Basis Of Singaporean Spirit (BOSS): People Power

Showing posts with label People Power. Show all posts

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: Are you an Elite?

[This is part of the book: “Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power”. Links to the different versions:Online Version in this Blog; Printed Version in Amazon.com; eBook Version: Google Play / Google Books / Kindle]

Before I start, can you describe what a “crane” is? You might describe it as “a long-legged and long-necked bird” or “a device for lifting and moving heavy weights”.

But nobody in the right mind would ever describe it as “a long-legged and long-necked bird for lifting and moving heavy weights”.

But interestingly, that is what our great politicians did for the word “elite”.

“Elite” has many meanings, which is bad because it confuses people. In general, elite can mean “best of anything considered collectively” or in political and sociological theory, an elite “is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth or political power.”

Technically, both definitions are correct independently, but the problem is that people combined those 2 independent meanings and concluded that:

“People who control a disproportionate amount of wealth or political power are the best of anything considered collectively.”

Isn’t that funnier than Mr Bean? Too bad, Mr Bean doesn’t usually talk much, else that could be one of the funniest jokes that he should include.

Now, let’s look at the definition in Chinese, which will help us better understand this. “Elite” in Chinese is called 精英,杰出人物, which means people of extraordinary achievements.

“Elite” has nothing to do with one’s background. As long as you have extraordinary achievements within the group, you are an elite.

Do you think the 6-sigma Black Belt in the earlier chapter is an elite? No, he is not. When he doesn’t even know the basis, how can he be one?

Do you think Lin Dan (林丹) is an elite? Of course, he is one of the greatest badminton players in the World.

Do you think Puyi (溥儀), the last emperor of China, is an elite? Well, of course not. Comparing him with other emperors, he is far from being one.

Can the uncle in hawker centre[i] who fried Char kway teow (Singapore Fried Noodles) be an elite? Absolutely! If he puts in a lot of effort in ensuring that every plate of Char kway teow is always that perfect aromatic and tasty one for all his customers, he is an elite!

And of course, as an elite, he will automatically get his monetary rewards – that is why hawkers can also drive BMW and Mercedes. Do we need to artificially set top salaries for hawkers to be elite? No, we don’t.

Do you think a Michelin 3-star chef is an elite? Well, it depends. Although the chef cooked appetising food and might be very familiar with the kitchen, a plumber is more of an elite than him in fixing a leak in the sink. Elite also requires getting the right person to do the right job.

People can still swallow it if you spent millions getting a Michelin 3-star chef to fix the sink, provided the sink is fixed. However, if the sink is not fixed, and yet the chef blamed the design of the sink for being stupid, nobody will be happy, got it?

Different people contribute to the society in different ways and everyone has their own roles to play. If you are the best within that role, then you are an elite.

Do you think PAP government today is an elite? Well, given the problems with the public transport, high dengue fever cases, SLA Lamborghini, etc. I don’t think they are. But do they have the potential to be? Of course, but not yet.

Whether they will be or not, I do not know because the ball is in their court. If they insist on the wrong definition of elite and self-proclaimed that they are, I don’t see how they can really be one.

BOSS Wisdom: “Elite is not an attribute of a person – it is an exhibition of how well a given person played a given role.” – BOSS

[i] Hawker Centre is Singapore’s low-cost eating place. Most of the great foods are found there.

Sunday, 8 February 2015

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: The Spectrum of SONG

[This is part of the book: “Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power”. Links to the different versions: Online Version in this Blog; Printed Version in Amazon.com; eBook Version: Google Play / Google Books / Kindle]

Now you know about SONG. So what is your spectrum of SONG?

Over the years, I had seen people changed over time.

Things that they used to do, they simply refused to do it anymore. Why?

Well, they find it not befitting for them to do it anymore.

Take food as an example. After people acquired certain wealth or status, they started to avoid hawker centre or roadside food.

Well, technically, there is nothing wrong, but why should you restrict your own spectrum of SONG?

The following is a chart that I had devised.

Figure 16: Spectrum of SONG

If you had acquired the capability to enjoy other forms of enjoyment, yet denied yourself of the older forms, what you had done is basically moving your window of enjoyment to the right, there is no significant increase in its width.

Worst, if your spectrum of enjoyment narrowed as you moved to the right, you will very likely forgo humbleness and appear as arrogant.

The truly smart and fortunate people are those who maintained their humbleness while expanding their spectrum of enjoyment.

