6/11/2012

The rights and wrongs of Reuben Wang



Reuben Wang is the new young sensation after the infamous get out of my elite uncaring face episode. But this time Reuben’s notoriety is about swearing at the DPM. Young people are hot and expressive. It is a kind of language that I too occasionally let go when frustrated by the unrepentant. Using such terminologies are socially incorrect in whatever circumstances, but sometimes they came out spontaneously and there is no other expletives that can replace them in saying what needs to be said. I am not encouraging the young to be so flowery and generous in their verbal expression.

It is the right for anyone to disagree with anyone, even with the govt or the most powerful one. Disagreement is not about being rude or uncourteous or being offensive or even a crime. What is so wrong about saying one disagree with some views or even policies? Unless the turkey thinks that he is damn right and nobody can disagree with his idiocy.

Young people, especially sinkies, must be encouraged to think critically and to disagree when it is right to disagree, when they seriously think that something is just not right. Maybe it is not a matter of right or wrong but a matter of priorities, a matter of values, a matter of interpretations.

No one shall be castigated for disagreeing. The schools have a vital role in not teaching students to conform to authority for the sake of political correctness. This will be the biggest failure of our education process if we do that. And unfortunately we have done that for too long and have sterilized the minds of several generations of unthinking Sinkies.

The inability or fear to question and to disagree is a sickness in our people to the extent that any little disagreement or non acceptance of a dominant idea is taken as a big surprise, a big shock, a no no. Disagreement, in the case of Reuben Wang, could be put forth succinctly, forcefully but with less venom. A little deference is not a bad thing but not be cowed by jokers who demand that everyone must know his place. A bit of decorum and decency is good and would allow a disagreement to be taken and accepted in a more pleasant way. Just disagree if one has do, and there is nothing about being brave or being right or wrong, but don’t give the other an excuse that one is rude. That will distract the whole intention of the disagreement.

As this is exactly what happened to the Reuben case. It is no longer about the whys of his outburst, the reason for his displeasure or anger. It is now about his being socially incorrect, rude and maybe be removed from school. It became a disciplinary issue. What happens to the crux of the discussion? Lost in the milieu of challenging a social norm?

45 comments:

The said...

The way to go is to agree to disagree agreeably.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

At least he said "Sir".

And he did make a trip to personally apologise.

I would say this young fella has character.

Anonymous said...

From what I read, he was 'invited' to go see DPM.
Sounds just like another limkopi session, but under parental accompaniment.

Compare this with SunXu incident.
Even a scholar like him can curse vulgars and insult millions of singaporeans, all he got was a counseling with the Dean of NUS. Was he invited to MHA to genuflect? Even your damn MOE MP was not interested to get involved and says this is a school's disciplinary action.

Now this Singaporean JC has to be manhandled to kowtow to DPM Teo, and shut down his blog?
Was SunXu's parents also invited to limkopi with the Dean of NUS or MHA?

Anonymous said...

Unanswered Question #2
----------------------
Is the Pro Alien Party an anti-Sinkie political party?

Is the Pro Alien Party responsible for discriminating against Sinkies?

Is the Pro Alien Party responsible for undermining the loyalty of Singaporeans ... including our NS men?

Anonymous said...

Hi RB,

I thought it was clear on the form (WAY) and substance (WHAT). And this is from the horse's mouth.

Mr Teo said: ‘I am glad he has taken the time to reflect, and recognises that WHAT he said, as well as the WAY he said it, were wrong.'

Just visualize he said it with a smirk on his face.

And if we were to reflect deeper, we can take this as one f**king big misundertanding or both parties have compromised their own integrity.

As the fictional character Goemon would say "if you do not want to be bullied, make yourself stronger".

Anonymous said...

It is great that DPM Teo is so humble and he asked all the 17 years old who went to listen to him:"Tell me what do you think?"
A surprise indeed.

Anonymous said...

How does our hero look likes ?

http://www.facebook.com/reuben.wang

The next steve jobs !

Speaking of Steve Jobs, he once use the "question approach" and still convince the people with his answer. Yes, If some buggers asking a question, the same bugger should give his own answer. This is what Steve jobs do, and our fu@#$king clowns trying to be like Steve Jobs and not giving answer because they already want to continue their own status quo, and not taking alternate solution and view .

