Mr Lee said: "Coming back from Pasir Ris-Punggol last night, I saw my son at the dinner table and asked him 'where have you been?' 'Ang Mo Kio Workers' Party rally.' 'What were you doing there?' 'Wanted to know, brought friends, 20 of them from school in uniform and went to hear.'
"I asked him 'what did you hear?' Don't know what they were talking about but every time they said something, they cheered - he said that. I said 'why don't you come to the PAP rally?' He said 'so boring and logical'. So I think it's okay. Many more (are) like that, want to hear but when it comes to the moment to vote and decide, I think they know what's in their interest.
It is a good thing that students show some interest in politics.
ReplyDeleteHope the state-selected boys in white will not all end up as state-selected men in white.
his son's in acs(i) lah.
ReplyDeleteI think this PM must be an IDIOT to say such things! what kind of answers does he expect his son to tell him:
ReplyDeletePa... i went there cos all my friends supports the WP??
OR
Pa... cos i think PAP sucks??
The poor kid must be trying very hard to find the politically correct answer... curious... haha... asif
Hey hi i'm the one in the picture, with the red bag.
ReplyDeleteNo we didn't have any political affliation whatsoever, or at least most of us, but we were just there to listen to what the WP had to say.
We took 1 hour to get out of the crowd, leaving early at 8.30. lol. Took photos from a HDB block, we couldn't see the ends of the crowd.
Well, no political leanings yet, but still, personally, my vote would still go to the PAP. Too many people just diss the PAP for their shortcomings, but still i believe that when you zoom out and see the big picture, they're still better. Alternative voices, definitely, but still, i'd want the PAP to run the country. That is, at this moment in time.
Young man, you haven't seen the big picture yet ! You're in a tiny island and all you know is what they teach you in school...... you don't know what is better. If George Bush had a million $$$ salary to run America... think what he could do with Singapore... my goodness a million $$$$$ to run this tiny little island... Bush would say " a piece of cake!!!"
ReplyDeleteHi yeah- yeah, their million dollar salaries (or rather, $100,000+ per month salaries) isn't something i'll support fully (i think that it should be less, but not so little that corruption etc takes its toll). I don't support many other things that the PAP pushes forward either, or rather, not fully, as you have to admit that there is an underscoring logic in most of their policies. (wow look at how i qualify my statements)
ReplyDeleteYup, I'm young, 16. I trust the wisdom of ppl older (who have seen more of the world etc), but honestly, sometimes it's mainly a matter of perspective. I honestly don't think bush would manage singapore any better than LKY/LHL did- it's mainly just by what criteria you judge them by.
I can't say that i've seen the big picture, being 16, but from my limited perspective, the WP, other than it's aljunied ppl + key ppl, don't seem on par with the PAP. I would want an alternative voice (to protest at policies i don't like), but i'd want the PAP to run the country eventually. I said my vote would go to the PAP- if i voted for Singapore as a whole. If i was voting in Aljunied, it might not be the same.
No i don't just learn what they teach in school, lol... MOE would love it if they heard me. With the proliferation of the internet, my class is seriously split- those who support WP and those for PAP. We're the ones who benefited from the elitism, and it's enormously hard for us to talk about anything to people because they'll just write us off as the elites, to the point that sometimes we just wish that we'd be seen as young Singaporeans rather than RJC students. sigh.
No we aren't brainwashed to support the PAP... frankly, i'm a product of elitism. from GEP, to RI, to RJC, sometimes you feel guilty for it because people deride you as a stuck up. However, throughout this period, there's been nothing to directly point us towards the PAP. Our teachers encourage us to attend the rallies. Going for a rally is a valid excuse for not doing homework, so yeah. The greatest danger is being disconnected from other institutions, so that our society stratifies according to educational institutions. That would be a problem MOE will have to address....
I think above all, this is how all voters should think. Have your own mind. And mix your daily dose of ST with news from the net.
ReplyDeleteGood on you!
Look through the veils of underlying hypocrisy. At this current rate we are going, the wealth gap is just getting wider & wider. So many people on top (I'm not just talking about PAP ministers) are being overpaid while the ones at the bottom who does the hands on & dirty jobs toil for so little. How many PAP folks can actually connect to the common man & woman on the street? I'm sure most of the PAP folks dont underatnd what it means to struggle for a living. These poor hard workers die before they can chill & enjoy the quality of life.
