I have to thank the person who post this question and the many
insights I gathered from the replies. I was just reading this piece
of news today on yahoo.
Quote: "Farouk Osman, an Undergraduate, said: "It’s regarding a
statement made by the Minister Mentor that if the opposition wins
in a GRC contest then Singaporeans should better sell their flat
because they would no longer be of any value. I think that’s bad.
He’s basically saying don’t vote the opposition and my feeling is
that most Singaporeans don’t like being told what to do, especially
regarding political stuff and this is especially so for people like
us, the younger generation."
It is a console to hear Singapore young adult voicing out their
concerns. I strongly share with Farouk Osman's plight. It is not
right for Minister Mentor to impose on their personal standpoint on
young adult. A good mentor should see to it that a student is
exposed to all knowledge, real life cases, experiences, and let the
student decides for himself which position he wants to take.
Telling the student "don't vote the opposition" downright
unacceptable.
Track back a bit on Singapore's past. Our country started off as
a fishing village, and the majority of the population then were not
educated. Therefore, people need to be led by the government. The
progress Singapore has achieved from being a third world country to
a developed nation over just 44 years is applaudable. However,
times have changed. Majority of the population now are
well-educated, and most of them have been around the world, or even
received good education from abroad (due to limited university
intake here). With internet, many young adults here are exposed to
all sort of information. The downside is, some people take in the
bad influence, such as excessive consumption, wasteful life-styles,
and extreme viewpoints without critical thinking. What we need to
caution is that information on the internet is not all true.You
need to have a critical mind and read widely to make any comment on
issues.
For example, the case with current PAP is that they do not know
how to present themselves to a new generation. In my opinion, many
times PAP members give inappropriate speeches. Also, PAP is not
listening to its people, although it hears what people have to say.
In other words, they still treat Singaporeans as ignorant,
uneducated people who need to be led.
I think Singaporeans are ready for multi-party systems, as long
as we keep to our core values and common goal of making our
environment a better place to live. These are just my opinion, now
you make your own :)