Imagine putting on your most comfortable T-shirt, going to hawker centre in the morning for YouTiao (油條) and DouJiang[i] (豆浆), followed by snacking on kacang puteh[ii]. For lunch, eating in an air-conditioned food court, followed by Ice-Kacang[iii] as dessert. For dinner, putting on a more formal wear and dine in a Michelin 3-star restaurant; after the dinner, summoning the chef to teach him how to better cook the dishes the next time. SONG right?

Do you know of people who have broad spectrum of SONG?

On the Internet, it was mentioned that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg eats McDonald’s and wears the same shirt and hoodie every day. It was also mentioned that Google cofounder, Sergey Brin, often shops at Costco.

However, one point to note here. Don’t confuse someone with broad spectrum of SONG with humbleness[iv], they are different. A person who has a broad spectrum of SONG can still be arrogant.

So what is your spectrum of SONG?

BOSS Wisdom: “Happiness is about expanding your spectrum of SONG, not shifting it up.” – BOSS

[i] YouTiao and DouJiang are Chinese fried breadstick and soymilk drink respectively. These are low cost meal that is often enjoyed together.

[ii] Kacang Puteh is a nut snack popular in Singapore in the old days. The seller will typically roll paper into the shape of a cone and fill it with the selected nuts to sell.

[iii] “Ice Kacang” is a dessert made of shaved ice, with attap chee (palm seed), red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly, etc. This is a favourite dessert in Singapore to ward off the hot weather.

[iv] Please refer to the chapter "Why Leaders Must Be Humble" for more details.

Sunday, 18 January 2015

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: What Do You Want to Achieve in Life?

This is a very famous question that everyone would have thought about or even have been asked many times in their life.

So here I am, asking this question again. Don’t skip this chapter because the answer will be something that you have never heard before. I am here to tell you that what everyone wants to achieve in life is exactly the same thing.

So, what do you want to achieve in life?

Some of you might say to earn a lot of money. Ok, but my next question is “for what”? Well, you may answer: “To buy flashy cars, luxurious house, etc.”

But what if money cannot buy you all that? I am not joking, that happened during China Cultural Revolution, where you can only use ration coupons to buy things. If that is the case, would you still be looking to earn a lot of money? I am sure, you will not.

Since this is the case, then money is not exactly what you are looking for. It is the things that money could get that you are really pursuing, such as flashy cars, luxurious house, etc., isn’t it?

However, imagine this: Driving flashy cars and living in luxurious house made you the target for criminals and gave you tremendous worries every day. Would you still long for flashy cars or luxurious house? I don’t think so. So what are you really trying to achieve then?

Well, at the basis of it all, what we are trying to achieve all the time is “gratification” – the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response to a fulfilment of a desire or goal.

Do you know what HERMES, Bottega Veneta, and Louis Vuitton, are selling? Handbags? Leather goods? Well, how I wish they were just selling that. If they were just selling that, then the price of those would be “raw materials + labour + distribution cost + mark-ups”. It will not cost an arm and a leg.

What had also been priced in is another most important thing that they sell – “gratification”. Can you imagine the gratification that you get when you splurge on luxury goods?

If you do not derive that gratification from those luxury goods, it is unlikely that you will pay that high a price for it.

Gratification is not just derived from purchases; it can also be derived from the ‘feel-good’ feeling when you have done something good.

For example, when you helped an old lady to cross the road or gave up your seat to someone else, the feeling of doing something right is great, isn’t it?

One point to take note on this example is that gratification is not derived merely from the act of “giving up the seat”.

Imagine this: A lady came over to your seat and used her umbrella to knock on your head, demanding that you gave up your seat for her because she felt that you should.

Would you? May be not. But even if you gave up your seat out of shyness or whatever, you will not feel the gratification.

So remember, gratification is the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response to a fulfilment of a desire or goal, not related to the act itself.

Now, imagine this: How nirvanic[i] it would be, if we can all make this gratification perpetual, isn’t it?

Therefore, what we are all trying to achieve in life is the same commonality, which is what I called the “State Of Nirvanic Gratification”.

So how does this “State Of Nirvanic Gratification” feel like? Well, if you are a Singaporean, then you are very lucky. Did you realise what the acronym is?

Yes, the feeling of “State Of Nirvanic Gratification” is the feeling you get when you said: “SONG ah!”

For Type 1 & Type 4 persons, having others perceiving them as smart, are SONG to them. That is why they are always trying to show-off. Of course, Type 1 persons have the capability to do so, but not Type 4.

