Don't knock Singapore
Over government policies
Synopsis: Citizens should stop rubbishing their own country over unhappiness with the ruling party or over personal hardship. Streats. By Seah Chiang Nee
Nov 26, 2003

DURING the uproar over last year's public transport fare increase, some angry Singaporeans talked about not flying the flag on National Day.

In fact, it's a growing habit for some young people to exclaim, whenever they get hot under the collar or are annoyed with a policy: "That's it. I'm migrating."

This do-what-I-want-or-I-leave threat is the most ineffective form of protest in modern Singapore.

Once you say this, even people who are prepared to listen to you will switch off.

Some of the ruder ones have an annoying habit of rubbishing Singapore on Internet websites, under the cloak of anonymity, of course.

They may form only a minority, but it's a vocal one which is getting on the nerves of fellow Singaporeans.

Recently some forum readers of HardwareZone.com hit out at this demeaning of Singapore by responding to the detractors who sign themselves off as "Sinkapore, Sillypore, Sunkapore".

Reader "Quan" launched the first broadside in the website with this appeal:"Please don't call our country such names which I have read in many forums on the Internet.

"As Singaporeans, even when we don't like the ruling party, Singapore is still our home, our country, which is still worth to fight for our survival, in war and economically."

He said that if people disliked the Government, they should join the opposition parties rather than run down Singapore.

Another, "Zoossh", wondered if these detractors were foreigners because he couldn't imagine any Singaporean wanting to do such a thing.

"Khee" joined in: "Ya lor.. a bit cannot tahan(can't stand it)...dunno if the moderator can do something like filter this kind of words or not.... ".

There's a grave danger that foreigners may see such comments as symptomatic of a lack of support for Singapore, undermining its security.

I am now 63, a long-time journalist.

In my 43 years of reporting on some two dozen countries, I have not encountered such acts of insulting one's own country.

Young Thais don't do that; neither do Japanese or Chinese youths who have less political and media freedom than most.

They may criticise their governments, but they don't rubbish their own countries.

The opposite is true.

They'll defend their countries against others.

They don't threaten to leave when they're angry with their leaders(believe me, some are really, really angry) or whenever they lose their jobs.

They know that the flag and the nation are totally different from the ruling party.

Americans don't run down the United States just because they don't like the conservative policies of President George W Bush.

US soldiers fight in Iraq even when they're against the invasion in the first place.

So why are so many young Singaporeans unable to distinguish between country and government?

After all, we're just as well-educated.

My own feeling is, firstly, that our short history of 38 years (compared to others with a few hundred or few thousand years) doesn't help to build maturity.

Quite obviously, better education has not put this right.

Our system may have given our people technical and professional skills but it has failed to inculcate in all of us a broad, balanced view of life and responsibility.

Adding to this is our inexperience with real hardship, nature's best teacher of human character.

Unlike in China, Indonesia, Turkey or Bangladesh which are frequently lashed by earthquake, flood or typhoon, Singaporeans are generally spared the vicissitudes of nature.

In the other countries, the shared grief, generation after generation, bonds the victims.

I remember once seeing a CNN news clip that showed a US farmer sitting beside a pile of rubble that was once his home which was devastated by a hurricane, crying uncontrollably.

His home was not insured.

The disaster had wiped out his savings and shattered his life.

The richest people in the world, yes, but they have gone through a lot of suffering from wars, violence and natural devastation (not to mention Sept 11).

It makes them tough in spirit and gives them a broad perspective of what life is really all about.

When they get the pink slip or suffer a fee increase, they don't take it out on their nation.

Today, millions of Americans, Japanese and Koreans are working and living abroad out of economic preference but they don't use it as a threat to demand a change of government policies.

The present economic hardship we are facing has provided us with the chance to work together to strengthen Singapore's foundation.

History is a long time; hardship and disagreement are facts of life.

What sort of Singapore there will be 50 years from now will depend on how its four million people deal with these issues.

(This article was first published in Streats on Nov 26, 2003.)