I am quite busy today and it is such a pleasure to have someone articulate part of how I feel about the PM view that the government lacked 20/20 foresight.
Singapore only got here because of the foresight of earlier leaders. Without that the courage and hard work would have amount to nothing. I can think of quite a few examples but I would just name two: Port Containerization. Lim Kim San foresaw it before all others and equipped our port to do that. Imagine what the future of this place would be liked if we had been late doing that. Next, we had just upgraded Paya Lebar at great cost when Lee Kuan Yew struggled over creating Changi Airport. Now whither Singapore without Changi? As for the incumbent PM, he is a more brilliant student than mom and dad. Would have made a world class mathematician but strategic thinking isn't his forte. He is only a technical thinker, good at tinkering with what he can see. Unfortunately this is not his greatest weakness and that is why I am blogging about it on a very busy day.
Again I am lucky to be able to begin by leveraging on someone else work: Michelle Obama's DNC speech.
And I've seen how the issues that come across a President's desk are always the hard ones – the problems where no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer...the judgment calls where the stakes are so high, and there is no margin for error.
And as President, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people.
But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that decision, as President, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.
Yes, it was the poverty of values of this PM that led him to make those decisions that has taken us to the present state our society is in. One which he now easily loses elections. He doesn't really care for the people. He serves Singapore as a concept; not breathing, flesh and blood Singaporeans. He expects us like the CCP do to the Chinese to "eat bitterness" for the sake of the nation, which is the euphemism for a select group of people which will do better with his policies and do not suffer the squeeze and the higher cost of living like the rest of us because his policies help their rising incomes outpaced inflation by a mile.
Today Singapore has one true value: Money. The rest are only only rhetoric and for dressing up to look good. This is a disaster in the making.
Update: 5pm
My kids told me it is the same in school. They are all tasked to bring glory to the school. Some feel used to that end. Far too many are too immature to realize what's happening. They are being trained from young to "eat bitterness". However those who can bring the school extraordinary glory will have a share of the spoils. If they keep at it, they will someday join the ranks of the elites. At that point, they get the lion share of the gains we serfs helped to produce and the losses are conveniently socialized. For a more intellectually rigorous understanding, read Nassim Taleb's latest book, "Antifragile"
Update: Jan 31, 11:35am
Click on pic to read article.
both Angela and you have said it well, and i need not add anything to it. Surely too many people are sleeping on the job, and that is being kind.
ReplyDeleteIts amazing what spews out. There are so much incredulous utterances. This is indeed trending now and all would be torned to shreds in the social media in no time. The call for his head is growing louder.......by the hour........
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone so upset by what he said? He finally admitted what We have Known all along, despite his ministers' boasts and claims of great foresight.
ReplyDeleteThe only hitch is the screw-up has nothing to do with foresight!! It has everything to do with logic, as pointed out, and with common sense. You'd have to be incredibly STUPID to be unaware that infrastructure for 3mill will not serve 5mill and more.
And that's just the Physical side of things. How about the emotional, mental, cultural and social impact of having too many new people too fast? That hasn't even Entered his govt's mind, because he's now calling for a nearly similar rate of increase in popn as we've been having all along!!!
As Angela notes, it is Unbelieveable that he talks of the popn increase as if his govt has absolutely no control over the numbers of people it lets into the country. Worse, he expects us to believe this!! One can only conclude he and his cabinet are mad...
Why people are unhappy?because those who understand the real meaning of what PM Lee H L has said know very well that about 60% of our voters do not quite get it or no time to think so just take it at face value,that is why some people are so upset.Trouble is that it will affect all our lives and our children future.I am not very unhappy like the gentelman who said before me,but I know why some people are very upset!God bless them.
ReplyDeleteThey know that they are incompetent. That's why they time the population growth (via foreigners import) after the BE. Only goodies during the BE. People should learn by now their tricks. Be prepared for more bad news. Goodies would only come right before next GE.
ReplyDeleteObserver.
That's why WP should realize that they do NOT have the luxury of time over the next decade to be the checks-and-balances against the PAP.
ReplyDeleteEither the WP learn the ropes of government and governance on the quick. Or a massive PAP split. Or some bright upstart pleasant surprise comes from behind.
I reckon that unjust laws and policies under PAP have reviled most ordinary Singaporeans to turn against the ruling party (eg, en bloc law, HDB policies that facilitate flipping and rental income, politicizing public housing for party politics, etc).
Deeply troubling to realize that PAP legacy is leaving Singapore and Singaporeans so exposed that it would hamper smooth transition and change of power within next decade.
"When a tiger dies, it leaves its skin;
When a man dies, he leaves his name." Reckon LKY must be sad and lost these days to realize the weak legacy he is exposing our country to.