Ian On The Red Dot

How can you tell if a girl can be a good wife? Well, see how she performs when she is married to another guy, if she is good, then steal her from him. Or date her long enough until you feel comfortable she can be a good wife. But then that doesn’t really work. Right? Because when you are dating her, she is only acting in the capacity of a gf. So, what she has proven is that she can be a good gf, and possibly a good wife, but you can never really tell for sure. Right? But a close approximation is really better than nothing.

Ok.

Let’s flip it around. How do you let a gal you really like know that you can be a good bf or a wonderful husband?

One way is to woo her. But what if she rejects your efforts in courtship. Then what? Do you repeatedly keep trying to woo her?

Think about it. The objective is to be the bf because you want her as a gf as well as you think you can be a wonderful bf, possibly the best. Note, both motivations can be mutually exclusive.

The thing is, you don’t need to be a bf before you can show you can be a good bf.

Courtship is really about getting the status to then have a chance to prove that you can be good in that status.

Yet, there are many ways a guy can prove to a gal he can be a great bf without having to be the bf.

He can do well in school. Pursue a career with dedication. Be a loving son. Help out in the community. Have a vision greater than just earning buckets of money. There are many many things an individual can do outside of a relationship to actually show his potential as a good bf.

Which now brings me to this post made by xizor2000.

None of the opposition parties are in any position to take over. In other words, stop asking the baby to come up with a plan to fly like Superman, when the baby isn’t even given the chance to walk. And by that I mean, if you don’t even vote – or trust – the opposition parties in to let them manage your own constituency and town council, why the hell are you even asking them for a plan when they are in no condition to, anyway? Is trust not built bit by bit?

I agree with xizor2000. Trust is built bit by bit. However, this trust doesn’t need to be built only once the opposition enters the government. They got to build it now. And frankly, they aren’t doing it. They are saying, let us in. We show you what we can do. I’m saying, you can show us what you can do even before you get into Parliament. But they aren’t doing that. In my opinion, their only goal is to get more opposition into Parliament. They think they can only show us what they are capable of once they enter Parliament. Which is nonsense. There are so many things an individual or a group can do to make Singapore better without being in Parliament. The opposition should take the lead on that count.

For example, Indignation 2008. The people behind this are trying to make a difference for a segment of Singapore’s society. Actually, scratch that. They are trying to make a difference for Singapore’s society – we all benefit if we can learn to treat these individuals with more respect, value their rights and include them as equal members in our society (although, frankly, they would be lowering their standards to be at our level).

The opposition can take a lead in more of such stuff. But wait! Didn’t they try to protest over rising prices. Those are just side shows. Nothing lasting was created. That’s just protesting instead of working towards a solution independent of government’s efforts.

I made this statement:

‘No use talking about it. You want to fix things then come out with a concrete plan to fix it’

And here is what I meant by it. Plurk isn’t really a good place to convey the idea.

Say you live in an estate. You pay for cleaning but it never happens. You can keep complaining to management why the estate isn’t cleaned. You can talk about all the problems that can happen if the estate isn’t cleaned.

Or you can take a broom and do the sweeping.

Look. I know technically it isn’t your job. You aren’t the one being paid to solve the cleanliness problem. And I’m not asking you to do the management’s job or the cleaner’s job.

I’m just saying when the shit is going to hit the fan, and no one else can take care of you and family, then maybe it is time to come up with a plan to fix things on your own.

Now, when it comes to our government, I’m not saying we should come up with plans for our government to fix things. Xizor2000 is right. They are paid enough to do it and do it well. But if they don’t. Then what?

The citizens should make our own contingency plans. I’m not talking about migrating. I’m talking about us organizing ourselves to fix things on our own.

Small example: I hate traveling back during peak hour. No matter how much noise I make, the transport companies aren’t going to fix things in the short term. So I make my own plans to ensure that my own commuting experience is a pleasant one.

Which brings me to the last point. I truly believe the way things are going, if we vote the PAP out just to get them out, our country has a high chance of dying. Sure, things arguably may not be too awesome at its current state, but if the PAP is out, things will get much worse.

When I say the above, it is not because I think the opposition is truly incompetent that they will lead us to hell. It is because I think they haven’t figured out how to secure the other power bases in Singapore once they get control of Parliament. Those other power bases will still be secured by the PAP and the government would be operating in a hostile environment.

Of course all this is just talking strategy on paper. It is of no use.

But I’m just going to say, if we truly want a better watchdog or a new government or push the PAP to be better than they currently are, we need an opposition to think bigger than their issues with the PAP.