First world country, third world govt-citizenry interaction
July 6th, 2010 | 
Author: OPINION
Singapore may be a first world country in terms of economic development and infrastructure, but the way the government interacts with the citizenry and vice-versa resembles that of a third world country.
In fact, communication between the two is mostly a one way traffic with little or no interaction at all, the latest fracas involving the Ministries of Environment being a case in point.
Last month, Singapore was hit by a series of flash floods unheard of before in various parts of Singapore, most notably in its prime shopping district of Orchard which caused damages and losses amounting to millions of dollars.
The immediate response from Singaporeans who were described as “champion grumblers” by PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew is predictable: a torrent of criticisms was hurled at PUB and ultimately the Ministry of Environment responsible for the drainage system in Singapore.
Amid the finger-pointing which gathers momentum in cyberspace, there is no response from the authorities to limit the damage from the PR fallout until two full days later when a press conference was called hastily by PUB CEO Khoo Teng Chye in which he offered an unbelievable explanation for the floods, but did not offer any apologies.
The Minister in charge, Mr Yaacob Ibrahim was nowhere to be heard, seen or found during the entire saga and only spoke on the flooding four days later on the sidelines of a community event as if it has nothing to do with him.
Instead of appeasing disgruntled Singaporeans affected by the floods, Mr Yaacob has the cheek or audacity to heap generous self-prase on his subordinates for their “efforts” in controlling the flood.
“I think the response by the PUB, by the agencies, has been commendable. We have done our best to help the businesses affected, the people affected,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.
He was quick to dismiss the screw-up as another “learning experience”:
“Every event is a new learning experience for us. This rainfall was totally unexpected, I can be very honest about it. If you look at rainfall patterns, we’ve never seen such a pattern. Having said that, it means there are new things happening, so the approach we should be taking is to learn from this, improve upon it, and assure Singaporeans that we’ll do our best to prevent this as much as possible,” he added.
Mr Yaacob seemed to forget that he tried to “reassure” Singaporeans only last year November that such floods occur on a frequency of only “once in fifty years.”
There is a huge gulf in public expectations and the government’s interpretation of the event. While Singaporeans are quick to pin the blame on the government, whether rightly or wrongly, the government’s official stance is that the flooding is an “act of god” which is beyond its control.
A week later, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong tried to obfuscate the matter by claiming that it is “impossible” to expect Singapore to be “flood-free” when all Singaporeans are asking is for some plausible explanation for the flash floods and somebody to accept responsibility for it.
He pronounced that given Singapore’s “tropical climate”, any attempt to “wipe out” flooding in Singapore would require plenty of money and land without providing any concrete evidence or statistics to substantiate his claims.
“I don’t think it is possible in Singapore to expect the place to be completely free of floods, as heavy downpours are very much part of the climate for an ‘island in the tropics,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.
PM Lee also urged Singaporeans to do their “part” by ensuring that the drains are not choked from litter. He may have a point – an active citizenry should play a role in the nation-building process instead of relying on the government all the time.
In the Singapore context, the apathetic citizenry we have today is an indirect result of the PAP’s dominance. Because Singaporeans have been told repeatedly again and again that the PAP “knows best”, few bother or dare to offer their input.
When mistakes like this happen, the government will automatically bear the brunt of the blame since it is being paid astronomical salaries to do its job, people naturally expect extraordinary results with zero tolerance for screw-ups.
This saga illustrates clearly a long-standing problem in our society, described by writer Catherine Lim as the “great affective divide” between the government and the people.
There is hardly any interaction between the two. The people complain, complain and complain, but refuse to do anything to help or contribute. The government evades, shuns and “tai chi” and only knows how to talk down to the people.
To be fair, the flooding may be entirely unavoidable, but had the government shown more tact, empathy and EQ in handling the fiasco, the frayed nerves of Singaporeans may be more easily soothed.
All Singaporeans want is a bit more humility from the government. As for the government, it wants Singaporeans to be more proactive, but it must understand that so long it continues treating the people like idiots, it can never expect any sort of participation from them.
