Where is my country going?
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Where is my country going?
January 1, 2010
By Lawrence Pek
I have lived more than 12 years outside of Singapore. During these times, I have missed home and my family, my country and I have tried my best to keep track via the net, what is happening, where is it going and what it will take to get us there.
I cannot say that I am at all happy with all that has happened in the last 2 to 3 years. The PAP which I knew, trusted and depended on, has changed, evolved and maybe mutated….
There has been many articles pro and anti government / PAP in recent months, with all sorts of people with all sorts of ideas thrown into the mix. I have read many of them and after a while, paused to wonder, where all these will lead to, while entertaining, many of the stories are now merely specific incidences of indiscretions by either pro or anti establishment figures. Pro government / PAP stories are heavily carried in the Straits Times and other MSM (Main Stream Media), while any anti government antics are heavily exposed via the various blogs.
The objective of my article is not to go into specific issues like growing influx of foreigners, rising HDB prices or losses incurred by our GIC and Temasek Holdings. As the battle rages on b/w pro and anti establishment, I am inclined to think about the following questions.
Where is my country going? Why are we on this course and who decided?
Why do we need 6 mil headcount in Singapore by 2020? What is this number about and how was it derived? What scares me is that our numbers people from various Ministries will be so fixated with this number and becomes a KPI which they will die trying without a clear understanding of how this number was derived and what impact this number will mean.
My assumptions are that in the various ministries, the below were discussed at length:1. We need this number to achieve a certain GDP growth, to sustain our economy, living standards and yes, our way of life. (in biz, we acknowledge that Size Does Matter), if we do not achieve this KPI, we will be left behind in the global fight for talents and growth engines.
2. Our local birthrates is not growing, if not declining, therefore if we cannot do it organically, lets artificially import them.
3. Yes, there will surely be unhappiness in streets, but our people have always known a singular PAP, we can explain, communicate via our MSM, we will highlight examples of “Success Stories” and eventually, at some point in the future, they will accept our policies, they always have anyway….When we (PAP, the government of Singapore) arrive at 2020, my local children will understand my pains and they will thank me later, for now, the healing medicine is bitter and they need to be forced feed to them.
My concern is not whether these assumptions are right or not (in the rules of global politics, these are never straightforward) – but what about the voices of the local people? what they want and if there were any constructive discussions before the conclusions, the target settings and eventually, the executions.
Yes, there will be a lot of objections if these issues were brought up 5 years ago and nothing will move forward, if such sensitive issues were to be brought up for discussions and a referendum sought. Further, there is a lot of arguments to be made for a lot of successful policies that benefited the people, which were not welcomed and not discussed and so why should this be any different? (ERP is a good example, no one likes it, but it does solve the congestions problem, somewhat..)
But why can’t we do things differently? How about a simple 3 step process…
1. Please tell us what you are thinking? What are the basis of such thinking? What are the alternatives?
2. Let’s table for discussion via a debate online or via MSM – with either Opposition or NMPs or even better yet, the common man on the streets (lets choose them carefully, of course)
3. Let the Various Ministries Decide with clear communications about what were the critical issues and why we need to do this, what will be the impact if not….
I would like to implore the ruling party to consider the following…
a. The Policy of the Paternal PAP – has worked (somewhat) for the past 44 years – but given the new social fabric, will be the way to go in the future ? Is there no scope, no more tolerance for public discussions before each and every major policy announcements?
b. The Process of Discussions has a lot of benefits – the people cannot say their views were never considered, they did not know before, the government agencies, the ruling party (which we have voted in) has studied the issues, heard the feedback and now, have made a decisions.
c. The Winds of Change are Blowing – things are different now, the policies of the Past cannot be the way forward, unless I am mistaken, the ruling party knows this, but maybe, just have no idea what to do about it. They need to evolve and not mutate, if they continue to NOT LISTEN to the people, they will do so at their own Perils.
On a more personal note – having served my National Service, I have grown to realize, to value, to love, the sanctity of a sovereign state, my Country, my Singapore. I consider it my privilege that I have met my Minister Mentor, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, in person….I will take a bullet for the man, but I do not want him to lead my country into the next lap, the next 50 years.
The Winds of Change are blowing….http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/01/01/where-is-my-country-going/
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For a person who betrayed his country for 12 years and still dare to comments, give critics and worst, recommendation on how to rule this country. Your Honor, i have nothing more to say.
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betray??gimme the definition of betray?
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betray is when u have sex with someone and then run off and say im married!
he didnt run off from his country n married another country.that term betray should be used only for permanet residence in spore who still keep their own country of citixzenship n not converted to sporean citizernship.
thread starter has not in any way betrayed spore!
your honour i close my case and lets have an adjournment at a later day for angel70 to clean the court room of hums!
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spore is goin to hell from way its progressing......its suffering from a meltdown due to people they replaced in 10 years ago...i suggest puting in people with better properties that wonrt suffer meltdown just like the old original sporeans who immigated away or passed away!
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A patriot man must standby his country, no matter if the govt is good or bad, no matter if the country is up or down, that is the true citizenship, he must give back what the society had given him unless there is totally economy breakdown, chaos, riot, civil war or war in that particular country where one and one family have to survive for the generation to move on and perhap to build the country again.
