Tuesday, March 30, 2004
TODAY
Monday, March 29, 2004
THE NUDGE THAT MATTERS
By LOH CHEE KONG
… “The reason why I didn’t join the PAP is because of their style. Even now, it is an elitist party,” he said.
“I think it was the 1984 election, during one the rallies at Fullerton, when Lee Kuan Yew asked, ‘Who is this Chiam See Tong? We looked up his record and he has only got six Cs in his school certificate.’
“This sums up the PAP thinking. Do you think I want to join a party that runs down people like that? I would never.
“The most important thing is that you have to respect an individual – whether he’s a rain surgeon or a dustman. I think we should give him the same respect. If you don’t give respect to your own citizens, I think you condemn them forever.” …
* * *
Mr Chiam See Tong has been the stronghold of the Opposition for decades. I think Lee Kuan Yew has done a very wrong by personally stigmatising Mr Chiam at the elections. So what if Mr Lee is a Cambridge student who was in Raffles College? Yes, he was a bright kid, and afterwards a bright man who led his country to the way it is today.
Yet it is very wrong to look down on people who do not do as well. Precisely this trend has been prevalent in many Singaporean families. Children are compared. They are pushed to get A’s. They are forced to choose subjects that will help them get into industries that are making a lot of money in Singapore, even though they have their interests elsewhere in areas which are quite grossly-neglected but getting a fair deal of attention now. Do you really think that a top student is fantastically good? Look at my recent post about this scholar who got accepted for a scholarship but was not happy with it. If we are going to create this kind of fuckers, Singapore will soon be finished. Think of it: this kind of shit who runs our government, they lack the human touch at all, and will create a gap between those at the top and those at the bottom.
I don’t really care how Mr Chiam fared in school. He has done a lot for the people in Potong Pasir. I don’t live there, but I have visited the estate and found it a very pleasant , well-kept place. Mr Chiam is a revered politician, and I respect him very much. At the same time, I beg all those people out there, please do not look solely at one level of results, but one’s overall achievement.
* * *
What’s all this talk about a nanny state? It’s not that we cannot speak up for ourselves, but just that the majority of Singaporeans speak up among their gossips, which we all don’t know. There are the few who voice out their concerns to the newspapers and to the authorities. But with regards to the latter, their pleas are almost ignored. The government and authorities always stand firm to their policy and will try very hard to explain why they are correct. Or if a customer complains, they will “investigate” or “look into the matter”.
It’s about saving one’s skin. Face.
The elitist culture has caught on everywhere. In school, students try to outdo one another to vie for the top institutions at every stage of their education. They want the prestige at the end, and they want a comfortable life for themselves. Sadly, this has given rise to blatant discrimination. Weaker students are picked on – admit it, whether the lower classes have EM3 or some other name, the students will still feel the stigma attached, because they are all grouped together and theirs is a small group compared to the others. The arts and humanities are still leap-frog by the maths and sciences, even if the government does something about the state of the arts in Singapore. Sports is still not viewed as a stable career unlike other countries, where sports personalities are widely respected and revered. Singaporeans are still very pragmatic. And the government carries this mindset around with them.
Well, look at the issue of the casino. Fine, poor people should not be allowed to go to the local casino at all because they would throw themselves into the pit of financial collapse. So they should just stick to 4D and Toto. But isn’t it the same? Some people can keep playing 4D and Toto until they bankrupt themselves. And there are cruise ships and the nearby Genting Highlands, or even Macau to entertain gamblers of all classes. Wouldn’t Singapore’s plan backfire? The casino might not even be built at all to save all these problems.
Even the new arts school… parents are complaining that it is another elitist scheme, because it only accepts students who at least make it to the express stream. Those who fail to will have their admission reviewed on a case-by-case basis. They’re focussing on academics again, because they are gearing their students for an IB diploma. Why is it always with academics? If academics should be the main concern, there shouldn’t be any sports or arts school at all. One parent even commented that she had friends who were interested in the arts, but in the end chose professions such as accountancy and business and science and engineering. She thinks that it is a waste of taxpayers’ money to fund a school whose students do not opt for a career in the arts/sports (in the case of the sports school) but in some profession that could have been coached from a mainstream school.
