic responsibility, they are incapable of considering whether these leaders are worth their positions of authority.
The problems faced by societies such as these is that they need to be always ruled and are incapable of any leadership by themselves. They are also totally ignorant of what democracy means and the need for free and fair elections and principles such as the need for government to be accountable to the people.
Because of the way they are brought up and taught in schools, they are groomed into thinking it is perfectly normal for a human being to do exactly as they are told as long as they are provided the basic necessities of food and shelter. They are a people who are totally devoid of any ambition unless the ambition is to make money.
Such a society is on a dangerously weak foundation. An empowered population would be able to correct the excesses of any dictator that comes along but an enfeebled society such as this is totally helpless and in the mercy of bad leadership. They are unable to realize that true leaders emerge not because of how much money it pays but because they really want to further the interests of their society. True leaders are passionate people. Singaporeans leaders on the other hand are merely greedy.
This is what is lacking in a society such as this, which is, indifferent apathetic and ignorant.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
in Singapore only lee clans and the inner circle are human beings. the rest are just machine operators
I worked for a German company and was amazed at how critical the German employees there (both in Singapore and at the home base) were in terms of company matters as well as of politics. They openly joked about LKY and his "loyal" subjects.
Post a Comment