4/24/2007

The muted silent corner

While the debate and airing of the ministerial pay hike were furious, both in the MSM and cyberspace, the battle line is quite clear. The ruling party is obviously fully behind it, with a few exceptions, and there were Ministers and MPs standing up to defend the position. The opposition's view is as good as anyone can expect. And so are the views of the public. So far I have yet to hear anyone having a good thing to say about the issue. And they are all being polite and circumscribe. What about the opinion makers and those luminaries with a view? The academics, the retired or elder statesmen and civil servants, the professionals and the newsmakers? These are people that must have a view. They cannot be clueless or opinionless. So far there is an almost total silence. Where are the voices of the elite of this Little Red Dot? Their silence could mean two things. For or against. These densely opinionated elite cannot be fence sitters. Perhaps they are all for the pay hike so nothing more to add. Or they are against it but have taken the cue or sense that it is better to shut up. That would be a shame for a first world nation or a little country boasting of being first world when opinions and views that matter were found wanting. The overwhelming presence of LKY and his intense support for the pay hike may be a suffocating factor. Just my opinion. I think not many would want to take the other corner to take on such a heavy weight that holds no punches. Now which is the case? Where are the elite or is this the proof that we need, that Singapore is sorely in need of talents or alternative political leadership?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

you see..that's what happened with worldly success and wealth....you can't be true to yourself without risking having your material goods and acquired living sabotaged, fired, put in cold storage, be sued, demoted or framed like a touristy middle eastern picture.

the silence of the lambs - numbo one box office and stll is today!

Anonymous said...

some countries have it all wrong. the people do not and should not owe their living to the rich, but the rich to the people. otherwise, the interests of the majority will become subservient to the interests of the minority elites. the laws will then be skewed in favor of the wealthy elites leaving the majority disillusion and the resulting injustices, aplenty , covered up under the pretext of 'civility' and the 'greater good'.

only fools will believe such a state of affairs will not reap the vast damages of its 'greater good'! and it is the irresponsible educated fools we have breed that silently murder the masses now and more so at the end of each age.

Anonymous said...

1)silence is sometimes the speech of arrogance. but it can also be the communication of guilt.

2)worldly success and wealth requires that we conform to somebody or an image(it laws dictates conformity) we may eventually come to hate.

put the two above together, that's the elites way of not being "ostentatious with their wealth".

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

we cannot be a first world country when the elite do not feel free to share their views and when differences in views and opinions are intolerable.

there should be self restraint in articulating views by not being vicious or resorting to personal attacks. but when self restraint is refraining from disagreeing or having different opinions, then it is a very sad state of affair in the overall wellbeing of a nation and people.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Too many people need to find a strawman to blame, and thus focus on what is not "right" instead to taking full advantage of what is right.

Whilst I too vent my spleen on the net, because I have an acutely sensitive "freedom compass", I DON'T take myself too seriously to the point where I blind myself to the (almost) INFINITE opportunity in this WONDERFUL world.

The PAP will pay their people top dollar, now, and as long as they are in power. That's not going to change. The belief that "monkey = peanuts" is well and truly ensconced into the "reality" of those who govern — it is already a CULTURE.

So what to do? Shrug it off and get on with my life, that is my formula which works for me.

It is pointless to worry about stuff you have no control over, nor can you change. It makes perfect sense to exert as much control as you can over the thing you can control — like your own mind.

Life is for living!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

there is life to live, there is blog to blog. the two can coexist just like reality and idealism.