ReplyDeleteDaniel,all i can say that you have a choice.
ReplyDeleteAnd that a very normal attidue from people like you,a certain class.You won't understand what our situation.
Sorry my english is not GP standard,hope you can reply me in Simple English.I don't belongs to an elites.
PAP for govt yes,but not a clean sweep.In a Big picture as you said,i very much disagreed with you that PAP is better,it will be disaterous,for us maybe not you. Thanks and i hope you understand that i am speaking from accodance my "economic" class my dear MP George yeo once defined.
Did PAP start off as experienced, world-class and capable, as it is today? They started with a few seats, and worked their way to where they are today. Similarly, we have every right to give the opposition the same opportunity and benefit of doubt.
ReplyDeleteIn other democratic countries, the citizens are never afraid to kick out the current government the moment it messes up. Are they afraid that the new government will lead to economic downturn, loss of jobs, and disaster to the country? No. They are not complacent, and they are not weak. Politicians serves the people, not the other way around. There is no need to vote for them simply because we fear the lost of their capabilities.
gogo paniel :P
ReplyDeleteAs we can see from the election results, the oppsition has done much better than the last time, so i think we can look forward to having a stronger more viable opposition in the next election, and its a good start. Not that PAP isn't doing an admirable job, but as Daniel says, we just want to hear what they have to say.
ReplyDeletedo u think that all those elites from rich and influential backgrounds living in condo/bungalows, dine at restuarants and ample cash to spend, able to understand what it is like to be a poor citizen in Singapore that had to work 50+ hours a week earning less than 1000mnth with mouths to feed and fearing to be sick with the rising costs?
ReplyDeleteclearly, we have such "elites" in PAP that have lost touched with the ground, and keep on enriching themselves with more pay while exercising controls on the local medias for their own gains and oppress anyone that speak otherwise.
to Robin: i really hope you'd see me as being the same as you... it's sucky when the education system makes us think there are "classes" of people. Yeah, but your point is really valid... like the PAP has seemingly lost touch with the ordinary people. That's something i won't forget.
ReplyDeleteto Fishbuff: yeah, i do see the point about them being "elites". I won't try to defend them, but honestly- I'm looking through the PAP candidates list, and some aren't from the richest bracket (mostly the younger ones). Is it more a problem that these people don't come from the "ordinary folk" but rather from the overachiever/elite people group?
Sigh- lol to an extent i don't want to be in RJC/RI/top school- it sucks when you seem different from everyone else, even when you don't want to. Sigh.
I've come to realise the battles is sth like the elites (the PAP), VS the perceived voice of the people (WP). Hm it will be very interesting to see what the PAP will do to "revamp" its image...
Daniel, I would hope those of your generation can really think hard about this: i.e. how capable the PAP ministers are? Are they really BETTER? And better as compared to who?
ReplyDeleteHere i'm wondering not how capable they are, but how ethical in terms of how they choose to conduct themselves through the elections. I think they're plenty capable, as has been shown in how they've run the country in the last few years.
ReplyDeletelet us not divide the nation further along the lines of elite vs poor. Daniel and critics.
ReplyDeleteWe all want unity in this nation.
I am a pre-65er and have studied in both a convent school and in RJ. I also remember how it was in my childhood when there was no streaming and we had a nice multiracial and balanced class of brainy and not so brainy. we understood each other well then. In RJ, things were different it became a IQ majority and the thinking was different and not so street wise. I am considered middle class comfortable today. Yet i am human and I believe firmly what PAP has done is well and beyond what we can consider as moral, ethical and even constitutional. I do not support the bully tactics. I do not support the divide that is coming abt in this nation as a result of their policies over the decades like Stop at Two and streaming. I do not support them fixing anyone who dares raise an opposing voice.
Daniel, you are indeed young very young still. You have a brain so apply your logic but also use your heart. The brainwashing is insidious and starts from young. It's everywhere but you can't see it as you are not even aware it exists. Somethings are not whiter than white as they claim to be.
