These couple of weeks and especially today, alongside reports from the PM office, was heated discussions about MM Lee. Some love him, some hate him. I never participate in such online discussions because from past experiences people like to shove their opinions your face and in a less than civil manner. And also you can be presented with all the objective facts and still love/hate him.
I am actually quite politically apathetic. Other than the PM and the head of my area's GRC, I do not know and do not care about the other politicians. PAP aka the ruling government to me is an established state bureaucracy, and impersonal. One can argue that we are propagated such that we do not imagine changing the ruling party, but I also believe that it is because our security is taken care of to the extent that we take it for granted.
Of course, I speak as such because of my biography. In our meritocratic and elitist system, I don't exactly belong to the elite group duh, but I was able to get proper education. I am able to get an university education with heavy subsidies and loans from the government. My university degree would be recognized in most parts of the world. If I don't get all stuck up and expect too high a starting pay, I should be able to get a relatively decent job, and be able to pay off my loan in installments, and accumulate savings in my CPF account.
There are flaws in our system. The heavy reliance on CPF account leaves those without employment such as housewives vulnerable. The constant focus on the nuclear family in many of our policies disadvantages those without, such as single mothers. The continual stress on Asian conservativism results in stagnant accordance of social rights and repression of various minorities. The tight social controls and censorship results in stifled freedom of speech and infringement of various rights such as privacy.
I diverged.
Probably because how often I hear and read about people blaming the Lee family, the PAP, as though they personally are responsible for every problem in their life.
It's so weird.
As sociologists we are supposed to translate "private troubles to public issues", which is to take into account historical, structural, autobiographical contexts in analysis, and to see personal problems as influenced by larger structural issues. What I see from many people is claiming private troubles as caused by the PAP government. And if those who complained were those compromised by the system i.e. housewives, migrant workers, I could empathize. But the weirdest thing is how often those who complain are those who actually benefit from the system. Middle-class employees who could afford a car (and that COE), regular travel trips, branded goods, dining indulges, are complaining about high prices. University undergraduates are complaining about the competitive education system (excuse me do you realize how many people you step on to get a place??) - but it is precisely this exclusiveness that gives the degree its value and the higher starting pay.
The list of things that LKY did for our country, whether they are liked or not has been brought up and discussed in detail. Your values and experience would determine what you choose to believe, what you choose to see. I always thought that being a politician in a democratic regime is a thankless job. All I can say is, he had a vision for a tiny island years ago, and he went on to realize it. Do you even see beyond yourself aside from personal achievements? If you do not like what you are seeing in this country now, are you going to make the effort to effect change, or would you just migrate to another country with the money and resources that you had acquired from here in Singapore?
