Dear TRS,
I’ve read Hri Kumar’s thoughts on Anton Casey (http://therealsingapore.com/content/pap-mp-hri-kumar-cure-anton-casey) and in an effort to dispel that sick feeling in my stomach; I felt I had no choice but to respond to him.
Below is my open letter to PAP MP Hri Kumar:
What an excellent article you've written; excellent not because you've addressed the issue and tried to remedy the situation. No! Instead, it's an excellent article because you've once again demonstrated to true Singaporeans that you're just another PAP mouthpiece who is far-removed from the ordinary citizen.
You've conveniently forgotten that this muppet is actually married to a Singaporean. Are you implying that his wife, Miss Singapore no less, isn't a real Singaporean? Or perhaps you're saying that she's not poor enough to be considered a real Singaporean? Maybe he doesn't have any Singaporean friends because his colleagues are all foreigners (thanks to the policies of the government), and his acquaintances are all foreigners because locals can't afford the things that he can and go to the places that he goes to.
Personally, I think that this is a Freudian slip, and that what you're REALLY trying to say is that Singaporeans are all poor. If not, they're not really true Singaporeans. Perhaps a telling insight on what you and the other PAP ministers are trying to engineer the country to be.
Mr. Kumar, you've failed, once again and like so many of your colleagues, to see that Anton Casey is merely a symptom of what is wrong with Singapore. Yes, some of the comments were inflammatory and uncalled for, but if it wasn't this guy, it would have been someone else; if it wasn't this time, it would have come eventually.
You and your party could have scored some simple (and let’s face it, desperately needed) political points if you'd just come out and defend Singapore and Singaporeans. Instead, you defended the wealthy minority; pandering to the rich. I guess the saying of “not biting the hand that feeds you” holds true for you, now more than ever.
In your argument, you've also stated that Anton Casey may not have made those remarks if he had less well-off friends. Well, for once, I agree with you. However, do you really think Anton Casey, with his disdain for the poor so self-evidently on display, would have any friend whose bank account had a dollar less than his? I highly doubt it. Maybe he (and not the real Singaporeans) should be chided for not coming down from his ivory tower and mixing with the common man. Maybe if foreigners were not treated with kid-gloves, oft with a different set of rules bestowed on them, less of them would treat Singapore and her loyal citizens – citizens who get angry at foreigners bad-mouthing them and the country; citizens who “stand up for Singapore” (as the song tells us to); citizens who you should be proud of (but obviously are not) for defending their country; citizens who wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place if it weren’t for your atypical, anti-Singaporean and pro-foreigner policies – so poorly!
BlackandWhite
TRS Contributor