- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
As Dennis Lee wrote in his letter,
It is really much harder these days for politicians to get things done, what with so many demands from the people. I sympathise with their plight.
– ibid.
However, I will argue here that in a way, the government shot itself in the foot, with its own past actions heightening its present difficulty. Since the 1990s, it has kept up the mantra that rising property values are the proof of the worth and success of the People’s Action Party. Vote for us, the PAP says at each general election, and we will upgrade and beautify your estate, and manage the economy so wonderfully, that the values of your homes will go up and up.
Secondly, the liberalisation of Central Provident Fund (CPF) rules, allowing huge chunks of personal pension fund savings to be shunted into property, has only made protecting the value of property so much more acute.
Thirdly, this government, by its market-fundamentalist mentality, has created a society where conspicuous consumption and the flaunting of wealth and social exclusion have become indicators of social status. Living in a well-provided, socially rounded, “authentic” neighbourhood is considered low-class; living in a pretentious, environmentally irresponsible (you have to drive to get to your kids to pre-school or to your nearest convenience store!) , and demographically sanitised bubble is the aspirational good.
- http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/government-fights-lonely-battle-for-eldercare-centres/
It is really much harder these days for politicians to get things done, what with so many demands from the people. I sympathise with their plight.
– ibid.
However, I will argue here that in a way, the government shot itself in the foot, with its own past actions heightening its present difficulty. Since the 1990s, it has kept up the mantra that rising property values are the proof of the worth and success of the People’s Action Party. Vote for us, the PAP says at each general election, and we will upgrade and beautify your estate, and manage the economy so wonderfully, that the values of your homes will go up and up.
Secondly, the liberalisation of Central Provident Fund (CPF) rules, allowing huge chunks of personal pension fund savings to be shunted into property, has only made protecting the value of property so much more acute.
Thirdly, this government, by its market-fundamentalist mentality, has created a society where conspicuous consumption and the flaunting of wealth and social exclusion have become indicators of social status. Living in a well-provided, socially rounded, “authentic” neighbourhood is considered low-class; living in a pretentious, environmentally irresponsible (you have to drive to get to your kids to pre-school or to your nearest convenience store!) , and demographically sanitised bubble is the aspirational good.
- http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/government-fights-lonely-battle-for-eldercare-centres/
