In the year 2005, PM Lee in his National Day Rally speech, showed two video clips “Tao Gay Not Enough”, and “Tao Gay Never Enough” (http://bit.ly/Ibqw4j), to make a point. Did it resonate with the people? One commenter responding to PM Lee’s speech then said:
“Frankly speaking, the clips…were rather boring, and they ain’t as funny as to excite even a twitch on my face. Till now, I am still mystified as to why the people in the audience guffawed. The airconditioning must be pumping in laughing gas the whole time. That probably explains why PM Lee laughed so much, albeit alone, during his speech. Wonder if the PM’s aides adviced him that while jokes are good to have in a speech, the jokes must, first and foremost, be FUNNY!!!…They should have chosen a Rojak stall setting with peanuts as part of the title. The clip should be titled “Peanuts Not Enough”.I would definitely ask for an extra helping of peanuts on my rojak. Guess the government is out of them this year. So, they only have tou gay.” (http://bit.ly/18hhy02)
Then in the 2006 Rally, possibly in response to mrbrown‘s Bak Chor Mee Man podcast (http://bit.ly/1d9jUC3), Mr Lee said, “You put out a funny podcast, you talk about bak chor mee. I will say mee siam mai harm. Then we compete. Then what will I do? I will hire Jack Neo to be my National Day Rally adviser. It’ll be a fun time, we will enjoy thoroughly, go home totally entertained.” (http://bit.ly/1injNCO)
What’s the response?
“this morning i order mee siam mai hum tio lecturing by the hawker auntie.” (http://bit.ly/1fNVUlr)
From Lim Swee Say’s warning of a Rojak Government if members of the opposition are voted in, to Chan Chun Sing’s Chye Tow Kuay, in explaining why money should not be the bugbear to deter capable people from coming to serve in the Government, the PAP leaders have failed miserably in using food analogies to convey a message to the general public.
Now they are trying again with kueh lapis; to say that they’ll prefer layers of help and not a single poverty line. Do you think that this kuey example is going to resonate with the common man?
With such bad precedents, I had thought that they’d have given up trying to make a point using food oredi. But well, what do I know?
Ravi Philemon
* This article was first published in Ravi Philemon’s blog at http://www.raviphilemon.net. He is a member of NSP.