The problem with analogies to explain anything is that it rarely is a one-to-one mapping. Sometimes we extend the analogy beyond its usefulness to explain just one concept. I’m guilty of that as are many bloggers. But that’s so besides the point.
Nocturne wrote this. It was a seductive argument.
But there’s one problem. It assumes that the PAP will always want the best for all Singaporeans, the average Singaporean, the Singaporeans in the lower segments of society….
Basically, it assumes the PAP will always be this paragon of virtue.
Assumptions they say, makes an ass out of you and me.
We could just say let’s keep the status quo until the shit really hits the fan. But then what? Shouldn’t we try to be more prepared for the day the shit hits the fan. Shouldn’t we work towards a system that can handle the shit hitting the fan when the PAP is currently a paragon of virtue as opposed to something much much worse (cue Zimbabwe).
This comment sums up the problem:
Interesting. Anyway I was just thinking… I might like all my employees to aspire to be the next CEO, but at the meantime if I only need a Junior Mgr, then I’ll just hire one without the need to hear about his aspirations. Of course, there are those who even expects his truck driver to aspire to be a CEO and have a plan for it.
We as citizens seem to demand so much from the PAP. But we don’t hold our opposition to higher standards. We make excuses for them. Oh, the PAP has done this. The PAP has done that. How can the opposition compete. Let’s allow the opposition to take one step at a time.
Whatever.
We make excuses for them. We apologize for them.
That’s why they will never be more than mediocre.
Update: This really should be the last post on these sort of matters for some time.
Update 2:
This post was written by xizor2000. I’ll just assume the first part on City Harvest Church (I think it would be a fair assumption that’s the church in question) was just a convenient coincidence. Nothing having to do with xizor2000 trying to be snide and doing a cheap left-jab-right-hook. He’s got to be better than that.
On to the second part.
What I am trying is this: be realistic and not idealistic. Many people who achieve greatness or their objectives in the end normally do not let his opponents or any other people determine how it should be done or what the rules of the game is. They look at the reality at that time to make the best of it, or redefine what the rules should be and work towards their ideals one step at a time.
In short, to ask for certain plans to be revealed before the person is given a task is an absurd proposition which only the Tali-PAP Men-In-White can devise to fxxk up the opposition. I don’t even know what to think about the people who would accept that!
Why, oh why, do we always present such false dichotomies? Be Realistic And Not Idealistic? Why not be both realistic and idealistic. They are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if there is any advice, it should be ‘Be Idealistic, but temper it with Realism’.
Now, I don’t disagree with xizor2000’s point about redefining the rules and working towards ideals one step at a time. That sounds like a plan. A damn good plan if you ask me.
The question of course is whether the opposition is doing that. It is of my opinion they aren’t. They are still very much playing by the rules of the PAP. They exist and carry out their actions very much in the context of the PAP. Just look at how they always complain PAP do this, PAP do that so we can’t do this, we can’t do that. Of course, there seems to be an inevitability about their situation. PAP is after all the proverbial immovable object. Sadly, our opposition is far from an unstoppable force.
Like xizor2000 said,
Many people who achieve greatness or their objectives in the end normally do not let his opponents or any other people determine how it should be done or what the rules of the game is.
Sadly, our opposition is letting that (i.e. letting others determine how they should be and what the rules of this political game in Singapore is) happen to them. I call bullshit if you say it isn’t happening. I think xizor2000 is right in saying that’s one way to achieve greatness and objectives - a necessary but not sufficient condition - which really begs the question, where do our opposition stand when measured against this condition.
The last part about,
In short, to ask for certain plans to be revealed before the person is given a task is an absurd proposition which only the Tali-PAP Men-In-White can devise to fxxk up the opposition. I don’t even know what to think about the people who would accept that!
You do realize that it is perfectly normal for one person (e.g. Individual A) to expect another person (e.g. Individual B) to have plans for a task before the task has been given to Individual B. What is crazy is to ask Individual B if he or she has any plans if they don’t even know what the task is. That is hardly the case when it comes to the opposition and the tasks needed to be done for Singapore to make it a better country for its citizens and people who choose to setup shop here.
If you really want an analogy, a company has a desire to construct a new office. The task is to build a sprawling campus the size of 10 football fields. They ask for tenders. What happens then is other people find out the task, come out with a plan and pitch the plan to the company. The guy with the best plan to fulfill the task gets the job.
Happens all the time. And if you are wondering what to think of such people, well, don’t worry your brain cells about that, I’ll just give you the answer here - normal.
nocturne | 06-Aug-08 at 8:43 pm | Permalink
We HAVE a system for when the shit hits the fan. It’s called free and fair elections. And then there’s the elected presidency. And then there’s the PAP’s system for choosing its leaders. The NMP scheme, the highest loser thing. And that’s just off the top of my head.
Any opposition member who overreaches never gets far, they talk about democracy and free speech when people care about bread and butter.
iantimothy | 06-Aug-08 at 9:43 pm | Permalink
Firstly, do we really have a system in place to handle the shit when it really hits the fan? In my opinion, the answer is no. A lot of it hinges on a few good men dressed in white.
The PAP to their credit have been putting measures in place. But we do need a better system. One not just dependent on them. We are prepared. We can be more prepared.
To be more prepared is to expect more from the opposition. What you call overreaching, I say is rising from mediocrity.
