If there were no internet…

Mah Bow Tan will still be the Minister of National Development, Wong Kan Seng the Minister of Home Affairs and Raymond Lim still minister of Transport. The housing policy will stay and housing will remain affordable. And of course 3 rm flat will be $1m by now.

Kan Seng would be very happy as the people would have long forgotten about Mas Selamat. Actually, for all the three ministers that were removed, Kan Seng was the most unfortunate one. It could be any minister in his shoe as the escape was not really his doing. He was there in the wrong seat in the wrong time. He had to take the rap for being the minister with the responsibility that comes with the position and pay. He took the rap for the failure of those in charge of the camp but he had no direct dealings with its daily operations.

Raymond would be in deep trouble instead of Tuck Yew. He should thank his lucky star that he is not in the shoe of Tuck Yew now. In a way the problems of public transport was partly the doings of the govt and not just his ministry. They pumped in millions of heads into the system and it was just not possible to build a completely new transport system overnight to cater to the sudden increase in population. From 3m to 5m, you would need another comparable public transport system of buses, trains and taxis to keep it in balance. He was screwed by the system and took the rap for other people’s wild ambition. But the problem may actually be more manageable without the bloggers kpkb in cyberspace. The problem with public transport failure was just too transparent and close to the people affected.

And one thing for sure, without the internet, there will be less complaints heard and all channels of communications will be singing praises that all is fine. And any breakdown could have been played down without the fanfare and fire in the internet that indirectly forces the news into the main media. And our population will have blossomed to 6m by now and the economy could grow by another 15%.

And our property prices would have made every HDB flat owners a millionaire too. The affordability of HDB flats would still be the song being sung daily. And a $1000 pm worker could definitely afford his 2 rm flat which may now cost half a million to buy. Sinkies will all be playing the property market instead of working, like the stock market boom of the early 1990s. There will be long queues in all property launches and all smiling to the banks.

The Minister for National Development would still be Mah Bow Tan. And he would be the toss of everyone who owns a property. He and his team crafted all the policies of housing, the number to build or not to build, the pricing, the market demand and supply for land, and the subsidies. Of the three ministers, Mah Bow Tan’s ministry was thick in action in the property market and public housing. His position was different from Kan Seng or Raymond, whose role in the problems they were held accountable for was more indirect. In housing, the ministry was involved in every comma and full stop of the housing policy for good or bad. They deservedly be held accountable or be rewarded for them.

Can’t imagine what things would be like if Mah Bow Tan is still the minister in charge of housing. For Raymond, it would be hell giving the daily stoppages. In the case of Kan Seng, it would be as quiet and peaceful as the Western front if he has not been removed. National security is still an issue with the huge population but nothing dramatic or hilarious to put him in a spot. The Home Affairs Minister is having a ball at the moment.

Maybe I have over exaggerated the importance of the internet. It was the GE that led to their predicaments.