Sinkie – The Naked Man

Singaporeans have been increasing been stripped of their clothing and many are as good as walking around naked, or in the Emperor’s new clothe. For the poor or those needing govt subsidies or financial assistance, they are familiar with being stripped naked to a stranger who wanted to know everything ‘under’ their clothing before granting them the privilege of govt grants or subsidies. The Mean Testing in hospitals and similar schemes many ministries are infamous for asking very embarrassing and personal questions of the applicants. They would want you to strip to your underwear or turn out your pockets to make sure they are empty.
 
Mean Testing is meant only to the poor and desperados, so humiliating them is acceptable. We have something that makes Mean Testing looked very tame and friendly. The new powers given to the Medishield Life Scheme to put everyone under the microscope is like a futuristic nightmare comes true. There is nothing left that is called personal and private. Your body and private parts are not private anymore. Your money and your bank accounts are no longer private and out of bound to the govt.
 
The bill that is waiting to be passed allows the authority to look into your medical files, to review your medical conditions at will. The bills allow the authority to dip into your bank accounts, to take from your pay cheques, to imprison you for not paying a forced so called ‘National Medical Insurance Scheme’ to provide the people with a national health coverage. Who is providing to who? No, the people are legislated by law to provide themselves with a national health insurance scheme with their own money and cannot say No. And for the privilege of being a member of this compulsory scheme that would not declare its mission as Non Profit Making, you have authorized the authority to strip you naked if needed to, to prove that you deserve some mercy to be spare the jail for not paying the compulsory premium from cradle to the grave.
 
This would be a good theme to celebrate in SG50, The Naked Man. What used to belong to a Sinkie, his body and money, are no longer private and personal, accessible to the authority, to see and to touch and to take, perfectly legal when the bill is passed.
 
1984, George Orwell anyone?