Our Singapore Conversation… Is it??

Picture from www.oursgconversation.sg

 

Re: PSLE tweaks among impending policy changes as OSC ends

The government had recently concluded the year-long Our Singapore Conversation (OSC).   The 5 main ‘distilled’ concerns from OSC are

(1) “Opportunities” in a competitive economy

(2) “Assurance” that housing and affordable healthcare will always be within reach

(3) “Purpose” in lives that celebrate achievements beyond the economic, and that value shared memories and heritage spaces

(4) “Spirit” in communities that organise ground-up initiatives and take care of their most disadvantaged; and

(5) “Trust” between the Government and the people, as well as among Singaporeans.

 

The more intriguing question is that was these not in the mind of the government prior to 2011 elections?  How inclusive is this conversation actually? And many disgruntled commoners voice their tone?

 

While it is easy for armchair critics to question the fundamentals behind this, at least the government had done post-election mortem and has taken active steps to “hear” us.  Ain’t this what democracy is all about?  Unfortunately, armchair critics does not seemed satisfied with this effort and continue their trolls on social media platforms.  I have heard “this is just a show”, “they aint listening even with OSC”, “Why would I need to spend time participating in OS when they are paid millions?”.  I wonder..  On one hand, people are disgruntled with the government for not listening to us, going for economic growth at all cost, rising costs and not paying enough attention to the less fortunate families. On the other hand, they refused participate in OSC to voice their alternate opinions and trashed OSC as a PR effort.  So what is good?  Free roofs, free meal vouchers at luxurious restaurants, executive jobs with no specific skill set required may be the only solution to keep these trolls quiet. 

 

It is disturbing to read posts on FB, especially therealsingapore (Sometimes I really question if they are indeed the real Singapore), rudely abusing politicians.  I am no big fan of any political party, but pragmatically, this is our country, our nation. And, it does not serve any good to nation building with trolls tearing the harmony that we had painstakingly built apart.

48 years of miracle

We depends on others for food. We depends on other for water. We depends on others for sand. But yet, even as we depends on others on more simple but yet important resources, we have made our nation vibrant, relevant and successful for the past 48 miracle years.

We could have been maids. We could have been construction workers. We could have been factory line workers. We could have been depending on the success of other countries to feed our family and find simple happiness in life. But yet, we find ourselves earning more than a lot more countries who are far richer in resources for the past 48 miracle years.

We could have been fighting among races. We could have been growing ourselves in a single race society. We could have adopted the old British model of one race superiority. But yet, we chose to give all equal opportunity regardless of race, language or religion for the past 48 miracle years.

Today, we must not forget how we as a nation arrive to what we are today; how we grew from immigrants to a multi-racial society; how our visionary leaders brought us from a third world country to first within one generation; how we prospered to a model that many other countries wished to learn from.

So today, let us come together to celebrate our success, our happiness, our prosperity and our 48 years of miracle. Happy 48th National Day!!'