Watch how Steve jobs ask back the question and reply with affirmative answer that explicit and direct with none of the "beating around the bush that our millions-dollars clowns are associating with".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udyy2gQyNso

A questioner: What about opendoc ?
Steve Jobs: Yes. What about Opendoc ? (Steve jobs then continue to impress the people with his answer: It's dead and why it' dead)

And that is why Steve Jobs is Steve Jobs, PAP clowns are PAP clowns !

Anonymous said...

Kids say the darnest things...

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hope they have not killed the spirit of exciting. Young people must stand up, take the knocks, stand up again, get some bruises, but never be defeated.

Making mistakes or saying the darnest things are the rights of being young. Young people must not be inhibited and feel threatened for being young.

They are raw but will grow with age.

Anonymous said...

This issue is galvanising a lot of support from the students. The whole student population is behind Reuben. If they remember in 2016, it is going to be costly.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

This case and the internet should give the govt a good feel on how deep the resentment is. If they want genuine feedback from the ground, this is as real as they govt is going to get.

But they might just want to hear only from the official feedback channel called Reach and treat these as irrelevant, tak pakai.

'Mat said...

Yes guys, march on to GE2012 and tell them to FOOK OOF!!!

'Mat said...

Sori, should be GE2016...

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi Mat, welcome to the blog.

Ya, but everyone understands. 2016 is looking quite an interestng year of change.

Anonymous said...

I hope Reuben & his friends are old enough to vote in GE 2016.

I hope the St Andrew's alumni wlll rally around Reuben.
Up & On!

Anonymous said...

"As this is exactly what happened to the Reuben case. It is no longer about the whys of his outburst, the reason for his displeasure or anger. It is now about his being socially incorrect, rude and maybe be removed from school. It became a disciplinary issue. What happens to the crux of the discussion? Lost in the milieu of challenging a social norm?"

Clearly this is not about his rights to disagree.

Rather, it is about FUCK. The authorities, and is very common, will pick on your "angry replies" to divert from the main issues.

It is like..you have no right to swear and when you do it, we all should lose respect for this person. But goodness, who doesn't swear?

The minute you do, you will lose your case.

They don't care whether you are right or wrong. The minute when you swear, you have sinned and like poor Reuben, shall be punished.

Who remembers what the issue about? Gone with the wind.

The only thing the entire sheeples are concern about....he swore or cursed or used the fuk word and should be condemned.

Why so "scare" of the fuck word? When used in context, it emots better than a polite word.

He is human and in SIN, people like Reuben must behave "inhumanly"

Anonymous said...

You, the minute when you lose your cool here, you are gone.

We all must be like the pap....cool,calculative and cunning.

No emotions just speak in monotone like a robot and you would avoid angry protests like in other democratic countries.

Angry words and emotions are often what drive protests and have brought down wicked rulers.

No wonder we have peace here. We are all so....cool headed :)

Anonymous said...

CURSE WORDS REVEAL THE CONDITION OF A MAN’S HEART

Jesus taught in the Bible that when a man curses or uses profanity it is a sign of evil that was in that man’s heart. It is popular today for both men and women to curse. They never think of it as an evil condition in their heart, but rather a small thing that everyone does. These small words of cursing the Bible says, will defile the whole man if they are not repented of and stopped. Cussing and using the name of the Lord in vain causes one to become defiled.

Popular movies and T.V. are responsible for causing society to accept foul language as the “norm.” They portray cursing as a way to vent anger and tell people off. The very attitudes behind cursing show that it is not right as cussing is used to demean and put down people. These words can be mild expletives to horrible blasphemies. Since the devil is the one who inspires these evil utterances he causes people to use our Lord’s name in the most ungodly ways.

In the modern definition of cursing, usually people use the name of Jesus or God in vain and swear with curses such as “go to hell” or “damn you.” These words clearly show it is an evil coming from the devil. Have you ever wondered why people do not not use the names of gods of other religions when they curse? The names that the devil hates and uses people to voice hateful curses are “God,” “Christ,” “Jesus Christ” and “Jesus.” Terms about hell and heaven are also used in derogatory ways. The very misuse of these words should prove the existence of God and the reality of a heaven and hell.

We are a Christian society.

Anonymous said...

Colosians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ anon 733

>> We are a Christian society.<<

Oh goody! Looks like I'll be having blaspheming fun for years to come.

Got Jesus?

Anonymous said...

We are not kids. We can distinguish whether swearing or angry words was done in context or not.

Reuben swore. Was it in context? Or he shouldn't swear at all or utter the word...fucking?

C'mon,he is far from an ah beng who swears at anything.

Anonymous said...

