Patriotism

Sometimes I wonder what there is in Singapore to pull me back. Seriously, after working in Melbourne for almost a year and reading about the oppression that the Singapore gahmen has been dishing out recently, I’m having 2 minds about wanting to go back, wanting to remain Singaporean. I’m very tempted to actually take up Australian’s citizenship and return to Singapore as a foreign talent. I don’t know if I will do that and it might be due to the fact that I’ve been so disillusioned by the gahmen and in a not so direct way, the Singapore people.

I have tried very hard to separate Singapore from the gahmen (or during this time the People’s Action Party), tried my best to not equate the PAP with Singapore. And by far I have succeeded but time and time again, the PAP tells us that without them there will be no Singapore. So if by change or by some act of god the PAP is no longer the ruling party, Singapore will immediately fall. The Singapore dollar value will fall and our standard of living will deteriorate. Immediately, there will be more jobless people, the buildings will turn old and start to become ruins.

Impossible you say, but the way the PAP says things and the way majority of Singaporeans believe this, you’d think it is Gospel truth. The amazing part about this is that these people have forgotten that it is not the PAP that makes Singapore, Singapore. Singapore was created by the people, you and me. The ones that earn less than 100k a year. The ones who work 8 to 5 or longer to make ends meet. The ones who pay taxes to keep the country running. Without the PAP, we Singaporeans will still survive because we want to survive and thus we will survive. Whereas without the people, the gahmen is nothing.

Is wanting a check and balance system like the other real democratic countries really bad? Does it mean that just because I vote opposition that I’m not ‘filial’? Does it mean that I voice my opinions about something that I’m not happy about that I’m not patriotic? As much as a lot of people keep saying that we owe the success of Singapore to the PAP, but is that enough to just blindly have them take up almost all seats in parliament again and again? Have anybody thought that the success of the gahmen is due to its people. The people who against all odds have risen and built Singapore. As much as I would like to say that the gahmen has no part in it, I know that isn’t true. Any great country is built by the people with the gahmen. We can see that in all the great countries. One cannot take credit for it all. It is a partnership and thus no one part ‘owes their living to the other’.

So being patriotic, it means “feeling, expressing, or inspired by love for one's country” (taken from dictionary.com:patriotic), since the gahmen is NOT Singapore, voting against them or even having different opinions from them doesn’t make us less patriotic for we as a people are looking at the future of Singapore, NOT the future of a particular political party.

Maybe before I die, I might get to see real debates in Singapore’s parliament. Where policies are created not only for economic gain but also for the betterment of the lives of Singaporeans. Where anyone can be an alternative voice and not be clamped down. Where the gahmen really listens and had dialogues (not just paying lip service). It can only came if Singaporeans start to really take interest in the country. To find out different points of view from what the media is dishing out. To be able to think for themselves about things that are happening to fellow Singaporeans due to some policy or environmental factors. At that time, Singaporeans would really own Singapore.

Singapore Minister's Pay

I just realised today that the lowest ranking minister in Singapore is paid SGD100k+ per month. Gosh, this is more than what 80% of the Singapore population earns in 1 year!

I couldn’t believe it and I was so pissed and so fed up. Pissed because I used to be a person that agreed that ministers should be paid well. I was stupid and not realising how stupid I was. I used to tell others that in Sg at least the ministers get there pay and that is it, there are no perks, whereas in Australia and in fact many developed countries the ministers get perks. I used to argue that with the salaries that these ministers get and also their perks, it would be more that what our ministers are getting in the end. It was so convincing!

The Australia PM earns USD137k a year.
The UK PM earns USD170k a year.
The US president earns USD200k a year.

Source: Asian Wall Street Journal July 10 2000

Think about it, even with their perks, these ministers can never hit the SGD100k per month! It is so ridiculous. Now I have really taken off my rose-coloured glasses.

I was a fool and never anymore. I will research and find things out before I open my big mouth.

P.S. I’m not sure if our ministers get any perks, so don’t quote me.

Work and bosses

Isn't it interesting when your boss insist that his method of doing something (solving a problem) is right and that you should just follow it. It is doubly interesting when he isn't trained in that field and you are. It is extremely interesting when you have 8 years of experience in doing that thing (solving that problem) and he has none and yet he still insist he is right.

