So it was not an easy decision. You can see the dollars and cents forgone for this - many billions.
This government had always felt uncomfortable spending money if there is no measurable returns; the exception is spending for security.
It was really good that the PM put aside the "price of everything and the value of nothing". Keep at it, don't stop here. Grow a greater faith; deeper conviction and the courage to understand and know how to invest in our people, in social objectives far beyond what we are confident to do today. Don't let the voters force you to do them. Be different from the rest of the world. Be different by leading. What is a leader? It is to take the people to a place they want to go, probably do not know that is really what they want and on their own would never go.
Sure you need to fix housing, public transport, excessive foreigners etc, but don't stop there. In a fast changing world it may be risky and impractical to articulate a vision that in the end was unachievable, but one could go deeper and articulate a set of values and principles which guide a calibrated vision....
I know we would have succeeded when a one generation want to reproduce the next because it is so good to live here. You can't hope to raise the TFR to 2.1 by focusing on it. It is a by product of getting a whole array of policies right which today we do not have sufficient insight and courage to successfully tackle. We look excellent when compared against most other nations. Those who seem to be out doing us, on deeper analysis their models are not sustainable, not even for a generation. They are mostly supported by debt even with natural resources. The hard truth for Singapore: what is considered excellent by outsiders is not good enough for us. To refuse to bring babies into this place is nothing less than a society committing suicide slowly, the ultimate indicator of deep seated unhappiness which we cope by going into denial and not even showing up in happiness surveys.
Gardens by the Bay represents a low hanging fruit in the right direction. Many more things we need to do. They are far harder. Don't settle too easily and that is why the PAP did poorly in the last GE.
I disagree deeply with this project.
ReplyDeleteAnd for him to compare this to Central Park in NYC, or Hype Park in London is preposterous!
At least for once, there is no bottom line or weighing in of costs. It's a small but important gesture. Go PM go! Thks for the gardens!
ReplyDeleteThe park is beautiful, PM but not the bsck ground of legalised gaming den,Hope our "fresh" PM can abolish both of them.
ReplyDeleteThe gardens were built for tourists and as part of the MBS project.
ReplyDeleteDo not be fooled into believing that its meant for the "people"
The Botanical Gardens was built for the people, Bishan Park was built for the people. Not Gardens by the Bay.
Any entry charges?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, it's not the people that the govt have in mind. If so, it would have cut down the number of golf clubs - Singapore among the most densely populated, if not THE most densely populated in the world, certainly can do without the numerous golf clubs (another world first?) on its tiny land mass.
The PAP is into the same phase as Marcos before his removal -the phase of self aggrandizement and self praise before decline. Note the tell tale signs of economic decline of the majority of the population, the introduction of oppressive laws against civil liberties and free speech and in particular, the pandering to the rich and famous and of course the casinos.
oh god! you guys are so pathetic i love the gardens by the bay!
ReplyDelete" in the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. In the Disney film adaptation of the novel, the land is renamed as Pleasure Island. The size and nature of such location is unclear (the Disney adaptation depicts it as an amusement park, whereas the novel implies it is at least as large as a township); the ambiguity in the original name (paese can mean country or land, but also town or village) adds to the confusion. Its real use is for a slave trade.
DeleteLocated in the fictional land of Cocagne, Pleasure Island serves as a haven for wayward boys, allowing them to act as they please without recrimination. However, the truer and more sinister purpose of Pleasure Island is eventually revealed as it begins to physically transform the boys into donkeys, apparently by means of a curse. " -Wikipedia
Do you get it?