The problem with Type 4 persons is that even though they created troubles for everyone, yet they still felt SONG. Look into the parliament, it is not difficult to see many of the Type 4 persons devising stupid policies, giving silly replies, yet felt so proud of it.

For Type 2 persons, the ability to appreciate the surrounding and simply breathing nice air is considered SONG for them.

Please note that the reverse is not true, i.e. if you feel that appreciating the surrounding and breathing nice air is considered SONG, it does not mean that you are Type 2 person.

Type 2 persons are very smart, yet low profile. That is why they will continue to enjoy the SONG quietly until someone disturbed it.

Type 3 persons felt SONG when they have good food. Remember the phrase: “民以食为天”, which means that food, is the most important thing to commoners.

If the People are SONG, why would a bunch of 17-year-old boys bothered to climb up to the top of the building to paint “Fxxx PAP”?

If the People are SONG, why would a 71-year-old uncle[ii] scribble at the bus-stops complaining about CPF[iii]?

Shouldn’t the 17-year-old boys be studying? Shouldn’t the 71-year-old uncle be enjoying his retirement?

When commoners had to worry about having proper meals, worried about their livelihoods, would they be SONG?

When People are not SONG, merely looking at the poster of the ministers would make them TL, not to mention seeing them or listening to their speeches.

So how do we make people SONG? Well, let’s talk about the key pillars of Singapore.

Singapore is where it is today, not because of any particular person or party, but because of the key pillars that were erected. Whether it was done consciously or unconsciously, it does not matter, but those are there.

Hawker centre is one of the key pillars for Singapore’s stability. It ensured that Type 3 persons can continue to feel SONG. However, the implementation of private hawker centres is a big step in the wrong direction. [Much more can be said about hawker centre, but I shall leave that out for now.]

There are things that are implemented to get revenues; there are things that are implemented for stability. Without knowing the key pillars of Singapore, blindly knocking down the pillars is asking for trouble.

Housing is another key pillar. Mr Lee Kuan Yew once commented on the Home Ownership Scheme as follows:

“... to give every family a stake in the country. In other words, that we should find a way to give them ownership of their own homes, their own apartments. Then if their son had to go to war and fight, they are fighting for themselves.”

May I know how many percentages of Singaporeans own at least an inch of the land of Singapore?

Given the current price of HDB and the long instalment period, how many people really own a home?

Worse, today, many Singaporeans had to pledge back their HDB in order not to end up sleeping on the street in their old age.

Think about this: After 80 years of toiling, at the end of it, People still ended up with nothing. For whom do you think were they busying their life for? Why did we design Singapore as such? How is it possible that their future generations will be better?

Given these, how SONG do you think the People are?

BOSS Wisdom: “The basis of social stability is to ensure that everyone is SONG. Understanding and protecting the key pillars of Singapore is critical to achieve this.” – BOSS

[i] “Nirvanic” is a feeling of eternal and indescribable bliss.

[ii] “Uncle” is the way Singaporeans addressed the elderly or older people.

[iii] CPF is supposed to be Singaporeans’ pension fund. However, many people are unhappy because they felt that it is not adequate and there are simply too many restrictions related to it.

Sunday, 11 January 2015

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: How Far Would You Go to Protect Our Home?

There are a lot of talks about the purpose of National Service. There are also talks about how National Service disadvantaged Singaporeans.

I recalled an advertisement that stated: “How Far Would You Go to Protect Our Home?”

So here I am, asking this question to you: “How Far Would You Go to Protect Our Home?”

I shall leave the rest of this page blank. Think about this question to yourself before you turn over.

[Once you are ready, please turn over to the next page]

Great, I hope you have some answers.

If your answers focused on “How Far” or “Would You” or “Protect”, then you are not thinking in the right direction.

This is because the basis of that question is “Home”. If the “Home” is not defined correctly in the first place, the rest of the words such as “How Far”, “Would You”, and “Protect” are all meaningless.

The reason why you had jumped to those words is because subconsciously, you had assumed “Singapore” as your home, which it may or may not be.

So, what is a “Home”?

Home is the place in which one’s affections are centred.

So technically speaking, this place can be anywhere; however, this place must be the most suitable and most conducive place to build the home.

In the past, there is no doubt that Singapore was the best place, but today, given how our leaders labelled us with all sorts of names, given how the People are worried about jobs and retirements, etc, is Singapore still the best place to build a home?

