Same Old Shit, Different Strokes

Yesterday I noticed something interesting and, yet, irritating whilst watching the footage on what SBS Transit is doing with when the train was held up in the tunnel. There were members of staff from Transit who were wearing brightly coloured vests that had the following words on their backs: Goodwill Ambassador.

Where may I ask is the supposed GOODWILL that they are showing? Is the goodwill displayed in that Transit actually considered that patrons will be confused and frustrated and hence catered for people to direct them? Is the goodwill displayed in how these "ambassadors" are pacifying the crowd?

Hmm it's funny how the word "goodwill" is now used when describing acts of fulfilling one's duty and obligations. Apparently I must have misunderstood that acts of goodwill are supposed to be beyond the call of duty. I must have misunderstood that for the past 2 decades or so. Amazing. My command of english sucks.

And that was issue Number 1.

Issue number 2 is that suddenly our train and bus fares have risen again. They have magically risen after the hike in taxi rides. Oh my, I think I should have to start jogging really soon as I might not be able to take any public transport in future. Once again the same old crap about staying competitive and accomodating for rising costs is bandied.

And also how such fare increases are shared among the large population so much so that it's negligible.

And how oil prices have increased such that this fare increase is needed. If that is so, how come I don't see any fare decreases when oil prices go down. Oh that's right, oil prices might have gone down from a record high but it still beats all the other years and hence we have to maintain our fare hike. My bad my bad. I'm such a bastard for not understanding.

Suddenly the SGD 700 seems so little. Unless someone from the government is able to guarantee that my 700 bucks can cover ALL (and I mean ALL categorically) the little increases for the next...hmm let's see....6-7 years till the next elections, my wish is for the fucking government to just keep these lousy handouts to themselves and use it to actually stave off these increases. That will be a real surprise.

Now isn't this such a great way to usher the arrival of another National Day celebration? I sure wish I had gotten hold of some of those National Day parade tickets. With them, I could have at least sold them and gotten some cash to tide me over the increases for awhile.

I Wish I'm Not Here...

In conjunction with the mrbrown fracas, this video is an example of the rights that we "Singaporeans"* are missing out on:

Every Breath You Take by Dean Glenn from Columbia Business School

No need to fear litigation from the one entity that is supposed to guarantee you your rights. Social Contract? What Social Contract?! Bah!!! Social Imprisonment more likely.

*I use quotation marks cuz I'm not so sure what it means to be Singaporean anymore. When we don't get priority treatment it make me wonder about the term "love of one's own". Apparently one's own is not as good as one's other.

Vox Populi Vox Dei

“Man is/was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” (Social Contract 1.1)

The recent mr brown fracas with MICA has revived in me a long standing point of contention that I have with the local government - their high-handed nature when coming down on people with views that go against theirs. Always claiming the moral high ground, they have no doubt exhibited great arrogance and pomposity when it comes to us “mere mortals”.

“Instead of a diatribe mr brown should offer constructive criticism and alternatives.”

Mr K Bhavani's tone seems to indicate that unless one has any kind of solution at all, one should just shut up and accept the status quo without even the slightest whimper. Quiet acquiescence is seen as the virtue in our garden city. Why can’t we raise our concerns even though we do not have any solution? Aren’t our holier-than-thou ministers being paid millions a year to think of such solutions? Democracy by definition means that everyone is entitled to a say in how things are run in the country. Yet, apparently, our right is being curtailed and sanctioned unjustly. Rousseau was right. The government is here to serve and not rule the people. Its job, not entitlement, is to listen to our concerns and act upon them such that the country is modeled in our image. Not yours. All mr brown is doing here is to highlight the concerns of the masses since he has access to a medium – the media - that many people do not. Instead of calling him a partisan political player, mr brown is a civic conscious citizen who fulfilled his duty to the rest of Singapore by attempting to make a difference for the invisible, silent and suffering majority.

“And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly.”

Anybody who surfs the internet on a regular basis or is active in the blogging community knows that mr brown’s life is very much a public affair. Contrary to the groundless accusation that K Bhavani levels against mr brown, mr brown has been extremely open about his private life, never hesitating to give outsiders a view into his world. But, of course, delusions of having the moral high ground has inadvertently clouded Bhavani’s judgement so much so that mr brown must be the villainous vaudevillian who is bent on “encourag[ing] cynicism and despondency” amongst the demos. What audacity! To paint a better picture, mr brown exemplifies the spirit of ‘V’ and not his modus operandi.

“It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the Government.”

If it is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues against the government, then what may I ask is its role? To propagate only the happy news which keep the people in the thrall of the government? To cloud their judgment and present the illusion that all is well and, hence, there is no need for any form of questioning and critical analyses? Why not call it the PAP daily newsletter then? By virtue of this line, Bhavani has only implied that the newspapers in Singapore are not independent of the government. Such a pity since this is something that his colleagues have been trying to deny for years. Good job Bhavani.

What I have said thus far only serves to exemplify how right Rousseau was. The demos should rule themselves and not leave it to a group of self-proclaimed elites who constantly crow about how much the people are indebted to them for having brought Singaporeans to a world where “comfortable commodious living” (Allan Bloom, Closing of The American Mind) is a reality. They must realize, what more remember, that it is their duty to do so for its citizens. Man in modern day Singapore is the perfect example of how he is only free in the voting booth where he actually has a choice* after which he gladly exchanges his freedom for the flower-laden chains that the government imposes on him thereafter. Granted, mr brown’s tone in his article was a tad sarcastic and harsh, it has made the masses more aware and the government more accountable (I hope). And if this is the only way to do it, then I encourage more Singaporeans to carry on the torch that mr brown has been judiciously bearing. We need an enlightened demos more than an enlightened elite.

*For the sake of simplicty, I shall just assume that we actually have a free and open political system where oppostion parties are not unjustly oppressed.