Whatever it is, the people at the top always seem to get the most attention. Sure, people are our only resources, but we should make sure those below the top can do well too, rather than focusing on the small, elite group. ¶ 3/30/2004 10:56:00 pm
Monday, March 29, 2004
THE NUDGE THAT MATTERS
By LOH CHEE KONG
… “The reason why I didn’t join the PAP is because of their style. Even now, it is an elitist party,” he said.
“I think it was the 1984 election, during one the rallies at Fullerton, when Lee Kuan Yew asked, ‘Who is this Chiam See Tong? We looked up his record and he has only got six Cs in his school certificate.’
“This sums up the PAP thinking. Do you think I want to join a party that runs down people like that? I would never.
“The most important thing is that you have to respect an individual – whether he’s a rain surgeon or a dustman. I think we should give him the same respect. If you don’t give respect to your own citizens, I think you condemn them forever.” …
* * *
Mr Chiam See Tong has been the stronghold of the Opposition for decades. I think Lee Kuan Yew has done a very wrong by personally stigmatising Mr Chiam at the elections. So what if Mr Lee is a Cambridge student who was in Raffles College? Yes, he was a bright kid, and afterwards a bright man who led his country to the way it is today.
Yet it is very wrong to look down on people who do not do as well. Precisely this trend has been prevalent in many Singaporean families. Children are compared. They are pushed to get A’s. They are forced to choose subjects that will help them get into industries that are making a lot of money in Singapore, even though they have their interests elsewhere in areas which are quite grossly-neglected but getting a fair deal of attention now. Do you really think that a top student is fantastically good? Look at my recent post about this scholar who got accepted for a scholarship but was not happy with it. If we are going to create this kind of fuckers, Singapore will soon be finished. Think of it: this kind of shit who runs our government, they lack the human touch at all, and will create a gap between those at the top and those at the bottom.
I don’t really care how Mr Chiam fared in school. He has done a lot for the people in Potong Pasir. I don’t live there, but I have visited the estate and found it a very pleasant , well-kept place. Mr Chiam is a revered politician, and I respect him very much. At the same time, I beg all those people out there, please do not look solely at one level of results, but one’s overall achievement.
* * *
What’s all this talk about a nanny state? It’s not that we cannot speak up for ourselves, but just that the majority of Singaporeans speak up among their gossips, which we all don’t know. There are the few who voice out their concerns to the newspapers and to the authorities. But with regards to the latter, their pleas are almost ignored. The government and authorities always stand firm to their policy and will try very hard to explain why they are correct. Or if a customer complains, they will “investigate” or “look into the matter”.
It’s about saving one’s skin. Face.
The elitist culture has caught on everywhere. In school, students try to outdo one another to vie for the top institutions at every stage of their education. They want the prestige at the end, and they want a comfortable life for themselves. Sadly, this has given rise to blatant discrimination. Weaker students are picked on – admit it, whether the lower classes have EM3 or some other name, the students will still feel the stigma attached, because they are all grouped together and theirs is a small group compared to the others. The arts and humanities are still leap-frog by the maths and sciences, even if the government does something about the state of the arts in Singapore. Sports is still not viewed as a stable career unlike other countries, where sports personalities are widely respected and revered. Singaporeans are still very pragmatic. And the government carries this mindset around with them.
Well, look at the issue of the casino. Fine, poor people should not be allowed to go to the local casino at all because they would throw themselves into the pit of financial collapse. So they should just stick to 4D and Toto. But isn’t it the same? Some people can keep playing 4D and Toto until they bankrupt themselves. And there are cruise ships and the nearby Genting Highlands, or even Macau to entertain gamblers of all classes. Wouldn’t Singapore’s plan backfire? The casino might not even be built at all to save all these problems.
Even the new arts school… parents are complaining that it is another elitist scheme, because it only accepts students who at least make it to the express stream. Those who fail to will have their admission reviewed on a case-by-case basis. They’re focussing on academics again, because they are gearing their students for an IB diploma. Why is it always with academics? If academics should be the main concern, there shouldn’t be any sports or arts school at all. One parent even commented that she had friends who were interested in the arts, but in the end chose professions such as accountancy and business and science and engineering. She thinks that it is a waste of taxpayers’ money to fund a school whose students do not opt for a career in the arts/sports (in the case of the sports school) but in some profession that could have been coached from a mainstream school.
Whatever it is, the people at the top always seem to get the most attention. Sure, people are our only resources, but we should make sure those below the top can do well too, rather than focusing on the small, elite group. ¶ 3/30/2004 10:56:00 pm