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Posted in Opinion
MM LKY claimed that the older Singaporeans were living in the past when peeing in public places were tolerated, and had to be trained to use toilets in a First World environment.
It seems that the Son now find it tolerable to have Singapore’s First World environment to be flooded with pee oozing from the sewers like in Third World city such as Bangkok.
The Father and the Son does not seem to be talking on the same frequency – the Singapore faithfuls will be wondering what has the Holy Goh got to say next ?
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anyone remember if LKY once said that if you vote for opposition, there will be floods all over Singapore?
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Why are the PAP leaders not interacting with the citizens? Because they are blatant cowards. It is as simple as that. They only dare to talk down to the people through their puppy dog, the SPH. The only game they play is their own version of Tai Chi, the art of pushing the bug whenever things go wrong and then making frivolous statements in their cozy Ivory Tower. This mentality also applies to the PSs, all too cowardly to face the public. Without feedbacks, you can see the country heading towards ruin, thanks to the cowardly MM, SM, PM, PAP Ministers and their Senior Govt Officials.
This country neads genuine leaders who are prepared to take responsibilities for any wrongdoings and engage the people no matter how hostile the civilians are. What we have now are cowards, cowards and cowards who will run and hide behind their mothers’ aprons at the slightest sound of trouble.
Cowards, Cowards and Cowards. That’s what they are.
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The last paragraph of this explodes the rubbish that the PAP renews itself
http://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/spore-doesnt-have-the-problems-of-dubai/
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Do not expect Singapore to be flood-free? i do not understand this.
Singapore has been flood-free for the past 20 years or so after some good work carried out to correct the flooding problems of the old days. So what happened now??? Is is due to thoughtlessness in city planning, in exchange for going cheap, fast, and not better…. the undoing of a good thing since the 1980s???? ???
What is next? Do not expect our ATMS and banking systems to be glitch-free? Are we as a society settling for less and less and accepting it more and more?
This is not the Singapore that I know since my childhood. It is not something I can be proud of as a baby-boomer, Singapore-bred Singaporean.
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When a govt call its citizenry daft and sheepish and take their jobs and carelessly dished them to some Foreign Trash,what kind of ITERACTION do we then expect between such a govt and the citizenry?
Worse still,the OUT-OF-JOBS singaporeans even get blamed for the LOW PRODUCTIVITY and shoddiness of these foreign trash.
Do people still expect the citizens to LOVE the govt when they can’t even afford low-cost public housing whereas some foreign trash abuse the system which has benefiited them like the one who rent out his HDB and stay in a cosy condo and who questions the little tax he has to pay?
I say the smart scholars here are daft and blind as bats.
At least the blind bats can somehow detect…
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Beyond “First World” salaries for top executives of government and government agencies but worst than “Third World” ownership of problems and receptivity to criticism by its citizenry.
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The Government does not know how to communicate. I wonder how our elected representatives obtain their training. Every civil servant has a yearly training roadmap and are required to chalk up a certain hours depending on grade.
Looks like our elected representatives do not set good examples in training as well!!! The Senior Minister once famously said that it takes only six months for us to forget what we have learnt in the university.
Coming back to the way the government communicates. The PRO of the Ministry (normally a Divison 2 officer) will cast out the draft reply. It then goes to the admin head (no specialised or line training in the work of the Ministry) will vet the draft.
Here the permanent secretary will approve the draft and off it goes to the press. What EQ is there!!! It’s definitely a very detached view. What happends to the response of the Minister? Hardly any input.
The rest is then left to a few words with the media at the sidelines of an event!!!! Anyone can be a Minister!!!
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There is no need to have a knee jerk solution to every problem. In the case of flood the government needs a comprehensive solution and it may takes time.
Having say that the government should have given the people better reassurances and disclose their next step on what they will do about the issue of flood etc. It is true that PAP leaders seldom engage the people because no one wants to take responsibilities for the things said which are likely to backfire and they will have lower standing among their colleagues. It is great virtue to remain silence when you are in the government. The lesser you are heard the better.