Go google. Protests signs got use FUCK here fuck there...they got sued or called to "lim kopi"? Please Lah...why we so like that?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@anon 802

I think a 17 yr old telling the Deputy PM "Fuck you Sir!" is pretty darn awesome.

In my book, and I am only a few years younger than the DPM, he soundly deserved it for being a patronising arsehole to a bunch of intelligent young people, who are sharp enough to be skeptical of authority.

St Andrews School -- Primary 1. I used to eat at the tuck shop (tiffin shed?) and play with my buddies on the big roots of that famous old Banyan Tree.

Go Saints!

Foes in plenty we shall meet,
Hearts courageous scorn defeat

Up and On!

Anonymous said...

Fuck you sir is simply translated as.....don't bullshit or don't talk cock.

Grow up lah

Anonymous said...

Who goes around fuck here fuck there? You think reuben is that sort of person?

He used his words carefully and should not be penalized for rudeness or be condemned with the ah bengs.

Anonymous said...

Reuben is one typical young sinkie who will grow up to be another rude sinkie who thinks all about himself and nothing of authorities and those older and more experienced. I am sure he uses the F word quite loosely and one can imagined he would use it on his father mother as well whenever he doesn't agree with them.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:07

If you are going to accuse him of that, you need to produce evidence.

I rather give him the benefit of a doubt that he is not that stupid. He maybe young , inexperienced and somewhat rash. But that's human. We should extend grace for him to grow.

Furthermore, I do not believe he was disrespectful of authorities. But I do think there are people who will be disrespectful to crappy authorities.

If the authorities behave like jerks or like the almighty, then be prepared to be slimed.

They are basically being HONEST if they behave "disrespectfully".

You call a spade a spade. No need to be that "respectful"

Anonymous said...

Yup, you lie you are a fucking liar. You bully citizens, you are a fucking bully. What's wrong with that?

Anonymous said...

When people use the Fuck word on you....you better reflect on yourself why the person has been provoked to swear.

Don't pull the wool over people's eyes and absolved yourself from being the provocateur..

Anonymous said...

When elites fuck "simple and naive" married women with children...we call them MOTHER FUCKERS...isn't that a fact?

June 11, 2012 10:41 PM


No...cannot...wait he invites you to "tea session" lol

Gintai_昇泰 said...

I feel that it's very rude of him to abuse a DPM in public. He can disagree or critizise for all he want. It reflects on his character as in Malay we say "Kurung Ajar!" I may not like you but I don't fuck you publicly. Really langgar!

Anonymous said...

DPM is not above scolding. Where in the law says he cannot be scolded? But then you may be the kind of leaders who will fuck "simple and naive" women and pass law that forbids us from calling you a creep or a fucking jerk?

Gosh, I used the word creep. So vulgar laggar.

Anonymous said...

Romans 13 : 1 Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. 2 So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. 3 For the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well.

Anonymous said...

ROMANS 13.11
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

The light is on its way,those who have conscience would see it or already saw it.

Anonymous said...

A dishonest PM and an equally dishonest party

http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?90691-Truly-a-dishonest-PM-and-an-equally-dishonest-party

Anonymous said...

Reuben is one rude young sinkie now, hopefully he doesnt grow up into a rude elite, and that's worse.

Anonymous said...

You thick skin.

Anonymous said...

It even ruder when the gov fucks your assholes without your approval

Anonymous said...

Well, it will be worse when Reuben grows up, joins the govt, be it PAP or otherwise, and still be rude and shout fuck here and fuck there, and he still get to fuck your assholes without your approval.

Anonymous said...

One thing for sure. Reuben will be more sensible than you.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

My impression of Reuben is that he is a very smart young man. At 17 he is already using his head to think critically. Many older Sinkies are still not using their head, unthinking.

Reuben will grow up and mellow with age. People get wiser, especially the smart ones. As for the dull ones, they only get duller.

Anonymous said...

Reuben is a smart young man. By all counts, he will likely join the herd where the smarts gather, for smarts are attracted to the smarts. He will also realise that fucking will not make problems go away, and every decision involves trade-offs. And hard decsions still need to be made and eventually he will come to the same conclusion as the herd he belongs to.

Anonymous said...

Even LAYWERS fuck here and fuck there and we all know they have plenty of opportunities to fuck around literally. But you see them getting into trouble with the fuck word?

They know when and how to say it.

Anonymous said...

If you read the papers you will know that fucking is a happy pursuit of the rich and powerful.

Anonymous said...

oh come on, the down and out also like to fuck, in fact they fuck more since they have more free time