8/04/2006

learning a little thing from the world bank

The World Bank wants the right to be criticised. What silliness! What an oddity of circumstance, for a powerful, respectable institution to lobby for permission to be granted to civil society organisations to have 'more opportunity to express their views', in a manner that will most certainly be non-complimentary to the World Bank. I copied the above from littlespeck.com. article was from blogger i-speak. When I heard that the World Bank was requesting the Singapore govt for permission to allow international demonstrators to demonstrate during the IMF meeting here next month, I found it rather strange. Why would the World Bank want to do that? It would only make life more difficult for them. Or is it a wayang that the World Bank is choreographing? It seems that the World Bank is serious in wanting to hear dissenting voices and views. The philosophy is simple. Criticisms and alternative views are healthy and provide another perspective which the World Bank can consider and may even help it to improve on what it is doing. It does not adopt the high and mighty 'I know it all attitude' and no one else is smarter than them and all dissenting views are unworthy or will undermine what they are doing. This is enlightenment of a very high level. And not only that the World Bank believes in it but also want to put it into practice. Other wise they will become a model of hypocrisy. Can Singapore learn a trick or two from the World Bank? Or we know it best. Nothing do learn anymore. We are the best.

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