Posted an article by Dr Catherine Lim on Minister Mentor’s Resignation recently in Facebook and it had spiralled a spirited discussion among friends that can pretty much be summed as thought provoking.
For a start, i couldn't agree more strongly on the various points noted by Dr Lim in her commentary and i particularly loved this part, "the material prosperity that he had given Singapore, which many world leaders could never match, was no longer enough compensation to Singaporeans for the soullessness that was beginning to show in the society" and below are the exchanges between the 3 of us as it was. Hope it will provoke some thoughts in you too.
Sam: Unfortunately this is also propagated through the education system. The young were never taught how to be. Only what to be. I still stand by this quote regarding education. I only hope that the system can transform fast enough before my kids enter school.... - "There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. Surely these should never be confused in the mind of any man who has the slightest inkling of what culture is. For most of us it is essential that we should make a living...In the complications of modern life and with our increased accumulation of knowledge, it doubtless helps greatly to compress some years of experience into far fewer years by studying for a particular trade or profession in an institution; but that fact should not blind us to another—namely, that in so doing we are learning a trade or a profession, but are not getting a liberal education as human beings." - James Truslow Adams
Ming: it is indeed a pity that our schools and institutions have became training grounds rather than actual places of education in order for Singapore to achieve its economic success. We train people rather than educate.
And its made worse by the fact that our society does not allow an average family to live on a single income. Had a single income suffice, the other parent would then be able to make up the gaps of truly educating the child in addition to the training received in schools.
A true education should be one that allows the person to realise that he / she does not know everything and thus humbling us, in turn freeing the mind to perceive and accept endless possibilities. This is something i see lacking in most children these days.
Ivy: I choose to focus on what he has done rather than not done. I dont talk politics but i think Singapore will never be what it is without Lee Kuan Yew. You just cant expect the growth to be 面面周全, something had to give for the other to grow with such speed. 改朝换代是难免的 but i still hold him in awe for what he has done for singapore for more than half a century. It is time for Singapore to have a change and he has embraced it. To me, it is the action of a great man.
As for single income families, i have seen several of my friends resigning their jobs after they give birth to take care of their children, with the plan to return to work when the kids grow older. So there are people who are doing it. Even if it is a full time parent taking care of their children, how they intend to so it also plays a big part.
I do not agree though that SDU focus more on graduate women only becos Lee Kuan Yew believe they have better offspring! Its simply becos they set too high standards and perhaps spend longer hours working that these women have a higher percentage of singles - thats not too hard to understand isnt it??
And yes the education system shld change. It is designed to filter out the smart and potential ones and flush out the less intellectual, instead of developing them. Right from primary school
By the way my sister is a working mother but she has done a great job in instilling proper values into her children. She always say it is the quality of the time u spend with ur children, not the quantity :)
Ming: Yes Aibuay, most of us including myself are grateful to the economic success that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has brought to Singapore, along with an extremely safe place to live and grow up in. Frankly speaking, i don't think anyone could have done a better job than him. However, material success does not equate to happiness and this is one of the more prominent points being voiced in this recent election.
Of course suffice to say, Singaporeans are pretty high on their expectations of our government. It is something that has to be managed on both ends, government and people. We also need to examine our own expectations and make sure it is not unrealistic. Perhaps we should take a hint from Bhutan, a country that has hardly any material comforts and yet their people are amongst the world's happiest. They measure their country's success using GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) and not GDP which is something that our government has overly focused on. This is so much in contrast to Singapore when most of us enjoy much material comfort and yet are among some of the unhappiest people ever lived.
As you have mentioned, its a give and take situation and most policies implemented by him simply had no place for human values, something that Dr Catherine Lim had pointed out in her post and i do agree on. It is a pity that this has brought about an educational system that is more skwered towards training rather than giving a true education for our next generation.
As for single income families, let's not talk about people who enjoy a salary higher than average and can allow one of the parents to have the luxury of looking after the children. The average median income as mentioned recently by our Finance Minister is about $2,400. At the sort of income, CPF contribution to the ordinary account in total by both employee and employer is at 23% if we are under 35 years old. Meaning about $552 goes into the OA and it decreases with age since more percentile will go towards medisave account.
A resale three room flat on the average costs about $300,000. Of course a BTO will be much cheaper, at least $50,000 cheaper with the subsidies involved. So using that as an indication and assume a loan of $200,000 is taken up over a 30 years period, the repayment is $801 each month, hardly covered by a single income and cash top up would be needed. After deducting CPF contribution of 20% and the cash top up, he or she would be left with about $1,670.
Is that enough to feed a family? Yes, it will be but hardly much will be left for savings and emergencies. I don't think that is a comfortable kind of cashflow or situation that people will get into if they can avoid it. And what happens? Both parents have to work for the financial stability that they wish to give each other and the family. And i have friends who are earning salaries that are quite substantially below the median income our Finance Minister mentioned.
I also agree that quality of the time spent is more important than the quantity of time spent with children but we have to be mindful that there still has to be a minimum amount of time and effort invested and when these times are utilised fully and properly then it becomes quality time. With both parents working from day till night struggling to make ends meet, the time made avail to their children is very little and how many wayward children have we seen lost to such cases? The number is not small i'm afraid, this is one thing that concerns a fair amount of Singaporeans.
Let me use a ridiculous example to illustrate what i mean - 2 minutes of quality time spent by the parent each day with the child filled with utmost love imparting the highest values vs hours of bad influence each day from external environments. It will hardly make a difference in most cases but in comparison if its a few hours a day spent from the parents when they can explain and guide their children, then the quality time will be truly effective. It is not as simple as saying quality time matters, not quantity. Both have to be in balance.