What was so valuable of Singapore that was worth protecting? In other words, what was the uniqueness of Singapore that you cannot find elsewhere?

It is our belief, embedded within our Pledge. Our Pledge is one of the strongest in the World:

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and

progress for our nation.

Today, are we united? Do you think there is justice and equality? Have we achieved happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation as a whole?

If we adhered to our Pledge, like what we did in the past, Singapore is really a great place to build our home and of course, worth protecting because nowhere in the World would you be able to replicate this spirit.

Pledge is a guiding principle for a country to progress. If leaders are not following the guiding principle of a country, what do you think they are following? Don’t ask me, ask them.

In closing, let’s recall what Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said:

“... Keep Singapore happy and make the people feel that they are wanted, not step children or step brothers but one in the family, and a very important member of the family...”

“What are our priorities? First, the welfare, the survival of the people. Then the democratic norms and processes, which from time to time we have to suspend.”

When people felt that they do not have a stake in the country, why would they not question the value and the purpose of National Service?

BOSS Wisdom: “The basis of national security is to give everyone a stake in the country, something that people are willing to give up their life to protect.” – BOSS

[This is part of the book: “Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power”. Links to the different versions: Online Version in this Blog; Printed Version in Amazon.com; eBook Version: Google Play / Google Books / Kindle]

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: Are You Superstitious?

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

When I hear people labelling others as superstitious, I can literally see the sense of superiority in the speaker’s mind, thinking that he is smarter than the others because he did not believe in that.

Superstitious in Chinese is called:

迷信

Literally: “Lost, hence believe”

The first word, “迷”, is an indication of the state of mind – in this case it is Lost. The second word, “信”, represents the decision taken – in this case it is Believe.

If we list all the combinations, we will get 4 results:

“迷, 信” – Lost, hence believe

“迷, 不信” – Lost, hence don’t believe

“不迷, 信” – Not lost, hence believe

“不迷, 不信” – Not lost, hence don’t believe

Therefore, we can see that no matter whether a person believes in a certain practice or not, that person can still be in the “Lost” state of mind – Nothing to feel superior about.

It is fine to use the word “superstitious” on others, but you must ask yourself on what basis are you making that statement? And what are you trying to prove with that?

If you feel that you are smarter by saying that, think again. Ask yourself if you know their cultures and practices more than they do?

If not, you are just being silly, and that statement of yours simply exposed your ignorance and arrogance.

BOSS Wisdom: “Seek to understand the basis of others’ practices and respect them. Labelling those as superstitious without substantial understanding is simply foolish and wilful.” - BOSS

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Singapore

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

[Note: Kindle version is now available here. I am setting it at a very low price of $2.99. Get it early as I will increase the price along the way. I have also enabled "Lending" and "Kindle Unlimited". For those who have purchased the book, I have set this to be free for you.]

At the time of this writing, it happened to be Hungry Ghost Festival[i]. Yes, tomorrow is the midmonth of it or rather 2 hours from now, as I type this sentence, eerie, isn’t it?

As usual, there are people who complained about the burning of the joss paper. Therefore, I find that there is a need to include this chapter.

Singapore is a very special country. We do not have a specific religion or culture, instead a mixture of those are our culture. We are all here on this small little island because of one single belief: “the common belief on the best way to build a home[ii]”.

If you think Singaporeans should do this or not do that, I am sorry to disappoint you because that is against the basis of Singapore.

I came across a Facebook post on people ‘littering’ the joss paper and felt obliged to say something. Yes, looking at that picture, technically it seems to be littering, but under the hood, do you know why?

The following picture provides some examples of the different types of joss papers used. This chapter focused on the reasons behind the ‘littering’ of joss paper.

Figure 12: Different Types of Joss Paper

If you look at the images used in the complaint, there is a commonality among the type of joss papers that was ‘littered’? Yes, all are of the following type.

Figure 13: Type of Joss Paper ‘Littered’

Think about it, if people wanted to litter, technically, there should be an equal distribution of all types of joss papers, but why did people ‘litter’ this particular type of joss paper?

Well, it turned out that this type of joss paper is meant to be scattered.

The beliefs are many. Some used it to appease the wandering spirits so that they will not disturb the offerings intended for particular ‘persons’. Some used it to request the wandering spirits to lead the path and not to hinder the journey. Some used it as an indication of the location of offerings, which is mainly the purpose during this festival.

