Response Article to "TRS readers shouldn't blindly blame PAP for everything"

Riposte to a Concerned Citizen

A few days ago, mister or miss Concerned Citizen wrote a long and almost heartfelt plea to TRS readers, saying that we shouldn’t blindly blame the PAP for everything. Here’s my equally long and equally (if not more) heartfelt riposte.

Concerned Citizen, you’ve argued that the PAP hasn’t actually failed us, stating that unlike a university’s exam, there’s no passing criterion and hence, the PAP can’t, in fact, pass or fail. Well, let’s all be adults and be realistic here. All you’re doing is playing on semantics. They have failed us in countless areas. Here’s my very incomplete list of failures:

1. Inaccessibility to healthcare, from the rising costs, to the lack of hospital beds;

2. The opaqueness of CPF;

3. The rising costs of housing and living;

4. The widening gap between rich and poor; and the middle class, which is failing into borderline poverty,

5. Artificial competition brought about by an indiscriminate immigration policy that allows people with dubious standards and unwillingness to integrate in;

6. The lack of living space and the inability of relax and enjoy the simpler things in life;

7. The elderly unable to retire;

8. Using grassroots organisations to further the cause of the political party,

9. The lack of freedom of speech and political freedoms (like the simple act of watching a historical documentary), the internal security act, and the burgeoning censorship of the internet;

10. Ministers who don’t seem to have the same accountability as ordinary citizens (in fact, they should be held to a higher standard), name-calling and other bullying tactics like using lawsuits to destroy opposing voices, giving themselves a very healthy remuneration package.

If you’d like to add to this list, please feel free to comment below.

Anyway, is this the 10% or the 20% you’re talking about? If it is, then I cringe at uncovering the other 80-90% of things that remain hidden.

You then go on to give the cute little analogy about the tap and the sink. The tap is indeed broken. The tap is the PAP and that needs to be changed posthaste! The sink, in your analogy, is Singapore, and that doesn’t need changing; it’s the party running it, the tap in this case that urgently needs replacing.

People are complaining in context. It just so happens that Singaporeans aren’t renowned for being great authors and orators (unlike yourself, obviously) so when some of them can’t express themselves, they fall back into swearing or less articulate forms of communication. Does that make their unhappiness and frustrations any less real? No!  

I don’t think you give people enough credit. People can think for themselves. If complaints about the PAP can influence someone to think a certain way that easily (as you claim), then that same person will also change his mind when he hears the stuff that the PAP puts out. Don’t forget, what the state puts out comes in the form of highly polished, infographs, and news articles. Worse, it even permeates into “entertainment” programming. How can a mere complaint from a few noisy citizens compete against that?

You then mentioned MOM, SMRT, and HDB. They may not have the same initials as “PAP”, but rest assured that they’re very much departments under the purview of the government, which is why the people blame them.

You also said that we should criticize ourselves for the fact that we have so many foreigners.

Criticise ourselves? Yes, we are stupid. All we did was listened to the great leader sent from the heavens, and stopped at two kids. Yes, we are stupid. We listened and worked our arses off to obtain a paper qualification that the heir of said divine leader now says isn’t that important to succeed anyway.

The importation of foreigners has nothing to do with anything apart from the fact that the government needs the votes of a very grateful class of foreigners, from third-world countries, where conditions are worse than Singapore.

You don’t see the same number of Europeans, Americans, Australians clamouring to enter the country, do you? You see mainly Pinoys, PRCs and Indians. What do they all have in common? Who do you think they’ll vote for after they receive their citizenships?

If the importation of foreigners is indeed for economic reasons, then they can simply have work permits, to allow them in and work. A high salary (perhaps one subsidized by the government) will simply negate the need to give them citizenship, and with it all the benefits, like voting.

Lastly, yes, we are indeed stupid; we didn’t raise our voices in opposition to this policy sooner and louder.   

Next, you belittled the Workers Party, saying that they won’t be able to micro-manage like the PAP. You know what; I’m counting on opposition parties not micro-managing our lives. The ministers’ jobs are to manage the many governmental agencies and come up with policies and strategies that better the country, not micromanaging.

If the people at the top don’t take responsibility, then why on earth are they being paid millions of dollars? Have you ever wondered why the CEO gets paid millions of dollars and gets to wine and dine other important businessmen and play golf and is hardly ever seen in the office? It’s because he’s there to think long-term, to strategize, and when the shit hits the proverbial fan, he’s there to fall on his sword and resign. Thus far, with all its failings, we have yet to see anyone remotely connected to the government resign, much less apologize.

Oh and by the way, we’re not talking about a burger not being cooked here. We’re talking about the lives and livelihoods of millions of people; an entire country; generations of Singaporeans who’ve bought into the PAP message (I was one of them), only to be let down time and time again.

