Ian On The Red Dot

Whoa.. Just whoa…

Got these videos from here:

Let’s compare the text:

The original:

I realize this may be a shock, but
“Happiness comes from within”
is a lie and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life.
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than family.
I tell you this,
once upon a time
families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era.
This is a quick fix society.
Experts tell me
30 years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce.
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making.
In the future,
environmental destruction will be the norm.
No longer can it be said that
my peers and I care about this Earth.
It will be evident that
my generation is apathetic and lethargic.
It is foolish to presume that
there is hope.
And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it.

The YPAP’s version:

For I am a young Singaporean.
“Serving the country is my pride”
Is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
In 30 years, my family will know that
They were the least important thing in my life
My employers will know that
I have my priorities in order because
My material pursuits
Are more important than
pursuing relationships or meaningful causes
Singaporeans are self serving
It cannot be true that
The PAP still has people’s trust
We need to first think of our own material gains
Before helping other Singaporeans
No longer can it be said that
My generation cares about Singapore
It will be evident that
My generation, unlike Lee Kuan Yew’s generation, does not care
it is silly to think
There is hope.

In case the similarities aren’t clear enough, I’m going to intersperse the text for the first few lines.

I realize this may be a shock, but
For I am a young Singaporean.

“Happiness comes from within”
“Serving the country is my pride”

is a lie and
Is a lie, and

“Money will make me happy.”
“Money will make me happy.”

So in 30 years I will tell my children
In 30 years, my family will know that

they are not the most important thing in my life.
They were the least important thing in my life

My employer will know that
My employers will know that

I have my priorities straight because
I have my priorities in order because

work
My material pursuits

is more important than family.
Are more important than

I tell you this,
pursuing relationships or meaningful causes

and the kicker…the last line..

“There is hope.”

Oh fucking really? There is hope?

Please tell me how can there be hope when people who presume to be our future leaders do not know the difference between being inspired by a concept and almost wholesale copying. Yeah, yeah, towards the end, things got different, but that’s because 1 video is talking about youth making a difference in general, and the YPAP’s video is a recruitment campaign for a very specific organization.

You know who I blame? The education system. Remember all that summary exercises we had to do. In the end, it was really paraphrasing exercises.

And young lady, it is Mr Lee Kuan Yew (or maybe for the context of this video, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew) to you. What presumptuousness thinking that you can be so casual…

Final Note:
These two lines are giving me headaches.

My generation, unlike Lee Kuan Yew’s generation, does not care
it is silly to think

When read backwards, it is

“It is silly to think my generation, unlike Lee Kuan Yew’s generation, does not care”

Let’s try to understand this sentence.

It is silly to think my generation does not care.

That’s nice. I’m part of the same generation so I get a warm fuzzy feeling. Let’s group hug.

But why you want to insult Minister Mentor’s generation?

It is silly to think my generation, unlike Lee Kuan Yew’s generation…

My generation != Minister Mentor’s generation.

My generation cares, so does that mean Minister Mentor’s generation does not care.