it is really sad to watch something like this sometimes. it is a known fact that i get rather critical about singapore and its systems. however, it really saddens me to watch a video like this that removes the nicey-nice veil of singapore and reveals the ugly truth. it’s true what they say, you know? the truth really does hurt. i guess it cuts deeper when you know that what they are saying is true. singaporeans have been awfully xenophobic in many ways. hey, i am bloody guilty of that you too. we have always been so afraid of foreigners being on our shores. and usually what we go about doing is the brand them negatively and treat them badly. many of us just wish that they would pack up and go home. it is through these simple things that we can tell that we dont treat our foreigner hard labour workers well at all. these wonderful people chose to come here for the meagre money and they build all these skyscrapers that we are priding ourselves with. i think it is time we give these guys some basic respect and dignity. often we speak of the atrocities of the japanese occupation. i think in many ways we are also doing the same to these fellas. this video for me really serves as a painful reminder to always think before we blab our nonsense.
but we have wonderful people like, ms julia chua, who gets “irked” by “young singaporeans who blog negatively about singapore government”. i think miss chua needs to reconsider a few things. for one, criticism is not always a bad thing. and secondly, criticism does not equate to one not appreciating the “peace and harmony”, “the roof over our heads” and the fact that we have “plenty to eat and so much to enjoy”. personally, i feel that the people who bother to criticise are people who bother to think about singapore and the way it is run. these are the people who love singapore enough to give a damn. dont you think everyone knows the “great pains to mould this tiny island into a place of wonder” by now? many of us have been through enough national days to know that. criticisms share the very fundamental rationale of why our parents scold us and good friends advise each other. it is only the strong relationships between two parties that are arent afraid of harsh criticisms that reflect the truth. there are even some cultures who embrace criticisms as opportunities for growth. for it is only through that that one may develop and improve.
conversely, i think it is the people sit back and simply “appreciate” what have been spoonfed into them who are taking things for granted. criticism is often synonymous to baseless chiding. is it really baseless? silence, passiveness and conformity does not equate to appreciation. i think there are many people like ms chua who merely look at the face value of a phenomena and gloss over it with self-righteous over-generalised assumptions. the videos here are great examples of criticism. should such criticism of injustice and unfair treatment be silenced? would that then be considered as appreciation then? think deeper about it, ms chua, then decide on whom should the shame be cast upon.
anyhow, i shant get too caught up with issues like this. there are more immediate problems that need my attention. like the piling school work which have been really interesting and also challenging at the same time. also, my dad is in the hospital resting in the hospital right now from the heart operation he underwent earlier in the day. this is his second one, but he is much older this time round, which makes it all the more worrying. i really hopes he recovers well.