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ya lor.. must improve..
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Us(the PAP) versus You (the people).
It’s a Lee Kuan Yew’s feudal meritocracy system.
I said so many times already.
Ha ha ha!
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How do you expect the daft citizens to interact with the $million elites??
The ‘daft’ and the ‘elite’ words are in different time zones!!
Take for example the meet the people session between the Minister of Transport and a daft citizen.
The minister was asked as as to how come the transport fares were not adjusted downwards when the price of oil dived.
Instead of answering the direct question, the minister fired back “you want
free transport?? do you know how much it will cost you ?? it will cost you
2% of the GST!!”
Tell me,You still want to interact with this type of so-called elite???
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VERY TRUE THIS TOPIC
Examples below
http://www.todayonline.com/TalkBack/Voices/EDC100621-0000033/The-goal–Access-to-all
http://www.todayonline.com/TalkBack/Voices/EDC100531-0000031/A-little-more-interaction,-please
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?s=6514fdf067f731e85e0806a5c6ca83aa&t=2579980
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?s=f6417ddf5cf8f1518cdabac9337a20af&t=30429
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Singaporean mm lee frequently “pee” DOWN(!) “Bay-Chia” no class way AT Singaporeans like he is “more Singaporean than WE are”?
How to expect 1st world (whatever he means?) when HE piss OFF anyone who just doesn’t view from a different perspective from him. So, when such a character wants to employ you for more then the market and says you are becoming his “top talent”, has he not already affirmed his abilities? What AN INCREDIBLE NUTTY NUT OF THE “Nuterer & Nuterest” kind of his “top talent” as LSS showed this PAP way! And lky “approved” of him? Bet he didn’t attend that UK Linguist Barry Johnson’s class. after the Civil Service, he was engaged by many MNCs at $300 pax and made lots of money!
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You know when disaster struck in China PM Wen goes immediately to the hard hit area to show his support and govt of China offer help. Donations also flow in to support the victims. In Singapore it is “your problem not mine”.
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http://www.todayonline.com/TalkBack/Voices/EDC100621-0000033/The-goal–Access-to-all
BO CHAP BREED OF SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS
EXTRACTED -
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/07/03/sm-goh-to-singaporeans-please-continue-to-offer-pap-constructive-criticisms/
BELOW EXAMPLE, GIVING INPUTS TO BCA DIRECTOR, CHIN CHI LEONG, HE OSO BO CHAP:
July 5, 2010 at 3:50 pm
BELOW EXAMPLE, GIVING INPUTS TO BAC DIRECTOR, HE OSO BO CHAP…….
SEE THE POSTINGS, PEOPLE TELLING BCA DIRECTOR CHIN CHI LEONG N ASKING WHOSE JOB IS IT, HE OSO BO CHAP
http://www.todayonline.com/TalkBack/Voices/EDC100621-0000033/The-goal–Access-to-all
-
-
To – EDITORS TODAYonline Forum
Updated 01:54 PM June 24, 2010
To – EDITORS TODAYonline Forum
WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE AT TODAYonline ‘BLOCKING’/’CENSORING’ TRUTHS FROM BEING ‘POSTED’ AT YOUR FORUM.
I THOT NEWSPAPERS ARE SUPPOSED TO PUBLISH TRUTHS N NOT PREVENT TRUTHS FROM BEING PUBLISHED.
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=30429&page=3
- see posting #24 –
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@All the crap: July 6, 2010 at 2.32 pm
The Minister of Transport is also a ‘daft citizen’, to be able to make his ‘daft’ reply.
It clearly show that the Pro Alien Party is bankrupt to employ the “dafterest” of Singaporean to be a Minister, and be paid a daft sum of $2 Million a year.
With “dafterest” political leadership leading the way, can there be any sensible conversation with these “daft” beings ?
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@ PAP Leaders Are Blatant Cowards:
Well said. What we have are a bunch of sissies who are actually fearful of directly engaging the people and talking responsibility. They only know how to hide behind the institutions that offered them protection to talk down Singaporeans.