Well that happened to me yesterday. Twice. It was really odd because he doesn't know how it worked, which in turn means he didn't know the simplest solution. He wanted to start the whole process from scratch but I knew there was a simpler way and I did it my way (queue in Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way"). Later when he asked if I started the process, I told him there was a way to fix the problem without starting from scratch. He didn't believe me until I showed him a simple. Even then he wasn't really convinced. Anyhow, the fix was finished in a fraction of the time and I showed it to him. No words came out. Nice to make your boss speechless isn't it. ;)

Apathy

dictionary.com defines apathy as

1. Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.
   


2. Lack of emotion or feeling; impassiveness.
   

I never understood about people being apathetic about politics and the gahmen being worried about it until I had a chat with T (just now).

I told him about the mrbrown incident and I got rather agitated because he seemed to have no opinion and, in an indirect way, stated that it doesn't concern him. He said that unless he feels strongly about a topic, he wouldn't bother.

His reasons for not bothering

1. There are more important things to worry about like family


2. He is only 1 person what can he do


3. He has been living with it for so long

I realised that that would be the typical answers to why people are apathetic. So I thought I'd dissect these 3 points.

1. There are more important things to worry about
   
   Yup, I totally agree with this. If you don't have enough money to feed your family or even have a roof over your head, these things would be the most important things. Then again, it has been the poor and middle class to have made changes in policies throughout the history of the world. I'm not saying that being interested in politics you would make that your first worry and take each and every action by the gahmen as a battle to be fought. No! Being interested in politics would mean that you know about what is happening politically and have an opinion. There is no right and wrong as it is an opinion. Furthermore, it doesn't mean that if you feel strongly about a policy or an action that you should gather up the masses and hold a rally or anything to that extent. Change and political awareness comes with educating. Telling friends and family why a policy or action is not right and listening to their take on it and allowing their points of view to blend in with yours so that you either have a clearer picture why it is wrong or you might change your mind.



2. Being only 1 person what difference would it make
   
   It is very logical, but the thing is this, if you are a person in a sea of people who believe in the same things you do or at least believe in the same way on a particular topic, you become not just 1 person. Your 1 voice is now much louder. That is the attitude a lot of people take when it comes to voting, “What difference would 1 vote make?” Lots, as countries who have gone though problems would tell you. The easiest example is the US elections. Lots of Americans didn't register to vote because they had the attitude that their 1 vote didn't matter and when these people were polled as to how they would vote if they registered, majority of them (70% if I'm not wrong) said that they would have voted for John Kerry. So in the end, the “1 vote doesn't matter” because hundreds of thousands of votes that mattered.
   
   
   Also there have been people throughout history who changed the world. Ghandi, Mother Teresa are the 2 most prominent ones of recent times. Just 1 person, changed the world. Oh yea, there is also Hitler. Just 1 person, changed the world, not in a good way though.



3. We have been living with it
   
   Just because it is in the books doesn't make it right. If women had that attitude, the feminist movement wouldn't have started and women would not share a lot of the same rights as males. If gays and lesbians (GL) had that attitude, they wouldn't have started the campaign of awareness, being visible so that society know they exist and now see where it has gone. Homosexuality is not a mental disorder in any countries (it used to be). Laws against gay sex has been repelled in most progressive countries. Some countries even legalised same sex unions.

I'm not saying that just because you are interested in politics, you have to be an activist or even join a political party. It doesn't mean that but it does mean that you do believe that policies and laws affect people and whether it affects you or not, and you have an opinion about it and maybe just maybe educate others about what it means and its impact on society.

I am Singaporean

I grew up in a 3 room HDB flat and have been living there all my life.
I have been called kan tang (potato) in the Army because I speak good English.
I lived on my mother's cooking until I went overseas to work.
I left because I got tired of having no rights in Singapore.
I love my country even though I am fed-up with the authorities.
I will return for I believe Singapore is worth fighting for.
I met my boyfriend 4 years back and I still love him very much.
I am considered a pervert, paedophile and etc. just because I am attracted to men.
I am still considered a criminal because of who I sleep with.
I sometimes quarrel with my parents but I still love them.
I miss the food in Singapore especially the curry noodles at Chinatown.
I download TV series because I hate the censorship in Singapore.
I go to church not because I have to but because I want to.
I am looking forward to buying my own HDB apartment and living with my boyfriend.
I bitch about the public transport but still have to use it as cars are not worth it.
I think that the National Day Parade is a big hoo ha about nothing.

