THE BUZZ
When it comes to politics, boring is good
IT was an election that could have easily been made into a blockbuster movie.
By Eugene Wee
10 November 2008
IT was an election that could have easily been made into a blockbuster movie.
There was a great script, a solid cast of memorable characters, lots of action, and lots of laughs.
The only thing missing was a car chase.
No wonder the recently concluded US election was all my friends could talk about in the past weeks.
They also had a major complaint - why couldn't Singapore politics be just as exciting.
But here's the thing - to me, exciting always makes for good TV, but not always for good government.
When it comes to politics, boring is good. Very good.
But try telling that to my friends.
Whether it was meal-time chatter, instant messaging quips, or SMS messages, all they could talk about was the mudslinging between Senator John McCain and now-soon-to-be-President Barack Obama, or how blur Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin is, or who was the hotter YouTube supporter, Obama Girl or McCain Girl.
One colleague even asked me if my life was suddenly emptier now that the elections were over.
If only Singapore politics could be this dramatic.
Really? Why?
'Then people like me would be more interested in politics. Now, local politics just puts me to sleep,' replied one friend.
Here, instead of two parties fighting tooth-and-nail for the people's vote, we have one very dominant party which, in most cases, is a shoo-in to win in most constituencies where there is even an election, the others being walkovers.
You don't have to look all the way to the US to experience excitement in politics. Closer to home, other countries where the political scene is equally exciting include Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
When was the last time a Singapore MP waved a kris in Parliament, or an opposition MP launched a rotten tomato at a colleague, or tens of thousands of Singaporeans turned the Padang into a giant, muddy campsite-cum-protest site?
Can't think of any such thing? Well, that only means the government in place is doing a good enough job governing and nobody wants to rock the boat.
Still, there will no doubt be those who will argue that just because our political landscape is boring, it doesn't mean we have a good government.
They will say the Ministers earn too much, the cost of living here is too high and getting higher, and the gap between rich and poor is getting wider.
And sure, some may argue that boring politics fosters apathy and a paternalistic society.
Good government, no doubt
There will be a lot more complaints about what our government may or may not be doing right, but you can't deny that we have a good government.
Would you prefer the kind of political excitement that they have in the US?
I lived in Saint Louis, Missouri, for five years before I moved back this year.
And let me tell you, it was pretty exciting.
St Louis was voted most violent city in the US in 2006, and was second last year. The houses in some neighbourhoods I drove by had bullet holes in the fences. And every week, there would be reports in the news of someone getting shot.
Going to a doctor could set your heart thumping if you didn't have health insurance. A trip to the doctor for a simple urine test cost my wife US$700 ($1,040) once because she hadn't gotten her coverage yet.
More than 45 million Americans, some 15 per cent of the population, can't afford health insurance.
Need another rush? Try looking for a job. Unemployment rate in the US is currently at a 14-year high of 6.5 per cent, compared with Singapore's 2.2 per cent.
Sounds pretty darn exciting, doesn't it?
=========================================
If living in St Louis was so bad as Eugene Wee makes it out to be, than why the f#@k did he stay there for 5 years and 'torture' himself?
When it comes to politics, boring is good
IT was an election that could have easily been made into a blockbuster movie.
By Eugene Wee
10 November 2008
IT was an election that could have easily been made into a blockbuster movie.
There was a great script, a solid cast of memorable characters, lots of action, and lots of laughs.
The only thing missing was a car chase.
No wonder the recently concluded US election was all my friends could talk about in the past weeks.
They also had a major complaint - why couldn't Singapore politics be just as exciting.
But here's the thing - to me, exciting always makes for good TV, but not always for good government.
When it comes to politics, boring is good. Very good.
But try telling that to my friends.
Whether it was meal-time chatter, instant messaging quips, or SMS messages, all they could talk about was the mudslinging between Senator John McCain and now-soon-to-be-President Barack Obama, or how blur Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin is, or who was the hotter YouTube supporter, Obama Girl or McCain Girl.
One colleague even asked me if my life was suddenly emptier now that the elections were over.
If only Singapore politics could be this dramatic.
Really? Why?
'Then people like me would be more interested in politics. Now, local politics just puts me to sleep,' replied one friend.
Here, instead of two parties fighting tooth-and-nail for the people's vote, we have one very dominant party which, in most cases, is a shoo-in to win in most constituencies where there is even an election, the others being walkovers.
You don't have to look all the way to the US to experience excitement in politics. Closer to home, other countries where the political scene is equally exciting include Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
When was the last time a Singapore MP waved a kris in Parliament, or an opposition MP launched a rotten tomato at a colleague, or tens of thousands of Singaporeans turned the Padang into a giant, muddy campsite-cum-protest site?
Can't think of any such thing? Well, that only means the government in place is doing a good enough job governing and nobody wants to rock the boat.
Still, there will no doubt be those who will argue that just because our political landscape is boring, it doesn't mean we have a good government.
They will say the Ministers earn too much, the cost of living here is too high and getting higher, and the gap between rich and poor is getting wider.
And sure, some may argue that boring politics fosters apathy and a paternalistic society.
Good government, no doubt
There will be a lot more complaints about what our government may or may not be doing right, but you can't deny that we have a good government.
Would you prefer the kind of political excitement that they have in the US?
I lived in Saint Louis, Missouri, for five years before I moved back this year.
And let me tell you, it was pretty exciting.
St Louis was voted most violent city in the US in 2006, and was second last year. The houses in some neighbourhoods I drove by had bullet holes in the fences. And every week, there would be reports in the news of someone getting shot.
Going to a doctor could set your heart thumping if you didn't have health insurance. A trip to the doctor for a simple urine test cost my wife US$700 ($1,040) once because she hadn't gotten her coverage yet.
More than 45 million Americans, some 15 per cent of the population, can't afford health insurance.
Need another rush? Try looking for a job. Unemployment rate in the US is currently at a 14-year high of 6.5 per cent, compared with Singapore's 2.2 per cent.
Sounds pretty darn exciting, doesn't it?
=========================================
If living in St Louis was so bad as Eugene Wee makes it out to be, than why the f#@k did he stay there for 5 years and 'torture' himself?
