Increasingly I find myself wondering this question. Where are the voices?
Is the world really so blind?
In response to the taxi fare hike in the 1980s, there had been a boycott of taxis. Many people refused to take taxi, and soon the taxi companies gave in, reducing the taxi fare. There was still a voice then. The public still assumed accountability; they knew that the voice of the people will triumph.
Fast forward to the present, and I cannot help but wonder, “Just where had the voices gone to?”
Are we too blind to see? Too oblivious to the things this government had done?
From the absurd pay-check, to Mas Selamat escape, to the police force arresting people who were simply exercising their human rights by a peaceful protest, to the unjustified GST hike, to the lack of accountability to the public.
Are we really so blind to see? Are we really too nonchalant to speak?
As I sit here now wondering, I can’t help but wonder one thing:
Will my opinions change a single thing?
I do not think the PAP should be overthrown or anything. To me, I think they are capable of running the country (in fact, the most capable out of all the political parties so far), but they must be accountable to the people. Oppression of the individual rights need to stop. Self-serving policies must stop.
But will what I say change anything?
I am sure that is what many people out there, who had not spoken, think. Yes as an individual your voice may not change things. But remember, freedom and democracy are not simply paper-talk; they are ideas and perspectives, and they are given power by words.
One may not be good enough, but speak out and let your voice be heard. The like-hearted will come.
And the voices will return slowly.
The people should not be afraid of their government- the government should be afraid of its people.
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13 comments:
It's rare to find people nowadays who stand up for what they believe and voice out their opinion. This is probably due to the way we are brought up by the government. Remember the time in primary school where the teacher keep telling the students no talking in class? The government plays a big part in determining the amount of freedom of speech we have. Unless the government relax it's rule on freedom of speech, i doubt you will see a rise in the "voices of public"
I'm certainly sure that the GST hike had been well accounted for. Our Finance Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam had to answer plenty of questions and rebut arguments with regards to this issue, as well as many other areas highlighted in the the 2008 Budget Speech. MOF even had a public feedback exercise some time back, which they used as a channel to answer questions from the public. If there are still any resentment, I believe MOF will be more than willing to tackle these problems than avoid them, that is if Singaporeans are willing take the initiative to write in to them.
As for the free speech rights, we have to bear in mind the consequences that our society might face if too much freedom is given for Singaporeans to say what they want. We are after all, a very fragile community, just recall at the Communal riots of 1964, definitely not a pretty sight.
Our Home Affairs Minister, Mr Wong also mentioned that he will be reviewing on how to liberalize the use of Speakers' Corner as an outdoor venue for more political activities including demonstrations. In any case, since we have the Speaker's Corner, let's make full use of it! For now :)
Maybe we should all be like the Americans. They just like to criticize their government and the president just doesn't care. In this context George Bush. But I'm not too sure who's going to be next.
But to think about it. Everything something goes wrong, who do we call? Not the ghostbusters for sure, but our government. Guess we still do complain however in a really quiet way. So much so that it just turns to silence. Also considering the fact that more and more people are in the public sector, who would want to actually criticize on their boss who actually writes the paychecks. Singapore is a country with a government that has what I call "open corruption", "pretend leniency", "democratically communist" and "openly nepotist".
If only we had stronger oppositions.
There is one issue that i would like to bring up, regarding "foreign talents".
Its been clear that the government stated their intention on bringing in more foreign talents. I would really like to question the governments decision. Yes it is true that by bringing in foreign talent to Singapore, it would help boost the economy as well as having having a good balance between the locals and the foreigners. However i beg to differ. The number of foreign talents are increasing over the past few years, with that in mind, what major role does our citzens play when all the high flying jobs are given to the foreigners? Even having the same qualifications as compared to the foreigners they still would not get a job. What is the government trying to do? I REPEAT, SAME QUALIFICATIONS.
I have a lecturer that once told us, he said : " I think the government prefers Westerners as Lecturers in the universities. We asked him why and he told us that he is more than qualified to be teaching in a University. But for certain reasons, is still not good enough to be teaching in a local university. ( FYI, he has a PhD in both mathematics and computer science from Cornell University)
In my opinion, the government should know that these "foreign talents" that they are hiring are in for the money, which means if another country could provide a better offer, they would eventually leave. At the end of the day, if Singaporeans feel that they are not recognised as well as the compatriots, they would not even have the desire to continue staying in singapore where they could get better job prospects elsewhere.