They are a disgrace from the pioneer leaders who galvanized and built this country, not to mention the millions they are paid.
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Let’s vote the Poor Action Party out.
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@All the crap:
July 6, 2010 at 2:32 pm
I totally agree with you. The MIW are so crap they don’t even know how to handle questions from the public. They were all hand-picked by a tight group of people upstairs to do the job to ensure party control and continuity.
They can’t even speak in the parliament let alone taking questions from the public. Shame shame shame ….
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Maybe David marshall can do a better job.
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Don’t blame PAP. Blame the voters who gave their votes to PAP.
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What rubbish! It’s not Singaporeans who refuse to help! It’s called “learned helplessness”. Singaporeans want to help but the PAP doesn’t listen to any suggestions or criticisms, so Singaporeans give up. Who can blame us?
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Blame The Voters: July 6, 2010 at 11:58 pm
//Don’t blame PAP. Blame the voters who gave their votes to PAP.//
Yes, blame the 748,130 voters that gave their vote to the Pro Alien Party, when only 1,123,273 voters were able to vote – when the remainder of the register list of 2,117,840 Citizens were sitting at home.
These 748,130 votes that went to the Pro Alien Party counted on for 35.32% of Singapore Citizens on the registered list of voters.
Singapore is the only place in the World when half of the registered voters sit at home, and allow the incumbent party to walk into Parliament without any opposition.
Blame Singaporeans and the Alternative Political Parties for making it so easy for the Pro Alien Party ?
No, it is due to the dishonest gerrymeandering ways of the Pro Alien Party in politicking to disadvantage all other Alternative Political Parties – by changing the ground rules at each election to fix everyone – so as to allow themselves the extra handicap to win the election.
This is the Pro Alien Party claiming First World title, but will shamelessly display Third World political ethics to stay in power.
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@atobe:
July 7, 2010 at 4:59 am
Blame The Voters: July 6, 2010 at 11:58 pm
This is the Pro Alien Party claiming First World title, but will shamelessly display Third World political ethics to stay in power.
Yes agreed. PAP does not have the political ethics. All they care for is how to stay in power, the rest is secondary.
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I also hope more people will vote out PAP in the coming election. The mass import of foreingers into this country has caused our infrastructure over stretch. And PAP still says not enough “We need more”
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@“Every event is a new learning experience for us. This rainfall was totally unexpected, I can be very honest about it.
Sg are you sure you want someone who is only learning to be your MP, or to run the country. God knows what will happen if i ever sit in a car that is driven by a learner driver. Your choice .
Vote them out.
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North Korea is 2nd World and South Korea is 3rd World? Taiwan is 3rd World and China is 2nd World? Mongolia is 2nd World and the whole of South + Central America is 3rd World?
What kind of rubbish map is this?
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SilenceIsGolden:
July 6, 2010 at 1:23 pm
There is no need to have a knee jerk solution to every problem. In the case of flood the government needs a comprehensive solution and it may takes time.
Please lah, you take 1 dollar salary you do 1 dollar work
The is call Fairness and Balanced
Please lah, you take 1 million dollar salary you do 1 million dollars work. You said these things take time, when time to take salary I am sure you don’t say drawing out money take time
Really can talk cock sing song
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SilenceIsGolden:
July 6, 2010 at 1:23 pm
It is true that PAP leaders seldom engage the people because no one wants to take responsibilities for the things said which are likely to backfire and they will have lower standing among their colleagues. It is great virtue to remain silence when you are in the government. The lesser you are heard the better.
Incompetent it is??? Usually when you are wrong, you quicky run and hide in the cave for awhile, until the issue fade away.
