The politics of flooding

The repetition of several severe floodings over a short span of time is raising goose pimples in Singaporean gossip circles. In cyberspace, practically every forum or blog worth its salt is very unhappy about the incidents. Some even called for the sacking of the Minister of Environment. Flooding is now politics in Singapore. It will become one of the big issues awaiting the General Election, standing shoulder to shoulder with the heavy weights of inflated housing prices, inflation, employment, foreign workers and medical fees. There is no need to think very hard why flooding has become a hot political potato. The root cause of this problem can be traced to the completion of the Marina Barrage which was touted as our solution to flooding. There was kind of an expectation that flooding will now be history with technology, talent and money on our side. And the expectation is not groundless. We have always been trumpeting that we are the best, we have the money to pay for the best, and the best is all we have. Any shortfall in this expectation, any slipshod work, will become intolerable. The people’s expectation has been raised to a very high level. And you can’t fault the people for it. For they believe in what they have been told. They are in good hands and the good hands are paid with good money to do a good job. The only people that should be happy must be the shops in Orchard Road. Whenever there is a flood, they got free advertisements here and around the world. Everyone will be writing or talking about it. Lucky Plaza and Wendy's must be a common household name by now. They shouldn't be complaining, I hope.