Anyway, being away for so long, what does he really knows about the ground, the real ground of what is happening in Singapore, and in life, it is always better to talk cork and sing song from an outside perspective, because he/she got nothing to loose other than crying crocodile tears for his/her country while living in another country.
Look at those indians, the mynmars, the PRCs, viets, bangalas etc etc, even at the worst situation in their country, they will not back down and said that their country is lousy or poorly governed, and if you said about their country, you are going to be their enemy, but our singaporeans in overseas are spreadly our bad images which is not true and one own opinon, and when peoples in that country said Singapore is so lousy, they agreed with them...my goodness...I close my case.
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patriot man???i have a tattoo of singapore flag on my arm!angel 70///u got any or not??!!
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Originally posted by Hitman_:
patriot man???i have a tattoo of singapore flag on my arm!angel 70///u got any or not??!!
mine is in my left buttock -
???????and why u want to say anytrhing bad bout anyones things????even if u said the old rusty bicycle in storeroom of yer frend is ribbish...yuer frend wuld be angry!!!
wats that making a country crap is the system they are havuing n how bad its being runned !it is then the real patriots to take them the systyem to ensure survival of millionjs......i would rather sacrifice an army of politicians who are doing a poor job then see country destroyed gradually by them.
if they are doin a good job...then prove it!and then without them and if the system continues then there is no need fer a dummy supervising an automatic system
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could u please cut it off n sew it on yer breast!!!have soome pride in yer flag!
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zzzzzzzzz,,,,,,
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Washington and gang were once labelled traitors and betrayers, now they're idolised as patriots.
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Originally posted by Hitman_:
patriot man???i have a tattoo of singapore flag on my arm!angel 70///u got any or not??!!
I'm thinking to get a tattoo of lky face and lhl on my buttocks so I can sit on them every morning -
Originally posted by angel7030:
For a person who betrayed his country for 12 years and still dare to comments, give critics and worst, recommendation on how to rule this country. Your Honor, i have nothing more to say.
If you have nothing good to contribute, just get lost , go think of ways to improve your brothel businesss.Who are you to speak that way to TS???
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Singapore is made unique. In Singapore it is not the people who decide where the country is going rather it is the people whom the nation feeds decide. Dictatorship rules here!
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Where is my country going?
That's not the right question.
Right question should be how to remove PAP from power.
We can't be stuck on this type of questions like
Where is my country going?
If you don't like the way the country is going, you should be thinking of ways of how to get rid of the ruling party.
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
If you have nothing good to contribute, just get lost , go think of ways to improve your brothel businesss.Who are you to speak that way to TS???
Huh!!! TS God ar??? Dictators i also talk and shout at them...dun scare one lah...country belong to all ok,...so, who is TS??/ ask him to wait outside my Joo Chiat house,...seven eleven kopishop. -
Originally posted by ztreyier:
That's not the right question.
Right question should be how to remove PAP from power.
We can't be stuck on this type of questions like
Where is my country going?
If you don't like the way the country is going, you should be thinking of ways of how to get rid of the ruling party.
Just ask yourself, what are you going to do first??? Can't even talk care of yourself, want to care for the country??? how can??? pant also wear out of shape,...go tailor make one lah
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Singapore is made unique. In Singapore it is not the people who decide where the country is going rather it is the people whom the nation feeds decide. Dictatorship rules here!
Singpore is a country, it is not unique...same as all the world country. It is the people like you and me that is unique ya, so dun alway say everything is Singapore ya, she had feed you so many years liao...and still not enuf ar?? -
Originally posted by angel7030:
For a person who betrayed his country for 12 years and still dare to comments, give critics and worst, recommendation on how to rule this country. Your Honor, i have nothing more to say.
This "betrayer" has about as much of a right to comment and be critical of Singapore, his HOME country, as you do.You should be looking at the content of the post, not the origin of the content of the post.
If you think otherwise, I would say the hostility you are receiving is a hundred percent justified, and I would have every right to ask you to "fuck off and go back to Taiwan" as well.
Your Honor, I have nothing more to say.
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Originally posted by Dejomel:
This "betrayer" has about as much of a right to comment and be critical of Singapore, his HOME country, as you do.You should be looking at the content of the post, not the origin of the content of the post.
If you think otherwise, I would say the hostility you are receiving is a hundred percent justified, and I would have every right to ask you to "fuck off and go back to Taiwan" as well.
Your Honor, I have nothing more to say.
Objection your honor, personal attack. -
Originally posted by ztreyier:
That's not the right question.
Right question should be how to remove PAP from power.
We can't be stuck on this type of questions like
Where is my country going?
If you don't like the way the country is going, you should be thinking of ways of how to get rid of the ruling party.
"Thinking of ways"? Can't be that hard now, can it? -
Originally posted by angel7030:
Objection your honor, personal attack.
If Lawrence Pek were here, he would reply the same thing to you. -
Originally posted by Dejomel:
If Lawrence Pek were here, he would reply the same thing to you.
who is that ah pek,...my goodness, so many ah peks here i also dunno who is who, and these ah peks love to clone alot,...haiz...go sleep liao...bye bye -
Originally posted by angel7030:
Objection your honor, personal attack.
over rule - "genuis"