Sunday, August 11, 2013

My theme for this ND: Thinking beyond ourselves

I watched the latest video produced by the Workers' Party for National Day 2013. As usual, it is a very nice video that really comforts people in their hearts and gives them a proud sense of hope for Singapore - the hope for better, for something different if necessary, a beautiful alternative that is at the same time seen to be largely achievable.

Jesslyn, a marketing manager, giving her take on what she wishes for Singapore this National Day; watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNDp4SQfI0
What really stood out, though, among all the remarks by the people in the video, was one by Jesslyn, a marketing manager. who said, in her wishes for National Day: "My wish for Singapore is for everyone to be happy and healthy, and to be able to think beyond themselves and a bit more for the less fortunate around them."

I think as a society we are so used to "thinking only for ourselves", something ingrained in our culture thanks to how we have been "built up" these years. Singaporeans are selfish? Ugly? Inconsiderate? Kiasu? Greedy? Well, let's look no further than the socio-political and cultural landscape that made that the norm.

As it is, there is a need to go beyond the "I" and come as "We" when setting political convictions and realising them. Democracy is about coming together to achieve something as a community, a society, a nation and a people.

Truth be told, we have made political progress all these years because we have managed to look beyond the "I" factor and to seek something higher, something more noble. If Hougang and Potong Pasir residents had been deterred from voting Opposition by the upgrading plans in place and the risk of losing them, Low and Chiam could not have won. And so did Aljunied GRC and Punggol East SMC.

Similarly, if everyone had remained silent and docile, and cared for their own "safety", their freedom from "intimidation by the state", there could be no Chee Soon Juan, or Low Thia Khiang, and the many more who stood up for the elections.

Make no mistake that the climate of fear still exists and still reeks the country.

Sure, political interests can sometimes be personal interests too. For example, a group of people petitioning for a certain area to be nuclear-free, for example, are exercising small "group interests" that are also part of democracy. Democracy should rightly be, though, the "rule of the many" but at the same time checked by the special consideration of minority rights so that they are not infringed. This balance makes democracy.

But whatever it is, it should be quite evident by now that democracy is not a "one-man show", or the reflection of just "one man's view". That cannot be democracy.

Not only that, even when making judgments, when making political decisions, we should care for more. And living in a society, we have to care for those around us, just like we care for our parents, siblings, friends.

If we had only cared for ourselves, then we would be spending time only to our leisure; we would be attending pop concerts, rock band shows, going to the casinos, and splurging our life away. But if we cared for more than ourselves, we would see meaning in volunteering for social work, in voicing out for the less fortunate, in helping the discriminated and maligned, and even in fighting injustice and for freedom.

I am not asking everyone to be a saint. And yes, politically apathetic people have rights too. You also have a right not to participate in social work. But the selfish and self-centred culture must change for us to develop into a more "gracious society" that the PAP likes to espouse in trying to "create", a more civilised society, a more responsible citizenry and a more caring and robust nation.

It could also be a reality that political openness just has to precede these all, as it is only when people are allowed to think differently and hold different opinions can society really be free, and hence desire to want to help each other out.

But let's start today, let's not wait. Let's effect the change we want to see in our own ways.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

YEAR IN REVIEW: 1,000 Likes for a By-Election in Hougang’s Top 10 Stories for 2012



1. SMRT drivers hold 171-man-strong strike to demand better treatment, the first of its kind in decades

2. Archbishop withdraws letter addressed to Function 8 in support of abolishing the Internal Security Act (ISA), a draconian law that is politically oppressive, after a meeting with DPM Teo Chee Hean

3. Discourse over Town Council management report brings to light contract between all PAP Town Councils and a 2-dollar company, AIM, held by former PAP MPs

4. Michael Palmer of the ruling PAP resigns after his involvement in an extra-marital scandal got exposed, while PM Lee Hsien Loong has since been hesitating on a decision to hold a by-election which is by law, up to his “discretion”

5. High profile sexual gratification-corruption case involving chiefs of CNB and SCDF

6. Kong Hee, head of City Harvest Church, accused of misuse of church funds

7. Yale sets up Singapore campus to criticisms of breach of academic freedom

8. Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Opposition SDP, clears his bankruptcy after Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong agreed to accept a settlement with a much lower sum of the exuberant fees owed to the duo for hardly-democratic defamation suits

9. Opposition MP Yaw Shin Leong of the WP gets exposed for extra-marital affairs, leading to by-election at Hougang

10. Serious road accident involving a speeding Ferrari driven by Ma Chi, fueling frustrations and disappointments with the police, the media and angst at the government's foreigner immigration policy


From: 1,000 Likes for a By-Election in Hougang (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=517688648264541&set=a.416362465063827.100756.356689514364456&type=1&theater)

Friday, December 14, 2012

What to expect from the PAP with the Palmer affair?

