<pic credit: AFP>
Despite how I felt, that the Singapore Government can do more to tackle haze (http://bit.ly/11m3dMb), last night when the PSI stood at 321, I made the following comment on my Facebook:
“This is the time to stand in solidarity with the government of Singapore, and hope that they will do what is right for Singapore and Singaporeans. Stay strong people!”
I made that comment because Singaporeans have got no choice, but to trust that in a time of crisis such as this, the government that they elected to office, will be honest with them and do the right thing for the country – its citizens.
The government after all is the one which has all the resources, tools, connections, as well as electoral mandate to lead and provide leadership in such a situation. I was (and to a certain extent am still) willing to follow their lead in this issue.
Since then however, because of allegations that the PSI rating has been tampered with (http://bit.ly/17o7Rhd), which calls into question the honesty of the government; because of how instead of the Heads of Governments coming together to solve this problem the head of NEA is dispatched to find a solution (http://on.fb.me/104atvc), which is viewed as a complete waste of time; and because of Manpower Ministry’s reluctance to issue a Stop Work Order despite the 3 hour average PSI hitting 391, which is viewed as reluctance by this government to place the well-being of its citizens above the economy, this trust has become very shaky.
The government still has time to not only do the right things, but also be seen to be doing the right things, and win the trust of its citizens in this crisis. And a good place to start earning this trust would be the issuance of a Stop Work Order asap.
Ravi Philemon
* Article was first published on Ravi Philemon’s Facebook page. He is a member of NSP.