Looking back at 2011…

RE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's New Year's message

An eventful year 2011 for Singapore and the world. The headliners, Tsunami hit Japan, financial crisis in Europe, death of Terror leader, General Elections, Presidential Elections and more.

Tsunami had hit Japan hard. With nuclear spill threatening every other neighbouring country, there was fear that it may slowly spread to massive part of planet earth. There is no doubt that the world had came together to help Japan tide over this tremendous crisis; what is more heartening is to see a nation from all walks of life come together to volunteer their hands to work on the ravage rubbles. A Japanese united front is probably a distant hope that we could possibly come together when crisis hit. A changed demographic with huge influx of immigrants (or we call them new citizens) need time to work on their loyalty and patriotism. Hitting the headlines every other period, the discontentment about the spices “fragrant” from their Indian neighbour, the urge to evade NS on FB, parents posting on Asiaone forums asking how to get their son from NS, scolding of an old lady caught on video and perhaps more. These news, if they are not aware, continue to thwart efforts by the government and social agencies to integrate new citizens into our way of life. People do not see that they are actually descendants of early immigrants and we are what we are today of yesteryears. Unless we are willing to bear more kids, the population is going to size down dramatically without proper immigration policy. I remember when I was a little kid, “Courtesy, it beings with me”.

Financial crisis in Europe. Overspending, poor public policy, bind currency means bind economy and public outcry on harsh policy on citizens to correct the financial challenges. Have we realised that we are affected? Without natural resources, we are left to fend for ourselves by depending much on how others survive. Australia is perhaps the only first world country not hit by any recession in history. They are so much self sufficient, internal spending economy, exports industries and more. There are obvious signs that the government is working on “Singaporeans First” after the General Elections outcry that see unprecedented loss of a GRC; and in the process losing one of our best Minister and a veteran opposition. We will continue to face the dilemma to balance the tension to lend focus on our people and support international investments in years to come; with the internet age, 5 years is a short time for people to forget the “pain.” Pragmatic public policy is the reason why we have prosper over the last few decades but it will be difficult for us to follow this rein to gain further prosperity with public acceptance.

Death of Terror Leader, Osama Bin Laden. The instrumental leader that brought twin towers down, leaving thousands dead and millions stunned. The decade long hunt for this leader finally came to an end in May 2011. His death is not end the threat of terror for it may spur his followers to avenge his death. Self-radicalised and the haunting Yishun MRT plot remind us that the threat is just at our doorstep and we should not and must not be complacent. It will be too late when it happens.

The two Elections, both General and Presidential Elections, have seen a great change in the way politics are conducted as compared to previous. The introduction of social tools like twitter, Facebook and Blogs has transformed the way on how election candidates reach out to the voters. The usual coffee shops grumble is now widely communicated, thanks to these new portals. Younger generations who may not be tuned to the political development can rely on social tools to get their information, avoiding the traditional news portal like TV and radio; which is widely said to disadvantage the opposition. However, the danger is, as Megan McArdle said in Anatomy of a Fake Quotation, information over these portals may not necessarily be accurate, as they may seem to be. Readers may be misled or even misinterpret information that leads to perceptions; be it good or bad, these portals can only be further exploited.