And so, one of the biggest things to happen in PAP’s 50-year history, made its way to our headlines – and the world’s – on the auspicious date of 12.12.2012. Mr Michael Palmer, Speaker of Parliament and member of the ruling PAP, had resigned from his posts, as accepted by his superior, the Prime Minister and Sec-Gen of the PAP.

Whoever said the PAP was squeaky clean had to be dreaming, dreaming far too deeply in the fairy tale spun by the PAP for decades. No man is saint and we are bound to moral failure, but it takes more than moral courage to rule a country; the system has to be in place.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Letter to Singapore, by Zing

The following is a very nice write-up by one of us in the blogosphere, and I am sharing it here. It is addressed as a "Letter to Singapore", written by Zing, to whom copyright belongs.

Letter to Singapore

Dear Singapore,

I’m sorry, but I’m leaving you. I’ve fallen in love with somewhere else, and you wouldn’t like her. But London is the place for me. I’ve fallen for her dingy, narrow streets. The 24-hour bagels on Brick Lane; the club kids in neon and glitter falling out of Boombox at 3 in the morning; the bands with their urgent, clashing guitars, cigarettes and floppy hair. I’ve fallen for boys who play in bands with a copy of The Female Eunuch in their bedrooms; I’ve fallen for girls who write poetry and play guitar in Leicester Square pubs. I’ve fallen for the Chinese boy I saw at Kings Cross holding hands with his boyfriend, while his mother smiled and hailed a taxi for them all. I’ve fallen in love with the Irish. I’ve fallen in love with the Welsh. They’re all here, Singapore, in tiny corners, in crammed spaces, in underground dancehalls and abandoned warehouses.

We had a good run, but I was never really comfortable with you. You were always liberal when it suited you, small-minded when it didn’t. You used to say, “Careful you don’t be so open-minded, otherwise your brains fall out”. But maybe some fresh air would be good for your head. You were always scared of my clothes, the way I spoke, what I wanted to do. “So smart, is it?” you used to say. “Have some common sense. Later in life, what matters is money. Sad but true. You have to think ahead.”

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A review of PE2011 - A desire to reconcile

PE2011 saw a major turning point of sorts in our political history, giving us significant positive and negative impacts. For positive ones, which will not be the main concern here, we have seen a seeming opening up in terms of the criteria for presidential candidacy, terms of which if gracefully adhered to for future polls, would allow our political landscape to be far more vibrant and inclusive. We have, however, also seen negative effects arising from the PE2011. Think about it, have we fallen into a form of setback in terms of our rigour and unity, post-PE2011? Although having differing views cannot be said to be a 'bad' thing, as we cannot always agree on everything, but were the conflicting views expressed constructive, rational and harmonious?

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Media freedom - what we want to achieve

After seeing so much in the online social media of the beauty and strength of the unity of people in the Bersih 3.0 rally, snippets of brutality from the police crackdown, as well as the subsequent acts of brave resistance and retaliation from the common people, watch this piece of reporting by Malaysia's version of Channel NewsAsia. And you would start finding out how our own MSM could similarly give a totally different picture of what happened, the sentiments involved, and very skewed versions at that, to an undiscerning viewer.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Foreigner problem - inside out

This is my humble piece. Do share your thoughts.

Part 1: The foreigner 'problem' - on the surface
(It was never about foreigners individually)

This is in response to some who misunderstand our efforts at criticizing the PAP's foreign talent/labour policy, and their failure to differentiate between real xenophobia, and justified social discontent:

No one wants to pit Singaporeans against foreigners just for the sake of it. I have made this point over and over, but still there are mistaken, imbecile, or simply sinister fellows (who pretend not to know) who cannot see the point and accuse us of being "just against foreigners" and "targeting people just because of their nationalities".