Singapore. The real version. Not the Straits Times
version.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If a Singaporean were just to read the Straits Times, and nothing
else; which would show a lack of common sense on his part anyway;
he will no doubt believe that Singapore is the best place to live
in the world, not only that, very soon, it would be nothing less
than Heaven! That is what the Russians thought under Stalin reading
Pravda news.
If Singapore's one major asset is it's workforce, since it does not
have any natural resources, then it does look like Singapore is in
trouble because the workforce is progressively weakening in skills
and ability; an absolute necessity for any nation trying to move
from a third world status to that of first world. This weakening of
the work force is because the people have lost respect for their
government, lost respect for their politicians, lost respect for
their public institutions, lost respect for their judiciary and the
administration of justice.
This general distrust in their government and its politicians is
the major reason why the well known efficiency of Singapore will
slowly begin to disappear and Singapore will slowly find itself
relegated to the league of less advanced countries like the
Philippines.
If any parent in Singapore will for a moment consider and
contemplate their children's future, they will begin to worry about
what sort of adults they will turn out to be; honest parents, that
is.
We all know that real success in Singapore is that of Lee Kuan Yew
PAP politicians, whom we are told are paid $3 million per year,
just as all the other top level Civil Servants and Judges. So any
parent who continues to live and educate their young children in
Singapore, being naturally ambitious, would also want their
children to achieve success, to be paid $3 million like Lee Kuan
Yew and his selected lieutenants. I am here of course, talking of
the few parents, thank God, who do not have a sense of integrity
about them.
Therefore in the Singapore philosophy of success, it should be
greed and not public service; or the need to excel in ones chosen
profession; that should be the eventual goal for any Singapore
parent or child; whereas true success, according to the thinking in
first world countries, is to be able to serve ones community,
one's country, and the wider world though hard work and dedication,
and if a professional, through excellence achieved from a lifetime
of hard work. Of course, highly successful politicians, public
employees and professionals in advanced countries in the world are
also paid well, but unlike Singapore, they do not get into politics
and government principally to enrich themselves; like they do in
Singapore.
This depressing realization among Singapore parents and their
children; that to achieve success, they have to compromise their
conscience and pursue money at all costs; is the major reason for
the educated and able in Singapore to pack up and leave for
countries such as Australia. They prefer their children to be
educated in Australia or New Zealand over Singapore, knowing that
education is not merely learning a set of rules but it is also an
education in morality, good principles and the desire to become
honorable men and women; which the Singapore system does not
encourage or even permit.
And for Singapore to become a first world country and to succeed in
industry, finance and trade, it has to have really educated men and
women; not what Lee Kuan Yew has produced so far, among the ruling
class, or will be able to produce in the future. This will
eventually become an impediment to continued growth and will
eventually bring Singapore down to the third world status of it's
neighbors.
Emigration of the highly educated professionals is the one greatest
problem that Singapore faces. These highly educated Singaporeans;
which is not such a large number to start with; given Singapores
small population of 4 million, are leaving almost en masse. Anther
important reason for these educated to leave in ever increasing
numbers recently is because of the government's new policies of
retaining their CPF earnings until they reach 65, and even then,
further retain about $100,000.00 as minimum deposits. This policy
effectively denies them access to their money in their lifetime if
they remain Singaporeans; so what else to do but to leave
Singapore, renounce their Singapore citizenship and take their
money which is rightfully theirs to enjoy.
Among Singaporeans, those who remain are the uneducated or
partially educated; those who work at the malls, as security guards
and as clerks at the Ministry of Environment. They are just
employees who take and carry out instructions for a living. All
they are concerned is to be able to survive, and they can do that
in Singapore. Not much ambition because not much education.
Although essential for any country, these workers are not the one's
necessary to manage and administer Singapore.
The vacuum of the highly educated and able Singaporeans who have
left; due to lack of foresight and understanding of the highly paid
Singapore ministers, has to be filled somehow. So recruitment of
skilled and educated professionals is conducted in countries such
as Philippines, India, China and so on. These people who are
selected for work in Singapore to replace those highly talented
Singaporeans are never the best even in their own countries, and in
no way comparable to the Singaporeans who left, either in their
education, their way of thinking or their work ethic.
As you can see, most of these immigrants to Singapore come from
poorer countries like Philippines, China and India. And they come
with a baggage, literally and metaphorically. All these countries
have a culture of corruption among their people. This is how they
lived in their countries and this is how they think; the vast
majority of them.
A Filipino, a mainlander Chinese or Indian may think while in
Singapore that if he did not get a government license for this or
that, perhaps he could get one with a bribe? Second, they will
never work as hard as a Singaporeans would in Singapore, since
after all it is not their country. They come for a few years, make
some money and go home. No need to be over enthusiastic in a
foreign country, surely.
Eventually with the continued loss of educated and professional
Singaporeans, more and more foreigners take their places. And as
the number of foreigners increase in proportion to Singaporeans,
the entire psyche and mindset of the Singaporean population begin
to shift, to that of the mindset of the Filipino in Quezon City;
thus eventually bringing Singapore to where Philippines is at
present.
It is quite obvious that the Singapore government has lost it's
reliability, credibility and dependability which is a major reason
why the able and educated leave. Although the Lee Kuan yew
government has always abused the law and denied it's citizens their
rights, in the recent past, they have brazenly flouted the fact
that they care nothing about the laws and they will do whatever
they want. Examples of this high handedness are too numerous to
mention; but the recent excesses are the upping of ministerial
salaries to $3 million a year and the clear refusal of the
government to pay their citizens, their CPF monies on retirement.
By these actions, repeated over the years, has resulted in the
people losing all hope that anything will be certain, reliable or
dependable in Singapore and that it is nothing more than a
government run by Lee Kuan Yew's dictates. This has created an
uncertainly to the level that it is no longer safe to live in
Singapore permanently, since what you see today may not be what you
see tomorrow, if Lee Kuan Yew so decided.
The other reason is the terminal age of Lee Kuan Yew at 84. He will
die very soon. If it is already this bad under his iron grip, how
much worse will it become under that of his son, whom he has
appointed Prime Minister, who is generally seen to have neither
ability nor experience and who appears to require the constant
mentoring by his father the Minister Mentor...
http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/09/singapore-real-version-not-straits.html
