Article:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2009
MM Lee: Singaporeans have become “less hard-driving and
hard-striving.”
National Geographic Magazine, Jan 2010
Over time, the MM says, Singaporeans have become “less
hard-driving and hard-striving.” This is why it is a good thing,
the MM says, that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese
immigrants (25 percent of the population is now foreign-born). He
is aware that many Singaporeans are unhappy with the influx of
immigrants, especially those educated newcomers prepared to fight
for higher paying jobs. But taking a typically Darwinian stance,
the MM describes the country’s new subjects as “hungry,” with
parents who “pushed the children very hard.” If native Singaporeans
are falling behind because “the spurs are not stuck into the hide,”
that is their problem.
Personal Opinion:
If i am to rephrase the last sentence posted in this article. MM
Lee just asked us to go and ‘F’ Ourselves. if we do not push
ourselves or our children very hard. Singapore is already a fast
paced environment where money rules over time. If MM is trying to
tell us that we have to push even harder, wouldn’t that make a
materialistic and economical society that does not have any social
interaction? This kind of life would be very difficult to grasp for
Singaporeans, and is already showing in the early stages of
immigration. If he wants the influx to continue or even expand, he
would be contradicting the whole PAP and his
own son, who are trying to change immigration policies to suit
Singaporeans better.
According to Dr. Mahathir’s book “Malay’s Dilemma”, the mindset or
attitude of people cannot be changed overnight, what MM Lee is
saying ‘the spurs are not stuck into the hide’ means that we have
to change our mindsets to drive ourselves more and basically be
hungry to strive for better grades and so on… As shown in the case
of the Malays in Malaysia, they have taken 50 years, and would
probably need another 100 or 150 years to catch up with the Chinese
in terms of economic power. If the influx of foreigners continue
coming in, we would become a modern age Malaysia, where the
‘indigenous’people are disadvantaged by the incoming foreigners and
their rulers. The Main difference between this comparison, is that
this ‘sabotage’ in Malaysia happened during the british colonial
ruling, so the Big Questions means: Is MM Lee just like a colonial
ruler? he just sounds like one.
Just some food for thought, feel free to respond to this
comment