Yeah right, when taking awards, taking praise that time, taking credits, I don’t see them hor, like you said “remain silence” but a lot of words to talk
You hor, like a snake very good at twist and turn
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Halftime break, i was wondering if the same could be said for our good ol’ ministers’ eye-popping salaries based on the quote made above about the floods:
“Every event (i.e unbelievable salary increments hmm well maybe the once in 50 years floods, random hackings at public areas, loss of GIC investments, Mas Selamat toilet breaks, artistic MRT paintings etc) is a new learning experience for us. This (salary increment) was totally unexpected (haha! of course i knew about it but what else can I say), I can be very honest about it (yeah I mean I get wage increase every year for the same amount or much lesser work but not you pathetic sinkies down there!!). If you look at (our salary increment) patterns (whoot!!), we’ve never seen such a pattern (having raised leaps and bounds like nobody’s business since the 90s i mean, even through economic recessions. we peg our salaries to our mood!). Having said that, it means there are new things happening (expecting more once in 50 years floods especially in town, maybe near the Istana soon), so the approach we should be taking is to (lan lan) learn (for sinkies is to accept the fact)from this, improve (and find loopholes and smoke the general public like FOOLS!) upon it, and assure Singaporeans (aka the goonies) that we’ll do our best to prevent this (i don’t mean the salary increment of course! why the hell would i restrict my earnings!) as much as possible,” he added.
Im sure it doesnt works that way?
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What is Democracy? really?
Check out this video, very funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqWFb852eDk
Two little throw stone, funny game they play in Africa
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2nd world = communist soviet and its allies during the cold war. There is no no 2nd world now. That’s a glaring mistake.
Nowadays, 1st world loosely refers to developed countries and 3rd world to less developed countries. These are different meanings from the original during the cold war. And there’s no 2nd world anymore. Your picture is outdated.
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Some over smart guy says not need knee jerk to every problem. If this guy is an engineer, EVERY knee WILL JERK when the machine he design is turn on for the first time Folks! Because he IS EXACTLY like those LKY-PAP guys who DON’T KNOW A DAMN AT ALL ABOUT HOW TO MAKE SURE THAT “An OUNCE of PREVENTION IS Betterer and Betterest THAN A POUND of CURE” EVEN concerning like SAFETY BY “PROPER INTRUSION SURVEILLANCE AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS”!!!!!!!
And so hor!!!!!! Like his DUMB and DUMBER miniSTERS, who DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT they HAVE MADE “DAMN FOOLS” of themselves each time they OPEN their FOOLISH tiny-toddler mouths after TAHT SMRT Changi Depot “break-in’ for “1st WORLD CLASS DYNAMIC ARTISTIC ARTISTRY TALENTS that ALSO SHOWED UP their RETARDED minds in their blains of “PCK comedies! Indeed they WILL make Betterer and Betterest “clowns”! But there’s still problems in them IS that “WHEN they crack their types of wobbly ‘talenterer and talenterest jokes NO BODY WILL laugh at all!!!!!! Reason IS OBVIOUS!!!!!!
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something interesting to read about as it concerns state of affairs and dealings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/business/global/08ocean.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp
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LKY is getting bolder as he steps closer into his coffin. I think LKY might just drop dead tomorrow afternoon. He has called his voters “daft”. Now, he has labelled his voters as “champion grumblers”. You milk their CPF like a cow and pay yourself sinful millions and you wonder why your people are grumblers. Although, you are not doing much work, you also suck at what little work you’re doing. You got your forecast wrong this time. Singaporeans are not champion grumblers. They’re practically resentful of the PAP administration. They’re champion resenters. Of you know who…
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This PAP is getting from bad to worse. There’s so many problems they’re creating for the people. We need to “fix” this.
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Dear Yakob, you are paid millions not to creating learning experiences.
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I love Singapore. I love my Chinese, Malay and Indian neighbours and friends. I love the food especially too. But honestly, my friends…I like to speak my heart here. I can’t do this anymore. I can do this wayang and lies anymore. I’m working hard in my country only to live. I am currently studying a third language and am taking my third language seriously. I want to leave Singapore and migrate to Japan.
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Singapore is not even third world.
Singapore is FOURTH WORLD.
Where else can you find a 80 plus old man controlling everything?
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Do you remember the incident when the Malaysian Gov wanted to sell the KL Heart Center? The citizens protested and the Gov changed
its mind? Don’t critisize the Malaysian Gov too much. They do have a heart.
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