Use your heart to differentiate what is right and wrong. Do not just seek wealth, glory and fame and sacrifice integrity and humility. i wish you well daniel and all the young ones of Singapore . Grow up into someone worthy of respect.
well said ! An enlightened ruler has high moral values and rule from the heart..... it's not brains that will lead a nation on the right path.... remember "Hitler had plenty of brains!!!!" And " brainwashing is insidious... ... Daniel should spend a year or two ( although he may not have the chance since he'll be called to NS) travelling overseas and see for himself the rest of humanity... Singapore is definitely not representative of a real democracy since it's ranked 140th for Press Freedom.
ReplyDeleteMy general perception of the youth of Singapore today is that they are highly intelligent, creative, responsive ..... but alas very unsympathetic and definitely not very
caring towards the weaker and less abled and generally apathetic towards
the ills of society.... they are too busy chasing their own dreams...... ..
whether it's $$$$ or power. Don't blame them though, they have learnt from the seniors around them.... and will eventually pass these values to their children and their children's children. That's the SINGAPORE we're perpectuating!
we have enough division already, be it political or otherwise, and we don't have to further separate the elite from the poor.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we youth are unsympathetic, we're trying to find ways to help.
The elections were the spark to light a huge fire about singaporean identity in general and the divides that exist here, so let's work to make them less pronounced.
hi wow that is some keyword spam lol
ReplyDeleteto the post 65er: i'm not at either polar end. My viewpoint is pretty similar to yours- i have immense respect for the people who run this country (whether PAP or not), and i honestly believe that they do know what they're doing. Most of the divide here comes because of different perspectives and priorities. If our priorities are economic growth- i think the PAP has done a job rivalled by few. However, i realise that the opposition's argument lies more in the fact that it puts forward a different set of priorities, perhaps differing from that of the PAP.
Very personally, i think the PAP's game strategy will benefit Singapore in the longer term... economically, etc. the role of the opposition, is to perhaps highlight other priorities, and allow us to weigh which one is more important.
Maybe something Singapore could press towards is a consensus democracy- one where the gov. considers the concerns of the minority, before making decisions. The PAP has some semblance of this- just that perhaps they left a few holes here and there? ok yeah you ppl are going to attack this lol.
After thinking a bit, i think saying that the PAP has lost its connection with the ordinary man is a bit unjustified... my parents support the PAP, and i know many people who do so. I don't know... have they lost that connection?
I'm a neutral... honestly. Both sides want the best for singapore, i believe. Just that they have different and conflicting ideas of what that singapore should be. The PAP has done alot for singapore, and i'd be confident they know what to do... but yeah- an alternative voice, to show a different perspective, is necessary. At least we have at least 3 people who will do that in parliament now.
I think this elitism is self-fulfilling - the more you think it exists, the more your actions show it, and the greater the divide. I'm also a student, in RJC, and the stuff some people have described here - i guess it's changing.
ReplyDeletePeople are being encouraged to think, to speak up, to be creative. And with all that, students are really starting to voice different opinions. People in RJC - as far as I can see - don't whisper about politics. They debate and argue about this stuff openly - I mean in-the-middle-of-canteen-during-lunchtime openly.
Attitudes are changing. The people are more educated and more mature now than 10 years ago, and they're going to question the PAP more. If the voters of 2016 (my generation) are inheriting any values, these are values of questioning and thinking - certainly NOT obeying without thinking or shutting up at the (politically) right time.
They will vote for whichever party they deem fit, not whichever party promises lift upgrading. The value of an opposition party is that it brings different goals, priorities and focus to policymaking. A different path and definition of success. And that's why I'm anti-PAP-domination - because it's unhealthy for the country.
I agree that their behaviour during the elections towards James Gomez was hardly ethical, even dishonourable - even though there's nothing legally wrong about harrassing an opponent in the manner the PAP has done, it's ridiculously heavy-handed and morally questionable. I hope that wherever you stand - PAP or opposition, "elite" or not, you recognise there's a line you should never cross; it's called "common decency".
- rayner
its about time people were able to speak openly about what they really feel rather than keeping quiet and voting for the PAP without taking time to consider why. And i'm glad students are able to do this too, and that they actually care about where this country is heading.
ReplyDeleteWe need an opposition to provide the balance and make sure that the PAP is held accountable for the way they run the country, no question about that. And yes, people have become mature enough to understand this, and i guess this is why we've seen such an increase in the number of people who voted for the opposition. 2 out of 84 is kind of sad, though.
But if this trend keeps up, we should be seeing a stronger opposition and one that has more clout when the next election rolls around.