I have a friend who is working as a school counsellor and i know for a fact that she is overwhelmed by her workload. My belief (and i'm sure that she will agree with) is that some of these kids undergoing assistance would have done a lot better had the parents (or at least one of them) gave them the minimum time and attention required to impart the right values and educate them. And for most cases why didn't the parents do so in the first place? I think we know the answers for some of these neglected kids, their parents are both struggling to make ends meet. To me, its such a pity.
Sam: Alternative ideas were suppressed each time they were voiced. People who could have effectively created a balance in the lopsided culture of materialism left and went elsewhere. They were labelled "quitters". Indeed while some only complain of what he did not do, one cannot ignore the fact that he had fostered an autocratic form of leadership and government. Was this good or bad? Opinions differ. But don't ever assume that nobody, not a single soul could have done a better job. That is idol worship. Singapore might not have turned out the same way, but don't for once think it could not have been better. There were many others who had contributed and dedicated their lives. This "success" wasn't one man's doing. I do not stand in awe of intelligence and great leadership. That shit is plentiful. I stand in awe of enduring virtue in the face of corruption. Pay your politicians obscene amounts so that they will remain incorruptible? That is equivalent to coating your shoes in bovine excrement so that dust won't gather on it. The man himself, his family and extended family have all been rewarded materially enough to last for generations. There isn't a need to blow more sunshine up their money-holes as there simply isn't enough space for it. Enough of idol worship already. Let's move on and work on the current issues.
Ming: Sam i totally agree with you that had someone else been at helm, Singapore could have possibly turned out better with a more balanced and gracious society that has more room in our national policies for love and compassion that could address the needs of the less fortunate and the average family, placing less importance on economic success. This is probably more than evident from most of the comments in the past weeks we seen on facebook when friends posted electoins related topics and hence the call for an alternative voice in government that has resonated ever so strongly in this election.
However, i still stand by my belief that no one i knew could have achieved the sort of economic success and an environment where we can go about our daily activities with a peace of mind without worries of being hurt or being caught in act of crime even though it was achieved through very high-handed methods of crushing any opposing person that stood in the way. So in that manner of an autocratic form of leadership and seeing success in material terms, he probably has done the best job and no one could have rivalled him in this particular area.
Even when my friend mentioned that she stand in awe, i don't think even that would amount to idol worship especially when most of us had so much to question and criticise about the policies he implemented over the years he was holding the reins (and yes especially the portion about the ridiculous pay package that he and his ministers are getting, its absurd having to pay so much to an office holder who professed to be serving in the interests of the people in the first place.. so much for passion and serving the people). Rather than saying its idol worship, i see it more of a form of grudging respect that people gave him knowing that they themselves may not be able to make some of the hard choices that he made in the past to achieve what Singapore has today.
And this is the irony of them all! Despite having provided us with the material comforts that many countries do not enjoy such as clean water and all sort of good basic infrastructures, we are not happy at all and seek to change the form of government he has moulded with his life long efforts. Might i borrow a quote from Dr Catherine Lim's article again that illustrate this point best, "the material prosperity that he had given Singapore, which many world leaders could never match, was no longer enough compensation to Singaporeans for the soullessness that was beginning to show in the society".
For that, i am extremely glad that the WP had made a breakthrough in this election winning a GRC and gained more seats than any opposition party did since our independence days. I only wish that WP would live up to its promises and carry an alternative voice in the Parliament, allowing more humane policies to be passed so that our society will be able to progress much more intellectually, emotionally and spiritually and not just materially.
Sam: I'm sorry if I appear harsh. There seems to be plenty of loyalist comments appearing around. Starting to get on my nerves. Lets hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Changes usually involves pain of some sorts. Sometimes we have to b...acktrack a few steps in order to set ourselves onto another path. The debt burden in the Western world seems to be coming down fast... with the US debt Armageddon approaching early August 2011. Unfortunately I don't see anyone up there actively prepping the system, other than the Finance Minister giving some sort of passing "warning". Fiddling with the exchange rate can only go so far. It's like pumping water from one sinking boat into another. We need a life raft. Those in power need to actively secure and build our basic commodity and energy supplies via the reserves, and not continue leaving it in the casino houses of the stock market. The new foreign minister needs to secure or better relations with our neighboring countries who supply our nation's stockpile. We need to boost and provide technology that supports agriculture, energy and water purification to these neighbours. They have the resources. We can provide the systems and the technology. That's how we can move forward. The old economics supported by Western consumption is fading. It won't work as well into the next 2 decades. Change is needed.
Ming: haha dude, i dont think you are harsh at all, you are just being firm in your convictions although the words used at times may seem a little overly critical but you are just being yourself. And not to mention, these are discussions and exchanges i enjoyed tremendously and you are one of those people who i can count on to know exactly what they are talking about.
This would not be the first time i agree with you that the government has significantly played down the impacts of the global financial issues in their communications to public. I would even venture as far as to say they are somewhat overly optimistic in some of their economic forecasts, thinking that the inflation would somewhat be capped at a reasonable overall rate of 2% over the next 10 years. This is something i find disturbing especially when the recent inflation rate has already hit 5% despite their best efforts to control it with their short term meaures of strengthening the dollar. And again, we need to stress on the fact that this is short term measure and will not work in the long run and as you nicely put, " Fiddling with the exchange rate can only go so far."
Let's hope with the shakeup in the new lineup of cabinet ministers, we will see faster response time and better planning and preparation for the big economic downturn that may possibly happen in the near future.
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