Love for myself or nation?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... the citizens of Singapore...well, you know the rest.

Alex and I had a mini debate about the government and policies. CHEEM right? I must say you had be quite intellectual to understand. Alex is a history freak and knows way more about Singapore and world history than I do, so debating with him was no mean feat. So i had to bluff some of my way through.

Me: Why are you anti-government?

Alex: There is no total freedom of speech and there many atrocities the government has done, especially YOU-KNOW-WHO, which are unknown to the public. Many of the major companies are state-owned. [Briefly: we all learn in economics that it's bad when companies are state-owned.] Eg, Singtel, Mediacorp, indirectly SPH, Temasek Holdings who has a 20% share in SIA, which is ironically supposed to be private, etc.

Me: Please open your eyes to see, firstly, there's no perfect government in the world. Total freedom of speech, which is essentially an American concept, does has its downside. Does it really matter that you know you have the right to stand in front of Istana or some state building and shout, 'You suck!'? Surely there are more constructive ways for us to vent our anger? Take away the government's influence from the media and you can forget about having free-to-air channels anymore. [ok, i didn't say this ytd, but it just occurred to me] Who knows, pornograpic channels will be widely available on screen after ten, which is not uncommon in Western counties?!

ALex: ...

Ok, i win. HAHAHAHAHA.

But he had some really good points. He had a lot of concern for the poor, who are experiencing depressing wages. OK, let's first defined poor. According to Mr Tong, the poor in singapore are way more fortunate than the poor in other countries. Even though the singapore poor suffer somewhat, at least they have a roof over their heads! If you have time, go youtube and type in worldvision. Look for a video that is filmed in Laos. Children at the age of 5 walk miles EVERYDAY just to take water and beg.

My dear friends, let's all learn to look beyond the hedge we have built around ourselves. When was the last time you felt compassion for someone? Not someone who has lousy grades or stay in a 3-room flat, but someone who finds it hard to live through the day. And about the government... let's face it, we can't do much about it. For now. except to pray for them.