I think you have a simplistic view of government, the politics and the role of society in terms what they are looking for.
Firstly most people do not depend on handouts. Secondly criticism does not equate to seeking handouts, freebies, use of reserves etc. It is more towards performance, use of unfair and underhanded means to stifle opposition, lack of transparency on numerous issues, false sense of entitlement - salary, perks and compensation in comparison to well performing 1st world nations.
As to performance you can see things that used for work perfectly for 3 decades are breaking down and frequently at that - lifts, trains, recurring floods, faulty and poor procurement methods - expensive bin centres, brompton bikes, Marina name, etc
We all lived thru the early years and accepted most of it as it was nation building and time was needed to have instruments and institutions of government in place. After 4 decades our democratic model at the very minimum should have had some sort of matured or maturing 2 party or 3 party system so there choices and more importantly no single party hijacks the country for their own personal use.
We have come to stage where we have broken a long held tradition of not appointing a political identity aligned with the ruling party in AG's chambers. No, 50% of practising lawyers have not died and there is no shortage of legal skills out there. The candidate is not even consider an intellectual heavy weight by any respect. The Wife of the PM runs the sovereign fund and despite claims of handing over, nothing has been achieved. If you track all the investments that Temasek made since 2008 and that were made public thru foreign media, every single one of them has led to losses. A hard record to beat.
The PAP has got away with it because they know that there are enough gullible people out their who cannot connect the dots. These are people who actually believe most Singaporeans are looking for handouts and do not want to work. They genuinely believe that the Straits Times are reporting for the interest of the country. These are people who do not possess the intelligence to discern for themselves what is going on.
Yes when you compare Singapore to Malaysia, you will end up with the mistaken sense that we are improving, not that Malaysia is getting worse. Look at the billions spent on A*Star. Nothing material has been achieved in 20 years.
Can you recall a single things we have achieved in the last 20 years - such as creating SIA, building MRT, running an international shipping line like NOL, world's largest port - PSA etc. Anything that we can compare using international measures?
Do you even remember what happened when the white paper on population was discussed in Parliament. A PAP MP walked out, the PM had to hold a tea party at the Istana to apologise to the nurses who were maligned by the submissions, they were shocked by the vitriol when the many focus groups that saw it prior to the submission praised it to the heavens. So what went wrong with their sensing mechanism. Were they talking too less than intelligent people who turn up for theses sessions and are proud to say they do not to take handouts but are as blur as they come.
Do you even know that the son of a former scholar and Head of Civil Service had to repeat his A levels in ACJC but still managed to get OMS, and entered the Elite Admin Service. He is now struggling after 10 years to carry out his duty. There is another scholar and civil servant whose parents were also in the civil service and who made $20 million purchases of property and they have been flipping properties which has been one of the favourite activity in the Admin Service for the last 30 years. Do you even know that the daughter of the old man flipped her property within 60 days which she acquired thru "soft launch" which did not even include shareholders of the company which was behind the development. And till today the soft launch list has not been revealed but it includes select members of the High Court Bench who are linked to Lee & Lee.
I don't depend on the government for handouts, which I think it's appropriate since I can still well afford on my own. But I also wouldn't want to see a failed Singapore by the world community. I'm still holding the Singapore passport you know.
Even if you so hated the PAP, would you just let any cow or donkey to further deteriorate the situation? I still have pride in being a Singaporean.
Also, don't overestimate the National Reserves because if there will indeed be a severe mismanagement by any cow or donkey, they can also be squandered within a decade and I'm sure I have more than 10 years of life remaining.
