The Voiceless Nation

The future of Singapore is bleak, it is coming to a dawn… to an end. The reasons are clear and simple; most Singaporeans do not have the basic knowledge of forming an opinion. They seem to have no opinions on whatever happens. They just take it without questioning, accepting it is (good) for them. It is frightening to know this occurring in a democratic country. They do not know their basic rights, their freedom to exercise free speech… and even a free will of thinking. With a nation that does not think, the future does not look rosy for it either.

After reading a post on Mr Wang’s blog about “More than half of workers in S’pore regret choice of study” i feel compelled to write an essay on this topic. Everyday we are bombarded with propaganda on trains, buses and streets. Recently, the government have been promoting the food and beverage industry as a lucrative career to be in. Needless to say, people in the f&b industry are probably work the most hours and the are the most lowly paid workers around. With so many false images implanted into our minds, no wonder we are the most disillusioned people in the world, studying for the sake of studying, working for the sake of working… not liking any bit of it and probably regretting our choice of careers and studies (as indicated by a survey by Kelly Services)

It all starts at 12 years old, we are streamed into different classes depending on our academic ability at that age, to be classified as “special” “express” or “normal”. Those who are streamed into “normal” are frowned upon as being “stupid”. They carry this label in their whole lives and it determines their destiny in the working world. Those who are “smarter” and “hardworking” will try to climb out of this label and try to excel with their “smarter” peers - with a longer route to take.

Singapore is probably the most regulated country in the world with every rule set in paper for people to follow - without much say in how things should be run in reality. There is a determined set of routes to take to succeed in life - to be an engineer, doctor or lawyer. To be an artist is seen as absurd…. the primitive nation does not seem to appreciate art… or even take a second glance at it… after all.. it does not bring them any pragmatic value.

A nation that does not think is certainty a dead nation. Like the vegetable state of a person lost in coma, he thinks he is alive but he isn’t in reality. He cannot control what happens to his body, the external world determines what they do with it - to put him to sleep or to put him on the life support machine. If there is no financial resources in doing so, they will put him to sleep like the animals in shelters - unwanted outcasts of the society. If he holds the knowledge to eternal life, they will keep him alive as much as possible - for the day he would “contribute” his knowledge to the society.

I hope one day the nation does wake up and realizes that he can take control of his life instead of letting others decide what to do with him. He will be playing in his own dreamland for now…

Melbourne - The Most Livable City in the World

Lessons we can learn:

1) Reclaim our streets from cars
2) People need open spaces to enjoy and appreciate the city
3) Bicycle lanes will reduce the traffic on roads, it is eco friendly and a convenient way of commuting.
4) Vehicles causes stress and pollution to the people living in the city, steps should be taken for alternative modes of transportation such as shared buses, walking, cycling and maybe the skies should be utilized as well with aviation cars? (lol!)

I enjoy walking around the city, particularly City Hall in Singapore. There are many landmarks in the central area for us to appreciate the history and architectural of the buildings. However, the vast number of cars destroys the breath taking views into a industrialized warehouse. Setting up more ERP granties will not solve the problem of traffic, increasing the frequency of buses and mrt routes will improve commuting. Steps should be taken into expanding public transport routes.

The national environmental council has taken a great step in connecting our parks together to make cycling on the shorelines enjoyable. They should look into developing cycling lanes in the city to facilitate the usage of bicycles as a environmental friendly form of transportation.

Singapore The Welfare State?

As the saying goes, “We spend the early 20 years fighting for an education, the next 20 years being indebted for our housing loans and the next 20 years saving for our retirement”. Will you want your child to suffer the same fate as yours? No wonder our birth rates are declining rapidly, graduates are leaving for a better quality of life and foreign talent is needed to fill this gap.

The current policies should be reviewed to make Singapore a more desirable place for its citizens.
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Bad Service in Singapore

Jeri and I were walking around Amara Hotel and we saw a very interesting cafe, so we decided to walk in.

Case 1: The American Bakery at Amara Hotel

Owner: “Hi, how may i help?”

Me: “Just looking around, you have a very interesting shop layout.” While Jeri was standing at the side looking at the muffins and scoffles in the display.

Owner: “If you are intend to enter the building, please use the entrance at the side and not my shop.”

Me: “???”

We continued with our initial plan of having a high tea buffet at Amara Hotel. We decided to walk around Tanjong Pagar as our tummies were full. We saw a stretch and wedding boutiques and decided to look at their albums displayed outside the shop house.

Case 2: XXXX Wedding Studio

Uncle: “Hi, come in to take a look we have more albums inside.”

Me: ” We are not getting married yet…”

Uncle: “It is ok, just come in and see.’

So we entered in and sat down to look at the albums.

Auntie: “So when are you guys getting married?”

Me: (giggles) “Not anytime soon… i am still studying.”

Auntie: “Then why you come here? Waste your time, waste my time. ”

After a while we decided to return back to The American Bakery to chill despite our first encounter (maybe he was just grumpy customers are walking in and out of his shop).

Case 3: The American Bakery (Re-Visited)

Me to Owner: “Hi, what time does this place close?”

Owner: “We open at 8.30am daily.”

Me: “Erm, what time does the shop close?”

Owner: “Can you speak in proper English? I don’t understand what you are saying, do you need me to give you English lessons?”

Jeri: “Sir, you have very excellent service, and we don’t need English lessons. Thank you.”

And we walked off, i guess he was not interested in our patronage. I bet he acts like a little dog when a gold haired customer walks in.

We are contented for now as we are at a Chinese cafe, the moment we walked pass the waitress (from china) greeted us with smiles and welcomed us in. We gladly walked into the cafe after a horrifying day of bad service by Singaporeans.

The Robot Nation

We are the robots of the empire

We are programmed to make money

Manufactured by the factory system

We are identical dispensable beings

Made to serve the wills of our Masters

We are the nation of robots

We have no opinions

We are made this way

So our masters will stay in power forever.

Social Inequality

One thing i dislike is the difference in social classes. It is quite a common thing in Asian countries to have social inequality due to high power distance. People tend to mix around with people of equal social status, especially the elite classes.

Social inequality starts young, children of the upper classes will be admitted into prestigious schools as their parents can afford the ridiculous property prices around prime areas (East Coast, Bukit Timah). Children of blue collared workers will be posted to neighbourhood schools around the industrial areas ( take a look at areas like Bedok, Tampines, Jurong).
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Willie And I - Prawn Fishing

Prawns with satay sticks being shoved up their asses and grilled alive.

I finally finished my exams today after a crazy two week rush to devour the books in my stomach. yum yum. Now that it is over and done with i went with Willie to go prawn fishing! During the first time round, he drove all the way to Jurong and the place was closed. Undetered, we decided to try again at Marina South. We managed to find the place after ending up in east coast and the GPS system was misleading him instead of guiding him. “Turn Left, Turn Left” … then we were like “Where got left ?!”. “Do a U-Turn”… and we didn’t see any u-turns x_X

After a gruesome ride and many wrong routes we ended up at the place. It was a very dark narrow road into the place. There was no lights. Guess what? It is closed too! So we went to two places without avail. The prawn fishing addiction is unbearable, we just have to hook up some prawns and BBQ them alive!!

I guess we are going to try again next time at Westlake. ( i didn’t know the name really meant that there were fishing lakes in the area ) Just hope that the place is not closed AGAIN!

Will update with more photos in my future entries, my camera is gathering rust in the cupboard.