Tuesday, November 29, 2005
on another note... i'd like to re-iterate that i really respect the government's decision not to succumb to political pressure... it has been one thing i've always admired about the singaporean government... the fact that their policies are based on what they think is right for the country and not simply decorative policies popular with its people or with other nations... sure i may have some bones to pick with them... but on the whole... i'd be lying if i said i was disgruntled...
some people may agrue that people like me really impeed reforms and improvements to our social structure... they may even say that people like me are simply brain washed or oppressed to the extent that we simply agree to whatever the people high up there tell us to do... and with no free will and no voice to dissent... we become numb mindless folk going about our menial tasks everyday... sounds like it really is as bad despotism... but is it really? freedom of speech together with a whole host of other liberties granted as rights to citizens of other countries comes at a cost... and to the mathematics inclined... it's simply an optimization/programming problem... our result really depends on what we intepret these costs to be... for me... i can live with the current situation here in singapore... no correction... i wouldnt want to live anywhere else with a different cocktail of policies that the current one here... i'm willing to give up some of my rights... for my own right to security... my own right for peace of mind... be it in terms of employment rates or costs of living or military security or a low crime rate... these are all the things i value more than the oppourtunity to carry a plycard and protest in the streets... or to write distrubing and hate-brewing messages on the internet or the newspapers...
some foreigners actually think most singaporeans are oppressed... for sure there are some who do not voice their opinions simply because of fear... but is that the large majority? think about what singaporeans in general really have to complain about... the rise in gst... the rise in bus fares... teachers not doing a good job...examinations being to difficults (or with errors)... come on... singapores do not fear complaining... i think for one... we're like the best people in the world for finding fault with anything... give us a polished pieces of cutlery and i guarantee that we'll find the flaw in seconds for u... but really why have we developed a culture that is seemingly so distasteful? could it be that we really have nothing else to complain about and we actually whine about such trivial matters to satisfy our intrinsic need for complaining? i mean we dun have issues like war or major sexual or racial discrimation problems or corruption or a large variance in wealth to handle... so we deal with the nitty gritty details... we dun complain that the soup is too salty (because it isnt) and so we complain that the table cloth is too thick or something as silly as that... and i'm fine with it really... i mean i whine about people whining about such things quite often... but really this brings me to the point that much to everyones displeasure... i think it's not that singapores are oppressed... its really that we have nothing much to complain about...
everyone has their own way of doing things... there are soooo many countries that provide its citizens with the freedom of speech... and many others with a whole host of activities... so my statement is this... singapore's policies may be hard handed... and some may not be able to take it... but really there are a large bunch of us who absolutely love it here and who want things to continue on the track that it has been going on... so anyone who has major issues with them should i guess consider an alternative state to call home... i mean it's really not too difficult to come up with a check list of things u want and find ur perfect place on the surface of this planet... but for me... my check list is in place here... i may not always be happy... but i'm happy enuff on the whole...
{10:17 AM}
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