I am Wolfgang.
I am Joseph.
I am gay.
I am Singaporean.

So say we all!
So say we all!

Singapore, my country at last

mr brown and mr miyagi started a new podcast for the coming National Day of Singapore (our independence day to put it another way) called "I am Singaporean".

It is really beautifully done. And this small thing really made me feel proud to be Singaporean (gahmen be damned).

I feel the love for my country (note, country not gahmen) when I listened to these podcasts, something which no national education or song or parades has ever done for me. I never knew how much Singapore means to me until now. I also never know how much this nation means to a lot of Singaporeans until I started reading Singaporean’s blogs.

MICA and control

When I read mr brown's 'voice' I was so impressed. He placed the worries of the average Singaporean in the front. Something which most of us think about, bitch about but know we can do nothing about.

Then on Monday (mr brown's 'voice' was published on Friday) The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), rebutted him (I have highlighted that reply in red, just scroll down).

It is really amazing on how short sighted gahmen is. Apparently airing our worries in the newspaper is a no-no, the gahmen cannot take criticism.

I was pleasantly surprised that lots of bloggers think the same way I do. Mr Wang Bakes Good Karma (Bhavani & Brown) and mrs budak lair (My unconstructive criticism), sums up what I think. :P Even bloggers can get lazy.

One thing I do want to add, this seems so much like control. The gahmen seems to be going back to the olden days where "citizens are seen but not heard", "we know what is best for you, so don't think and shut up". This mentality is really what made the PAP loose one-third of the votes of half of the island. Not only do they think that Singaporeans are immature but also stupid! Don't you just resent that?

Democracy?

commentary:
GOVERNMENT CRITICISED FOR CONDEMNING "UNCONSTRUCTIVE" ARTICLE
Analyzing Mr Brown's original article
Did Mr Brown distort the truth?
Is it legitimate to explicitly limit our journalists and newspapers as to what they cannot do?
Bhavani & Brown
My unconstructive criticism

S'poreans are fed, up with progress!
Voices TODAY Newspaper
30 June 2006

THINGS are certainly looking up for Singapore again. Up, up, and away.

Household incomes are up, I read. Sure, the bottom third of our country is actually seeing their incomes (or as one newspaper called it, "wages") shrink, but the rest of us purportedly are making more money.

Okay, if you say so.

As sure as Superman Returns, our cost of living is also on the up. Except we are not able to leap over high costs in a single bound.

Cost of watching World Cup is up. Price of electricity is up. Comfort's taxi fares are going up. Oh, sorry, it was called "being revised". Even the prata man at my coffeeshop just raised the price of his prata by 10 cents. He was also revising his prata prices.

So Singaporeans need to try to "up" their incomes, I am sure, in the light of our rising costs. Have you upped yours?

We are very thankful for the timing of all this good news, of course. Just after the elections, for instance. By that I mean that getting the important event out of the way means we can now concentrate on trying to pay our bills.

It would have been too taxing on the brain if those price increases were announced during the election period, thereby affecting our ability to choose wisely.

The other reason I am glad with the timing of the cost of living increases and wages going down, is that we can now deploy our Progress Package to pay for some of these bills.

Wait, what? You spent it all on that fancy pair of shoes on the day you saw your money in your account? Too bad for you then.

As I break into my Progress Package reserves to see if it is enough to pay the bills, I feel an overwhelming sense of progress. I feel like I am really staying together with my fellow Singaporeans and moving forward.

There is even talk of future roads like underground expressways being outsourced to private sector companies to build, so that they, in turn, levy a toll on those of us who use these roads.

I understand the cost of building these roads is high, and the Government is relooking the financing of these big road projects.

Silly me, I thought my road tax and COE was enough to pay for public roads.

Maybe we can start financing all kinds of expensive projects this way in future. We could build upgraded lifts for older HDB blocks, and charge tolls on a per use basis.