The idea is that when those spirits wandered around, they may not notice the offerings. These type of joss paper helped spirits to easily find and ‘retrieve’ those offerings. Therefore, people felt that if one did not scatter this type of joss paper around the location of offerings, the burning is quite futile as wandering spirits might not be able to find those.

Well, I know, in some of the readers’ minds, you might be shouting “superstitious”. Of course, you have your reasons and rights to proclaim so. But we will talk about superstitious in the next chapter.

This chapter is not a research paper to assert whether scattering that type of paper increases the chances for wandering spirits finding those, but rather to explain the motivations so that all of us know the reasons behind the act.

We need to understand and respect the basis of cultural diversity and the differences, especially in a country like Singapore.

Think about this:

If someone were to tell Philippines to stop Dinagyang festival because the celebration is causing emotional distress to his child due to the scary face painting, how would the people of Philippines feel?

If someone were to tell Thailand to stop the Water Festival as it wet the tourists’ electronic equipment and is also against water conservation principles, how would the people of Thailand feel?

If someone were to suggest banning “Trick or Treat” during Halloween because someone dislikes
“unsolicited” knocking on the doors and the “threatening remarks” by the kids, how would people feel?

Don’t you think all these are very silly and irresponsible requests?

I can understand if new citizens not from the same religion don’t understand. But there is no excuse for PAP government not to know since they are in power for 50 years.

Of course, I know that the current batch of PAP leaders have nothing to do with the earlier batch and also nothing to do with the success of Singapore today, but as leaders of the country, it is still your responsibility to learn and find out.

If PAP government doesn’t understand, ask. Don’t jump into the conclusion that people are littering and printed brochures such as the following. Not only are you not solving problems, you are simply creating many more.

Figure 14: Posters Printed By PAP Government

What PAP government should have done is to educate the people, especially the complainers and the new immigrants.

We all know Malay wedding culture at the void deck and the sound of the musical instruments played during the ceremony and had accepted it. Similarly, we also understand Chinese custom for funeral and the purpose of their corresponding musical instruments.

This is Singapore – a multicultural environment that is uniquely us. Anyone is welcome to join us if you shared the same Basis Of Singaporean Spirit[iii], else, it may be more appropriate for you to look elsewhere.

What today’s PAP government must do is first to understand the People and their cultures and seek to help them solve the problems, not create more problems for them. This is the very basis of having a government.

BOSS Wisdom: “The basis of Government is to solve problems for their People, not to create more.” – BOSS

[i] Hungry Ghost Festival is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in Asian countries. In the lunar calendar, the seventh month is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. The midmonth is considered the ‘peak’.

[ii] Refer to the preceding chapter: “Time To Rekindle Our Singaporean Spirit” for more info.

[iii] Refer to the preceding chapter: “Time To Rekindle Our Singaporean Spirit” for more info.

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

Sunday, 16 November 2014

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: Are you a Xenophobe? Are you Anti-Immigration?

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

Xenophobic means: “Unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange”. Xenophobe is a person who is xenophobic.

So, are you a xenophobe? Are you anti-immigration?

Well, before you answer that, let me answer those for you. You are not a xenophobe, you are not anti-immigration. I am so sure because no citizen in the modern World is xenophobic or anti-immigration, unless medically proven otherwise.

Allow me to make short explanation long in order to let you better appreciate the fact.

Imagine there is a person who helped you with your work, giving you advice and supporting you. Irregardless[i] of whether the person is a male or female, and irregardless of his race, language, religion or nationality, will you like or hate this person?

Well, I am sure you will like that person, unless medically proven otherwise.

Imagine there is a person who abused you in your work, backstabbing you in the office and insulting you. Irregardless of whether the person is a male or female, and irregardless of his race, language, religion or nationality, will you like or hate this person?

Well, I am sure you will hate that person, unless medically proven otherwise.

Therefore, when you are unhappy about someone, you are not against that person’s inherent attributes, but against the associated negative effects of that person. If the associated effects are positive, you will like that person. Got it?

Now back to Singapore. I know many of us are unhappy with the projected population of 6.9 millions[ii]. But what is the ‘optimal’ number? I would say that even if the number is 5 millions, all of us can still be unhappy if the associated negative effects are still there, isn’t it?

Now imagine this: If every immigrant that is added to Singapore population put $1 into my pocket, do you think I will complain about 6.9 millions? Yes, I will, but this time I will be complaining why the government did not push it to 10 millions!

