Ex-PM Goh has used meritocracy and pragmatism, for the narrow
purpose of avoiding more creative pro-business and pro-people
solutions of problems.
Despite his lack of success in achieving many goals announced such
as improving the wages of ordinary people, he is today still a
strong believer of pragmatism which simply translates into money
making for the government.
All the civil servants became mercenaries using every opportunity
whenever there is a problem to use such problems as excuse to
charge fees, increases taxes for "pragmatic" solutions to
problems.
Pragmatism was conveniently used to cover up problems and override
all issues when the final solutions to our problems should be to
create a more cohesive culture, leadership-by-example social
morality, cohesion, equity and justice among the people from
overall education and governance system.
Singapore has missed a golden opportunity to upgrade and
restructure the initial success from the 1970s with such culture-
and social- approaches which will be more sustainable and
lasting.
In the mess created, the whole domestic economy has been eroded
with private sector struggling to survive rising costs of doing
business.
The results are deep periodic recessions and structural
unemployments due to failure to restructure the economy to
value-add and technology-driven model talked about for years.
The hapless citizens who despite all the years of contributing to
the coffers of HDB/LTA/URA etc suffered again and again from
pragmatism and mercenary ways of taxing and profiteering by HDB/LTA
etc and were made to pay more and more to no end to accumulate more
and more surpluses and increase profits for all ministries and
departments and their respective offshoots of GLCs.
Singapore has missed a golden opportunity due to wrong governing
philosophy which presumed that simplistic utterances of leadership
and talents and constant salary increases to a few top leaders
would solve all problems.
They forgot that if they have motivated the people by more creative
cultural and social approaches as mentioned they could have made
use of initial success and surpluses and empty lands and factories,
to create more vibrancy and jobs.
Now as long as they are still practising the so-called leadership
and pragmatism, they will continue to exact higher taxes recover
all possible costs, double-charging with COE, ERP, lands, assets
already paid for by people by selling such assets to such GLCs and
getting them to charge for same all over again.