People have been speaking up, government has been explaining to our fellow people, but at the end of the day, its the governments call.
We shall see what lies ahead of Singapore 10-20 years down the road.Will it be more Singaporeans migrating overseas? Likely.
i definitely remember those days in primary school, ian. i do believe that to a certain extent (sounds so social studies), this 'silent' behaviour from most of the people living in spore is simply due to the fact that we all have been brought up that way. we just, quite simply put, dare not speak up - or at least, up against the government. tho i'm certainly not saying that we should protest or anything of that sort.
hi mark.
i understand the message you've put across in regards to free speech rights and its consequences.
but when one hides behind the veil of anonymity, one gets false courage. take political bloggers. the courage to simply post without having to consider the content. this is the manifestation of freedom of speech.but when the veil is removed, our voices are immediately muted because we fear.
yes we may be a fragile community or perhaps living in the land of the bondage. Does that mean we just keep mum?
i certainly think that there are people who do not want us to speak. They fear the words and ideas we might exchange. and i feel that maybe we shouldn't simply let them get their way - not all the time, at least. (:
haha yes, if only, zelda. i surely hope to inspire those who seek words of encouragement in their quest to attain the freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution.
There are many people who are afraid of the outcomes if they were to stand up to voice out what they feel. Being a Singaporean, many are afraid that they might say the wrong thing so they would rather choose to keep quiet. That is why people always choose to say that Singaporeans are scary cats sometimes, we arent like people from america who are always not afraid to voice out.
samantha
hi yao! first of all, i really appreciate the comment. and yes, it is indeed the government's call despite of our constant efforts to make a change and stand firm by our opinions. such is the harsh reality that not all of them will be taken into full consideration.
Yup the government is 'trying' to lessen the number of cars on the road by hiking up the petrol prices and also increasing the number of erp gantries and erp prices. And did they managed to achieve that?
No, but they sure earned themselves a barrage of complaints and unhappiness for themselves and moreover did the most contradicting thing ever by also hiking up taxi fares.
We have indeed a very confused government.
Let's look at it in a different perspective. PAP made it possible for most citizens to own their house, to have old-age funds, to keep "peace" around.
Generally, Singaporeans are pleased with their lifes in here. There's no reason for them to overthrow PAP for minimal issues (GST, CPF, ERP). In any case, no one can for sure believe that opposition can do a better job. I believe that's the reason why voices are buried.
Another thing would be censorship. People always complain there's no speech freedom. But that's the reason for maintaining racial harmony, peace and keep conflicts at minimal. They will not allow anything to harm the economic interests.
well, we cant deny the fact that none of us are true singaporeans. Our forefathers are immigrants as well...
I guess we are just afraid of "foreigners" taking advantage of what we perceived as ours.
reply to ed: well, the motive of increasing petrol and erp prices was never to lessen cars on the road. They just can't stand doing nothing when they know it well that they can suck more $$ out of us...
If they really want ppl to take public transport, they shd jolly well lower the cost of public transport!! Like what beijing is doing...
Our govt has been left unquestioned for one very obvious reason. the system works. look at our economy today compared to our neighbours. we are relatively much ahead.
i doubt the voices of the public has gone. In the past, it would be worth to go through all the trouble and voice our opinions. However, now...look at the trade-offs. If we were to speak up, one we might get arrested. Two, it will become a big press release. it eats into ur time at work where u could be earning the money. Therefore, people these days would rather conform then go thru the trouble. plus, all these topics are left at dinner discussions and coffee shop talks.
As for the GST hike, we do pay a lower tax rate compared to many countries which explains the slightly lower wage rate but yet reasonable. we cant use our personal opinions to make conclusions that the policies make no sense. we have to see it as big picture. An entire economy. It makes our life a tad bit difficult however, we dont really lose out in the big picture. At the end of the day, u go back to a home with no political distress, no racial riots and its safe. U don't have to clutch your bag and be so afraid that at 3 am u might get mugged.
actually, i can keep going. but will stop here.
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