However, I don’t disagree with you, Concerned Citizen, just for the sake of doing so. I actually agree that foreigners can “create jobs for Singaporeans in white collar companies that we are not able to establish on our own.” In fact, let’s bring in more white-collared foreigners that can create jobs; ones from developed countries like Australia, the United States, Germany, UK, Japan, and the likes. Why is it then that we seem to only see Pinoys, PRCs, and Indians; many of whom seem to come with dubious qualifications?

Then you said that foreigners can “groom Singaporean PMETs to run such businesses in the future”. Grooming Singaporeans? That sounds really familiar; I wonder why? Oh, it’s because it’s the same line Goh Chock Tong used back in the day when he first unlocked the doors. How long does it take to groom people? 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? It’s been 10 years since his reign ended. Surely, by now, Singaporean PMETs can run their own businesses. Or should we consider this grooming point a success when we consider the countless PMETs who currently own their own taxi business?

You also said that foreigners come “to do blue-collar jobs Singaporeans don’t wish to do.” Again, I don’t disagree with you. But as far as I know, Singaporeans have long accepted blue-collared foreign workers. I’ve heard some pretty bad things said about foreign workers, but never about the blue-collared ones who do the shit no one else wants to do. The foreigners that Singaporeans complain about are the ones who come in with fake qualifications, have no will to integrate, can’t speak English and/or Singlish, but suddenly hold up a pink IC and proudly proclaim their undying love for Singapore ... only to never serve NS and return back to their mother/fatherland when their kid is old enough to serve NS or when it simply doesn’t suit them anymore.

Finally, in your point “d”, you somehow inserted the comical line that Singaporeans “pay less”! Pay less? Sorry, I’m just a bit lost for words. I seldom see the words “pay less” associated with anything Singaporean. Maybe you’re talking about the 3-dollar noodles, which is damn cheap (especially when it’s at least 10 bucks for a plate of noodles in New Zealand), or the cheap IKEA furniture (it’s more expensive in Australia), or the cheap football jerseys from Queensway. But let’s look at the big-ticket items, shall we? Housing? Car? Medical services?

And just when you think I can’t agree more with you, Concerned Citizen, you’re right, we have to learn from the best, but at this point in time, the majority of what we’re getting isn’t “the best”. And when “the best” comes, they continue to hire their own in key positions, leaving the scraps for locals. Yes, those scraps are still jobs, but are we now in such a bad state that we’re thankful for scraps? Also, learning from “the best” sounds great in theory, but that also depends on “the best” teaching us. If they refuse to teach us and impart skills and knowledge, then what’s the point of continuing this line of argument?

The government has only done half their job. They’ve enticed these companies to come and set up shop but there’s no framework that requires them to hire Singaporeans in key positions. Heck, there’s no framework for them to hire Singaporeans in any position. Add to that the inherent preference for any nationality to want to hire their own, the unfortunate state of affair we all know (and love) as “reservist”, and the abundance of cheap “foreign talent” of dubious qualities and who are unencumbered by in-camp training, and we’ve got ourselves a perfect example of how the government has fail us.  

You did hypothesize that the foreigner problem will go away when Singaporeans have more babies, and also obtain “high-value capabilities”. But how do you suppose Singaporeans go about doing that? There’s a reason why birth rates are low. Singaporeans are more concerned with setting themselves up; making sure that their kids won’t have to struggle when they get older.

But they’re never in the right position. They work so hard to strive for something bigger and better, but in doing so; fall into the trap of the rat-race and can’t seem to get out of it. They can’t even afford day-to-day expenses, a home for their family, and any potential medical emergencies. How on earth are they meant to think about children? Or perhaps we are too materialistic and selfish. Is that the fault of the government? Well, I would argue, yes. Especially when for the past 49 years, they have been inculcating in us that money trumps all and one has to compete, tooth and nail to be number one.

Furthermore, are you saying that the Singaporeans alive today don’t have “high-value capabilities”? Yes, we have our deficiencies, but you can’t honestly tell me that Singaporeans don’t possess “high-value capabilities”. And if that’s the case, then why is the prime minister telling us to not get degrees? How else are we meant to obtain these elusive “high-value capabilities” if we’re not striving to get degrees, Masters, and Doctorates to compete against foreigners?

I am glad that you agree that CPF is indeed the people’s money and should not be locked away, out of reach of its rightful owner.

But the complaints with CPF aren’t just limited to people’s inability to withdraw it all when they retire. There’s also the concern that the government is constantly upping the minimum amount that needs to be squirreled away; using inflation as a pretext. Then there’s the opaqueness of the entire operation, but let’s not get into that or we might be here forever.

As for your question of how much better my life will be if I were able to take all of it out? Well, it may be better because I’ve now got all my money, in one lump sum, which I can then spend on anything that my heart desires; from a Mercedes to a mistress. Or my life may be worse because I’ve lost all of it on girls or gambling. Either way, I’m still happy. You know why? Because at the end of the day, I’m the one who gets to decide how I want to spend my own money. Regardless of whether I want to invest it, spend it, squander it, or give it away to my children or a charity, it’s my choice!