You walk into your new lift on the first floor, and the scanner reads the contactless cashcard chip embedded in your forehead. This chip would be part of the recently-announced Intelligent Nation 2015 plan, you know, that initiative to make us a smart nation?

So you, the smart contactless-cashcard-chip-enhanced Singaporean would go into your lift, and when you get off at your floor, the lift would deduct the toll from your chip, and you would hear a beep.

The higher you live, the more expensive the lift toll.

Now you know why I started climbing stairs for exercise, as I mentioned in my last column. I plan to prepare for that day when I have to pay to use my lift. God help you if some kid presses all the lift buttons in the lift, as kids are wont to do. You will be beeping all the way to your flat.

The same chip could be used to pay for supermarket items. You just carry your bags of rice and groceries past the cashierless cashier counter, and the total will be deducted from your contactless cashcard automatically.

You will not even know you just got poorer. And if your contactless cashcard runs out of funds (making it a contactless CASHLESS cashcard), you just cannot use paid services.

The door of the lift won't close, the bus won't stop for you, taxis will automatically display "On Call" when their chip scanners detect you're broke.

Sure, paying bills that only seem to go up is painful, but by Jove, we are going to make sure it is at least convenient.

No more opening your wallet and fiddling with dirty notes and coins. Just stand there and hear your income beeped away. No fuss, no muss! I cannot wait to be a Smart e-Singaporean.

I also found out recently that my first-born daughter's special school fees were going up. This is because of this thing called "Means Testing", where they test your means, then if you are not poor enough, you lose some or all of the subsidy you've been getting for your special child's therapy.

I think I am looking at about a $100 increase, which is a more than a 100 per cent increase, but who's counting, right? We can afford it, but we do know many families who cannot, even those that are making more money than we are, on paper.

But don't worry. Most of you don't have this problem. Your normal kids can go to regular school for very low fees, and I am sure they will not introduce means testing for your cases.

We need your gifted and talented kids to help our country do well economically, so that our kids with special needs can get a little more therapy to help them to walk and talk. And hey, maybe if the country does really well, the special-needs kids will get a little more subsidy.

Like I said, progress.

High-definition televisions, a high-speed broadband wireless network, underground expressways, and contactless cashcard system — all our signs of progress.

I am happy for progress, of course but I would be just as happy to make ends meet and to see my autistic first-born grow up able to talk and fend for herself in this society when I am gone.

That is something my wife and I will pay all we can pay to see in our lifetimes.


mr brown is the accidental author of a popular website that has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997. He enjoys having yet another cashcard, in addition to his un-contactless one and the ez-link one to add to his wallet.

The reply from MICA

Voices, TODAY newspaper, Monday, July 3, 2006:

Distorting the truth, mr brown?

When a columnist becomes a 'partisan player' in politics

Letter from K BHAVANI
Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts

Your mr brown column, "S'poreans are fed, up with progress!" (June 30) poured sarcasm on many issues, including the recent General Household Survey, price increases in electricity tariffs and taxi fares, our IT plans, the Progress Package and means testing for special school fees.

The results of the General Household Survey were only available after the General Election. But similar data from the Household Expenditure Survey had been published last year before the election.

There was no reason to suppress the information. It confirmed what we had told Singaporeans all along, that globalisation would stretch out incomes.

mr brown must also know that price increases in electricity tariffs and taxi fares are the inevitable result of higher oil prices.

These were precisely the reasons for the Progress Package — to help lower income Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living.

Our IT plans are critical to Singapore's competitive position and will improve the job chances of individual Singaporeans. It is wrong of mr brown to make light of them.

As for means testing for special school fees, we understand mr brown's disappointment as the father of an autistic child. However, with means testing, we can devote more resources to families who need more help.

mr brown's views on all these issues distort the truth. They are polemics dressed up as analysis, blaming the Government for all that he is unhappy with. He offers no alternatives or solutions. His piece is calculated to encourage cynicism and despondency, which can only make things worse, not better, for those he professes to sympathise with.

mr brown is entitled to his views. But opinions which are widely circulated in a regular column in a serious newspaper should meet higher standards. Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly.

It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government. If a columnist presents himself as a non-political observer, while exploiting his access to the mass media to undermine the Government's standing with the electorate, then he is no longer a constructive critic, but a partisan player in politics.