With an additional 3.1 millions in my pocket, I don’t mind subletting half of my house to those immigrants, bundled with 24hrs 1GBPS fibre broadband and with choice of Asian or continental buffet breakfast served daily from 6am to 11am. Airport pick up and drop off are also complimentary.

Oh, I can also throw in a full-time butler for them. What about minibar? Well, I will give them the whole fridge! Since I am ready to do all these, how could I ever be xenophobic?

Therefore, the root of the problem is the associated negative effects that everyone felt by the execution of the immigration policies.

The citizens are not the problem, the policies are also not the problem; the problem lies with the incapability of those who executed it.

If you can handle the influx and produce the associated positive effects, by all means carry on! If you can’t handle the influx, reduce it. Don’t overestimate your capability and cause problems for everybody.

At population of 5 millions, we are already having so many problems. It does not need a genius to extrapolate that with a 30-40% increase, the problem will get worse exponentially of at least another 40%.

Apart from the associated problems, the next question is: with the influx of foreigners, what are the values for Singaporeans? As far as I see, it is negative, so why should anybody be happy?

Since this is such a simple thing to see, why do people still continue the labelling and not solve it? Well, to answer that, you need to know the 3 methods of problem solving methodology used by politicians.

Politicians Problem Solving Methodology
Method 1: Deny the Existence of Problem

This is the easiest and most productive method. Well, what can be more productive than to resolve a problem even before it is considered one?

Method 2: You Are the Cause of the Problem

When method 1 failed, the next efficient method is to label you as the source of the problem. Since you are the source of the problem, again, there is nothing to be done, case closed.

Method 3: I Am the Source of the Problem

This method is very seldom used because it takes a lot of ‘balls’[iii] and effort to do it. In a political standpoint, it may not look good, so it is often avoided. Unless repeated execution of Method 1 and Method 2 failed terribly, no politician will employ this.

When people labelled you as xenophobic, they had failed method 1 and are now trying method 2. So, don’t be distracted by them. Stay focus on the root of the problem.

So what is the optimal number of population that I prefer? Well, first of all, I fully support immigration policies, I fully support any number, be it 5 millions, 6.9 millions or even 10 millions, as long as our PAP government can handle it and produce the associated positive effects, I will FULLY support it.

So now is my turn to ask them back:

“What is the number of population that you can handle to produce the associated positive effects?

6.9 millions? Are you sure? At 5 millions you had already produced so much negative effects and those are not solved yet, and with the 30-40% increase, are you really sure you can handle it?

What if you can’t? Resign? Why don’t we all make thing simple for you and me – Solve the easy problem first, i.e. produce the associated positive effects at 5 millions, once you achieved that, then we talk about 6.9 millions, isn’t that better?

I wouldn’t want to see you having to resign if you failed on your promise. Do you think this is a better approach?”

Checkmate.

Since we have now proven above that we are neither xenophobic nor anti-immigration, let’s turn our attention back to PAP government. Are they xenophobic?

Do you still remember how PAP felt when more opposition members enter the parliament? Do they have “unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange”?

I will leave it to you to answer that.

[i] “Irregardless” may not be considered as a proper English word, however, the author still decided to use it so as to add emphasis to the sentence.

[ii] Singapore produced a population whitepaper that projected the population to be 6.9 millions. This created a huge uproar.

[iii] “Balls” is a slang, which means that a person has guts.

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

Saturday, 1 November 2014

Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power: Time to Rekindle Our Singaporean Spirit

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]

What do you think is the Singapore Spirit? In 2010, PM Lee Hsien Loong defined it as a shared ideology, such as: "shared memories", "shared loyalty", "shared responsibility", etc.

It may sound great and give a sense of cohesiveness but do you know that that definition is totally wrong? In fact, it is this silly definition that had created tons of problems for all of us.

Let me ask you this: Are you sure we shared all those? The answer is an obvious "No".

Take new immigrants for example, do you think their "memories" are the same as that of true-blue Singaporeans? – No.

When Singaporeans have to serve National Service while the first generation of new immigrants do not have to, do you think there is “shared responsibility”? – No.

If one day, Singapore became a place less desirable than the immigrants’ country of origin (lower pay, crowded, dirty, etc.), do you think new immigrants will continue to stay in Singapore or will they go back to their country of origin? More likely than not, it will be the later, if so, what “shared loyalty” are we talking about?

