it is election time.
seeing my old comrades in the news gives me mixed feelings. it's remarkable to see how far people can diverge from a common point. i have returned to the road most travelled, but they have gone on to real politics.
when we were members of the democr*t*c s*cialist club, we were almost like the youth of the french revolution, davids against the goliath. never mind that we made such little impact. it was an exciting experience mingling with the politicians (and dissidents).
i am going to have to say sorry to SL and co, but i have really quite changed my mind. political freedom and choice? i don't think so.
problem is, i get tired of hearing people complain about the Government. it's always easy to nitpick and point out the 101 faults of the Party. some of the criticism is even, quite valid. but we cannot deny that looking at the whole picture, singapore has been remarkably well run. yet, it has become fashionable to be cynical, to bleat about the lack of freedom, and to mock the establishment. what is new? teenagers do that too.
how do people treat the vote? not by giving it to the most deserving candidate, but often, using it as a protest vote. people want to see opposition in the parliament because ours now is safe and boring. do we prefer to see taiwanese martial arts in the parliament? obviously not, but the vote goes to the opposition anyway, because we are assured of our stability. it's almost like a game. so much for democracy.
this probably comes as a surprise to those who knew me during the heady days of political activism. it looks like idealism has died in me somewhere, sometime. i once thought political freedom is important, now, it seems very much that responsibilty is more so.
3 comments:
Its so often common for ppl to look from the other side of the fence and comment or the performers. Whether they are paid performers or otherwise. (Well, this is a sensitive topic now.. cant say too much.)
From wat i have been hearing so far, there are a lot of emotions n creative analogies, but how many will be part of the play and put themselves on the same pedestal..i think not much.
huh? this is...cryptic
Yeah. Who's arutha kc? Very chim.
Your post: How DO we know it's good? There's no transparency. There's no accountability? Who's watching the watcher? Not the media, that's for sure.
Remember the picture that was published at the end of the talk you hosted?
We know that it is wrong to use public funds for political ends. We know the tricks that were pulled.
What are they so afraid of?
But in the end, of course, I'm only an outsider. I'm not qualified to comment on this. I just feel aggrieved at the injustice.
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