Saturday, February 05, 2005

was MM Lee using the fear of the past in order to prevent progress? is our government too controlling? would the most enightened despot turn into a tyrant if there're no checks and balance in place?

despot n. 1. a ruler with absolute power
2. A person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant.

MM Lee spoke about Sars and the 1960s racial riots and the JI yishun plot to bomb out MRT station.... he spoke about how our government was fast and efficient enough to counter such events. this prompted the NUS student to tell MM Lee that he's using the dear of the past to prevent progress of our nation.

so what's progress of our nation? in what sense? if you're talking about economic progress...we've got it. our employment rate is up, our GDP growth is healthy..though we do need to attract more investors in and sign more FTAs with powerful countries. social progress, i think we're fine. we have racial harmony which is so precious everyone takes it for granted. we are gradually opening up to bar top dancing and 24 hr clubs and more freedom for homosexuals. our crime rate is kept at a minimum. i can roam the streets at 1am alone without feeling frightened (though i still sing worship songs to keep my mind from hallucinating.).

ok. i admit we're less liberal than some countries. we're more traditional. but u can't forget we ARE more traditional than the westerners. majority of us are chinese. though we have been influenced by the west in many ways, we choose not to adopt some ways of the westerners that clash with our traditions and morals. i'm sure the same goes for the other races. we do not condone some practices. we do not slam our government on national TV and use a whole lot of vulgar words. our mass media channels are tightly monitored. our movies are rated strictly. but with good grounds. yes we could use a little more freedom from our nanny-state government. but i don't complain. if i cannot watch american beauty and kill bill vol.1...wait till i'm 21. (not to mention kinnsey..which i want to watch! but i refuse to sneak in even though sam keeps tempting me and i'm only one year away from 21). but come on. now we've got nip/tuck and sex and the city on our TV screens. you can go download all your porn and R21 movies from the net. which you should NOT! have some respect for intellectual property! and if you want to voice your opinions about how our government runs things go set up a website...MM Lee can intro you to some guys who can help you...

i sound so pro PAP...u can say i am..just a little. no government is perfect. our government is the best i see so far. and i love it as it is.

anyway i just wanted to say i thought the NUS guy was being quite rude and out of line. excuse me. whether you like it or not you're talking to MM Lee, the man who brought singapore to where she is today. if not for him we're probably still in china ploughing the fields or stuck in singapore being a miserable 3rd world country. ok not that bad. but we wouldn't be so well off. so please! show some respect. oh well..that's just me. i thought if you want to say that, come across as not so hostile and not sounding like a personal attack. that's just me. sam thinks if he put it any milder it'll become sacarstic. i disagree..but of course, everyone's entitled to their opinion.

but i thought the forum was not too bad. sometimes MM Lee digress and talks about something not too related to the question..so hmmm...not too good there. but he';s very animated for his age and quite funny. he's not afraid to admit he's not mr. know-it-all...like he doesn't know what a motivational speaker does... =)

when vivan balakrishnan comes to the NTU one i'm definitely going too...with sam most probably..again. ah...

chinese new year... looking forward to it...i spent SO much money on new clothes and shoes. feel so guilty...and still thinking about the ipod mini..though mr. he went to fill up 70 contest forms to try and win the ipod mini for me (which we'll share lah...) during our career fair. one of the few sweet things he does.

This girl posted at 11:53 PM