It is now obvious that that person’s understanding of Singapore Spirit is wrong. So how can there be cohesiveness? With that wrong understanding, the more immigrants we have in Singapore, the more obvious the problems will be.

Personally, I don’t like the term “Singapore Spirit” because it is lacking the “people” factor. Singapore, like any country, is simply a region identified as a distinct entity in political geography. It has no life. What gave it the life are their People. Therefore, I prefer to use the term “Singaporean Spirit” instead.

However, the feeling of being a Singaporean today is very different than it was before. The feelings of injustices are everywhere. At the same time, we are also given all sorts of labels – internally as well as externally.

Deep in our hearts, we know this is not the Singapore we want. We are well aware that we are not as labelled. We are far more capable, united and refined than anyone else, especially when compared with our so-called ‘leaders’.

All these problems are rooted from the lack of understanding of the basis of our spirit.

It is therefore important for me to define the basis, which is what I summarised as: Basis of Singaporean Spirit – “BOSS” for short.

In Chinese, I shall call it 《坡精神》.

“Singapore”, in Chinese, is written as “新加坡”. So the “坡” represents our country. Literally, the “坡” also means a small gentle slope – we are small, but well-mannered and humble, yet a significant part of the overall landscape.

“精神”, in Chinese, means spirit. The reason why I chose “坡” is also because it rhymes with the English acronym – “BOSS”.

BOSS stands for “Basis Of Singaporean Spirit”. BOSS is the common belief on the best way to build a home. BOSS unites everyone under one common belief – the best way to build a home.

BOSS is not about creating a replica of US, Switzerland, France, or whatever. BOSS is about our distinctive characteristics and our core competencies. BOSS demonstrates our uniqueness and shows the World why we are better. BOSS is our guiding principle for our thoughts and behaviours.

To understand BOSS, the first thing is to look at Singapore’s existence. Singapore existed not because of its multi-racial society. No country in the World existed because of that; in fact, this is always the source of conflicts around the World.

Multi-racial society is the result of our nation building – not the foundation. The foundation of Singapore started with a single belief – the common belief on the best way to build a home. This belief is written very clearly into our Pledge:

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and

progress for our nation.

People from all walks of life, who shared the same belief came together to build this dream home that we now called “Singapore”.

The multi-racial, multi-language, multi-religion constitution of Singapore that we see today is the result of the diversity of people who shared the same vision, willing to sacrifice, and willing to build this dream home together.

The composition will change over time as our value and belief spread across the World, but the foundation remains the same:

“The common belief on the best way to build a home”

It is this foundation that brought us the harmony that we enjoyed.

Today are we united?

No. We have leaders who labelled Singaporeans with all sorts of names, denying the fact that all the problems were created by them in the first place.

Did we achieve happiness, prosperity and progress?

No. I know those who defended this will jump into explaining how much we have achieved, etc. But did you realise how the objectives are ordered within our Pledge? Happiness is listed first.

I can also see the PAP government trying to make a lot of changes to rectify the situation. However, implementing changes without understanding the basis and value is suicidal.

For any organisation, it must have a guiding principle, which serves as a basis where all decisions are based upon.

Without a proper guiding principle, decisions and actions would be based solely upon monetary value and pressure from different rights groups as well as individual ideology. When an organisation loses its core principle or deviates from it, it loses it soul.

What is the guiding principle of today’s PAP government? Well, GDP growth. Technically, there is nothing wrong, but if it sacrificed Happiness, it is against our Pledge – Nothing will be right if leaders are doing things against the Pledge – the Basis Of Singaporean Spirit.

Some of you might argue that you need to have growth in order to have Happiness. But that statement is faulted. It is really about priorities. This is what Mr Lee Kuan Yew once replied:

“What are our priorities? First, the welfare, the survival, of the people...”

He did follow the Pledge and set the priorities accordingly. Did he sacrifice prosperity and progress? No, he didn’t.

Today, with the busy and stressful life, exacerbated by political issues, aggressive rights groups, BOSS had been overlooked – people started to fight among one another, defending their own groups and ideas while trampling on others – overlooked that we all started from the same common root.

It is now time to remind all of us about BOSS and revive the hidden values – let it be our guiding force for our thoughts and behaviours.

BOSS Wisdom: “The Basis Of Singaporean Spirit is the common belief on the best way to build a home, which is described in details within our Pledge.” – BOSS

[This is part of the book: Basis Of Singaporean Spirit - People Power, click here to go to the main page]