Episode 72: Political Instability
Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 10:16 PM
Although I am not currently in Singapore now, the looming events that is going to occur there, namely the General Elections 2011 has drew the attention of mine.
Now to question why I was so interested in the General Elections only now in all these years since I was so indifferent in way countries work... Do I have a change in heart? No, absolutely not.
I still regard myself a man without a nation, without any particular loyalties. I don't feel the meaning of loyalty to country... I mean, now the country just provide us with a place to live in or work in. It doesn't give us any advantage in protecting it. Basically, National Service is nonsense... That is my raw feelings. Not just Singapore, Malaysia. Or heck any country for that matter.
Hard core activist may scoff. You serve the country, not the other way round. Your viewpoints don't matter or you are just a small insignificant cog in a machine (yes Albert Tantular I am talking about your words.)
But no matter how small or huge your contributions, it will be a thankless job in the long run. No one want's to be ignored. No one wants just to sit at the desk all the time surfing Facebook or playing Solitaire. Or worse, sitting at home jobless. Being affiliated with a country is a somewhat a frustrating thing, for me, being a Malaysian who rarely spends time in Malaysia, a Singaporean Permanent Resident who never get any benefits. I don't know that counts as bad luck or what. But I am sick of it all, that's why I never ever bother to care about the countries politics, even though it may indirectly affect me. The country can self destruct for I care.
It is not the place that matters, it is the people who made the place.
This line was gleaned off the movie/novel "I am Number 4."...
It resonates with me, I certainly don't miss Singapore, although I cherish the friends that I made over there. If any trouble befell my friends there, I will certainly fly back from Australia to here to check on them to see whether they are safe and sound. Tears well up in my eyes when I reminiscence the times that I spent with my friends, both good times and bad. Even when my friends had some difficulty even how big or small, I try to help in any ways I can, even if it sometimes result in some dire results.
As when I arrived at Sydney, I got to experience some Australian political landscape for a while. They were holding an election there, and the campaign is really no holds barred. Blatant and crude sounding advertisements were launched, loud placards and signboards were put out to smear the opposition while also asserting their usefulness and how they can deliver. In the past weeks or so, I was still thinking that well, Singapore will never stoop that low and it seems to be a clean fight or so I thought.
Currently, the political scene in Singapore is like a circus.
Since I only had access to media from the internet, I don't know about the other sides of the stories. The Facebook and the internet were like launching an all out offensive against PAP, the defacto ruling party of Singapore. It sounds one sided, but the way they present the news, selective quotes from PAP members, or the one that struck me most is the Tin Pei Ling fiasco, where she just stamped her foot and let loose with her emotions and screamed 'I don't know I don't know...' when asked about the states of the elderly and how are they going to combat with the issues of the aging population.
My jaw just dropped.
This kind of answer will net you a immediate failure in any General Paper work you do in Junior College or Geography we did in Secondary School.
And the ex-Chief of Army which I got the impression that he was a guy from some prestigious school to even landed a position in the CoA in the first place ( generally those people earned this position by having excellent qualifications.) , when he started to use Singlish and basically speaking in a way that treat us as drooling idiots.
My jaw just dropped.
What the hell, next time, I think the online dictionary will incorporate another form of English to their Repertoire, the ENG (Singapore). For your information that seminar isn't aimed at the general audience, but at the YPAP, maybe he is trying to lighten up the mood. But isn't Singapore trying to promote speak good english movement? It means there is a need to take a harder gander at the educational system.
A few issues were raised that were close to my heart.
One was the importing of Doctors from China.
Qualifications in Singapore were so hard to get into to Medical Course locally, people have to resort to go overseas, and furthermore, only 100 plus slots were open for locals.
Singapore also hire 1000 doctors per annum.
Asking my seniors who were doctors, they paid an arm and a leg to get high standard education to serve the society when they were needed the most. Instead, they found themselves out of job in a few years to come due to it being gradually replaced with cheaper alternatives (quality wise I am not sure too) but this is pure speculation and this speculation may come to pass.
In short, I will never work in Singapore again.
Even after pumping in cash to get educated, the earnings are just enough for a meager living. It is not even enough to repay my parents, considering I was just loaning money from them to study.
A melting pot, a place where everything thrives. They better get a new pot. The pot has melted and all the contents were everywhere, a mecca for the arts, business and pleasure. My foot.
Foreign talent to support nation...
I wonder, is it really needed? Since, Singapore is a melting pot of cultures and all, there is no such thing as a Singapore Singaporean or to be precise it is rare. Foreign talent is needed for? I thought by now Singapore is self sufficient? It is a comedy really.
And to add insult to injury is that Indian guy who said, "I am too important to do NS."
http://ns-is-killing-sg.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-citizen-i-am-too-important-to-do-ns.html
FUCK you.
How do people judge people in importance scale.
Everybody is important. I view myself important. I view my friends and family as important.
Of all I view god as most important.
That's just basically saying that my ego is too big to do anything.
Anyways, no use complaining now since the damage has already been done, but what I gathered, what I see makes me feel disillusioned from the world, a circus. That's what the world is becoming...
Well, somewhat I am enjoying studying here.
In the next post or so, hopefully will have some cheerful posts about my life here.
Cheerio!
The strange twist of fate.
