what i'm going to write now will be related to the above article. there are 3 parts to it Muslims, eugenics and our neighbours.
muslims: maybe things were brought out of context? or misunderstood?
in order to prevent fundamentalism from taking root, understanding, respect and stepping out of your comfort zone of "own ethnicity" to mix with others is crucial. this is done through mixing races together and usually point of contacts are in school where you make friends or in the workplace.
that being said how does one try and make friends with Muslims when they have their own schools which majority of us don't attend? u can "integrate" Buddism, Christianity and Hinduism because these faiths come together and see each other in secular society, their kids mix together in schools. being "less strict on observances" can mean alot of things so what did MM Lee mean by that the article did not say. He was only quoted for that statement and other damning statements from a malaysian newspaper.
However, the other stuff that he said i disagree. the surge in Islam did not make the Muslim community in Singapore more closed off. but neither did it make the community more open. However, one aspect of the surge in Islam is a cause for concern for Singapore and all the over the world and that is fundamentalism. However, one can argue that each faith has elements/individuals who are fundamentalists but it can also be questioned that do their extreme orthodox beliefs cause worldwide terror?
eugenics: although i don't agree that a smart mare coupled with a smart stallion will produce a excellent foal. BUT society has a mentality similar to that. translate that horse analogy to economic statuses.
would you (a female) want to marry a man who earns a lower income( lets say a non professional) than you? would you? ask yourself that question and answer truthfully. because in the future when you have kids you would be a)the sole bread winner b) take care of the kids c)take care of the house and bills. are you ready for that? if you are a guy its different because if you marry a woman who earns a lower income than you, you are a)the sole bread winner and pay the bills. thats it.
even if MM Lee did not say anything the mare will go and find a smart stallion.
because smart stallions=guys with outstanding academic results coming from reputable unis and an outstanding career and why do they have such stations in life? thats because they have the money and women will gravitate to such men. (i'm not saying that all women will marry for money. but women do wish to marry a rich man. who wouldn't)
another case in point people find their gfs/bfs in school (that include unis) those that get married either marry colleagues or friends of colleagues or school sweethearts and all of these are uni grads.
therefore my point is MM Lee just verbalise what is happening today. nothing new. he just put it in a harsher way.
friendly neighbours: i find it funny that one commenter in t o c (gotta do that just in case someone googles and i'll be a free meal) that only MM Lee thinks we have hostile neighbours. has he/she forgotten what our neighbours did to us? Sand imports, reclamation, water. we do not have friendly neighbours. if we do, singapore licensed cars wont get summons for no good reason.
talking about t o c and t r , are these websites created to jumpstart free press in sg or they created as an opposition. if they are created to jumpstart free press i think they have lost sight of their purpose. people commenting on articles and anything to do with pap are criticizing pap and its policies for the sake of criticism and do have a biased slant. if they say s t is propaganda then isn't that pot calling the kettle black? don't sue me but this is my take. don't get me wrong t o c and t r do provide a fresh point of view that isnt usually seen in s t but if their purpose is free press then they aren't giving objective viewpoints. however, which newspaper is objective? newspapers in us and uk have a particular slant its just that they have so many newspaper agencies that support either left wing or right wing that it gives perception of free speech. but will a person who support the right wing read a left wing newspaper?
food for thought: yesterday s t printed a phrase from hard truths regarding china it went something along the lines of " when the time comes and they have the money and the power they will look down on you in condescension" how true. how very very true. even NOW, in usyd, there are some who look down on you on the fact that you are chinese and yet speak horrible mandrin. there are some who look down on you based on your capability to handle school material.
maybe tiger momma's parenting style do have a point. we have to be excellent and not average because the PRCs that we are dealing with outside china are not average but a large percentage of us are average. therefore to cultivate an excellent child you have to be a tiger. but at what cost of the kid's development socially and mentally? and not every child can be excellent.
side note on the polls. those that polled might have just put the politically correct answer or they truely believe that singapore is ready for a non-chinese PM we would never know.
if they truly believe that singapore is ready for a non-chinese PM then MM Lee would have missed the point that singaporeans even though still mix with their own races 90% of the time are comfortable stepping out of their comfort zones and are smart enough to know that the person they vote in as PM has singapore's best interest.
if MM Lee is right that pollsters voted for the politically correct answer then well he is right.
only time will tell. most probably not in this GE but down the road in the future.
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