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Once again, another Minister was unwilling to put his head on the line by offering the antecedent events that sparked a fiery riot in Little India last Sunday. It is quite the curiosity if the government is clueless, apathetic or secretive. Yet again, another Minister took a potshot, this time at Singaporeans by insinuating that xenophobia among the Singaporean population was the cause of the riot then hurriedly disaffiliated himself by stating he did not want to make an extrapolation if social tension was the root of the riot. Is that as good as saying nothing? Curiously, site visitors of asingaporeanson.blogspot.com seemed to know a thing or two. 66% of the voters of a ongoing poll here claimed they saw a riot coming our way. If that can be taken seriously, what is it about the circumstances that the common people can read fairly well but not the government?
It was unsettling to hear a member of our government declaring the riot as an isolated case. It wasn't that long ago someone announced that the very large ponding in Orchard Road that took Singapore by the storm was an once-in-a-50-years event. Approximately 250 years later, ex-Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew told us "No amount of engineering can prevent floods." After another century, not surprising to Singaporeans by then, The CEO of PUB reduced the the ponding forecast to once in a while. To their credit, not all mishaps declared as "isolated" embarrassingly repeated themselves later on. A 3x over-budget YOG was an isolated case, not that we would have the opportunity to repeat a 'miscalculation' in the near future, fortunately. That doesn't take away the fact that when the government regards an issue as an isolated case, it effectively means case close after some ceremonial actions, such as visiting a dormitory and enforcing perplexing alcohol rules, are taken.
Hopefully the real underlying causes of the riot were not among the speculated some, such the mishandling of the situation by the police, social tension or oppression of exploited foreigners at its tipping point. Any of the above can and will bring forth another devastating riot if left unattended. Meanwhile, it seemed like the government had settled for the xenophobia scapegoat, a convenient one every occasion when Singaporeans raise their concerns over issues of different spectrum.
- http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/government-hinting-that-singaporeans.html
It was unsettling to hear a member of our government declaring the riot as an isolated case. It wasn't that long ago someone announced that the very large ponding in Orchard Road that took Singapore by the storm was an once-in-a-50-years event. Approximately 250 years later, ex-Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew told us "No amount of engineering can prevent floods." After another century, not surprising to Singaporeans by then, The CEO of PUB reduced the the ponding forecast to once in a while. To their credit, not all mishaps declared as "isolated" embarrassingly repeated themselves later on. A 3x over-budget YOG was an isolated case, not that we would have the opportunity to repeat a 'miscalculation' in the near future, fortunately. That doesn't take away the fact that when the government regards an issue as an isolated case, it effectively means case close after some ceremonial actions, such as visiting a dormitory and enforcing perplexing alcohol rules, are taken.
Hopefully the real underlying causes of the riot were not among the speculated some, such the mishandling of the situation by the police, social tension or oppression of exploited foreigners at its tipping point. Any of the above can and will bring forth another devastating riot if left unattended. Meanwhile, it seemed like the government had settled for the xenophobia scapegoat, a convenient one every occasion when Singaporeans raise their concerns over issues of different spectrum.
- http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/government-hinting-that-singaporeans.html