But you are right, there are some jokers who do just only talk about democracy and free speech. That isn’t the only game in town, and sadly, they don’t know it.
A opposition that is not mediocre would know that.
Like I said, we make too many excuses for them.
Ian On The Red Dot :: Not Really Posting, Just Exercising The Right To Reply | 07-Aug-08 at 10:45 am | Permalink
[...] In response to this, I updated this. [...]
xizor2000 | 07-Aug-08 at 10:57 am | Permalink
I have hold this for very long and let me put this in plan words for you.
1) This is the ideal for the opposition - Take power.
2) The reality now for them to overcome - They have not enough people to contest. They need to gain more trust.
My point is that they look at the reality - and deal with the talent problem, and make sure they are trusted enough to even be elected. How they approach that, shouldn’t be determined by either of us - you, me nor the Tali-PAP.
In short, my view is that the pre-requisite in getting elected should be a plan to run the constituency they contest and provide credible and qualified administrators at the township level. My impression of your view is that you demand for a plan to run the country when they aren’t even there. That is absurd.
It’s even more absurd to say ‘we’ make excuses for them. From my perspective it is YOU that kills them even before they can start. When I ask for just a bit of water so the plant can sprout and grow, you said that they should just be exposed to the hot scorching sun and grow on their own.
And this will be my absofxxkinglutely last comment about this matter.
nocturne | 07-Aug-08 at 11:21 am | Permalink
Maybe the opposition appreciates the irony of disappointing those who don’t make excuses for them by not living up to unrealistic expectations.
A national plan for almost anything is nowhere near the relative simplicity of a project tender.
I see you’ve turned snide too. Welcome to the dark side.
Is everybody done with their last comments? If so, this is my last comment. 1UP for Last Word -
HEAD SHOT!
iantimothy | 07-Aug-08 at 11:30 am | Permalink
Hmmm… I would hardly call the current stage they are in the ‘before they can start’ phase.
I’m not saying they should be exposed to the hot scorching sun and grow on their own. I’m saying they should have already knew the environment was a hot scorching sun with parched land, and they chose to grow here without a plan besides complaining about why the environment wasn’t a lush well irrigated grassland.
Having said that, the opposition in my books hasn’t been killed by me or anyone for that matter. We really aren’t that powerful. They can only kill themselves.
Which, incidentally, if you see Singapore’s history, they couldn’t even cooperate effectively for a sustained period of time against the PAP.
But if you are talking about offering them a chance to run my constituency, well, I haven’t had the chance to vote and assess the potential candidates. Wonder why….
But again, you are right. They are facing a talent shortage.
Your line about how ‘they approach that, shouldn’t be determined by either of us - you, me nor the Tali-PAP’ is funny. Who is determining anything for them? Like what you and me do, as well as other bloggers, with regards to other issues and not just this, we are just offering our opinion what could, and maybe should, be done.
We may be right. We may be wrong. But just like how we like the government to listen and consider what we feel and think, maybe we should expect the opposition to do so.
We can’t expect any differently from them.
And yes, I do expect them to have a plan to eventually run the country. Maybe not in five years, or ten years, but eventually. They might have a plan. Who knows. I’m not within their ranks. And you could be right, their current strategy might work. Prove they can make it at the township level and then go on. But how many years before the rest of us think they are probably just satisfied with the way things are.
Think about it. How long has Mr Chiam See Tong and Mr Low Thia Khiang been the MP for their respective constituencies?
They might even be doing stuff that really helps Singapore now in their own capacity as individuals and in a political party beyond the standard fare. But as a potential voter, I don’t see it.
Don’t you think that’s a problem? I consider myself average in trying to find these sort of things out, and yet I don’t see anything. Even if their message is good, one needs to wonder about the delivery to the average voter cos I think we make up the potential base.
Oh well… since you said this was your last absofuckinglutely last comment about this matter, I’ll just stop here.
iantimothy | 07-Aug-08 at 12:02 pm | Permalink
well @nocturne, yes..that’s the problems with analogies….
hmmmm… about the unrealistic expectations, at least for me, while I still do not concede the expectations are unrealistic, I wouldn’t had these expectations if not for all the rhetoric that the opposition have spoken. At least that’s the way I hear what they say.
I also won’t have expected more from these individuals if they hadn’t stepped into the spotlight as politicians and asked to be counted and given a chance.
But that’s just me. Apparently, lots of people are feeling differently and I guess since things have been so dandy and fine, that’s the way we should like it and keep it.
About being snide…and being on the dark side. I was always here. Just that since it was dark, you couldn’t see me.
iantimothy | 07-Aug-08 at 12:03 pm | Permalink
and if you are wondering, i’m giving one last comment for you to get another last word.
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 7 Aug 2008 | 07-Aug-08 at 12:09 pm | Permalink
[...] Fixating the Opposition - Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Why there should be no by-election in Jurong GRC… - nocturne.noctalis: [Living in Sin] The Opposition In Real Life - Ian On The Red Dot: We Celebrate Mediocrity - We Allow Our Opposition Too Much Leeway [...]
nocturne | 07-Aug-08 at 2:55 pm | Permalink
A Last Word after the Last Word just loses so much of it’s impact.
Good reply on the dark side.
nocturne | 07-Aug-08 at 5:43 pm | Permalink
Dammit. Say something.
I DON’T NEED YOUR CHARITY!
iantimothy | 07-Aug-08 at 6:17 pm | Permalink
huh?