A Lesson Learnt

An episode worth learning point for us all. MP Dad explained on
daughter's remarks. Her girl, Shu Min, studies in a top JC and is a
recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister Book Prize made some
comments on an ordinary man's blog entry... Woe to us all if the
next generation thinks and speaks like this...

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A lesson learnt, says MP and dad Wee Siew Kim - ST

'WHAT she said did come across as insensitive. The language was
stronger than what most people could take.

But she wrote in a private blog and I feel that her privacy has been
violated. After all, they were the rantings of an 18-year-old among
friends.

I think if you cut through the insensitivity of the language, her
basic point is reasonable, that is, that a well-educated university
graduate who works for a multinational company should not be
bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in
life.

Nonetheless, I have counselled her to learn from it. Some people
cannot take the brutal truth and that sort of language, so she ought
to learn from it.

In our current desire to encourage more debate, especially through
the Internet, our comments must be tempered with sensitivity.

I will not gag her, since she's 18 and should be able to stand by
what she says.

The new media of the Internet is such that if you don't like what
she has said, you have the right of rebuttal.

Hopefully, after the discussion, everyone will be the richer for it.
As a parent, I may not have inculcated the appropriate level of
sensitivity, but she has learnt a lesson, and it's good that she has
learnt it at such an early stage in life.'
- ANG MO KIO GRC MP WEE SIEW KIM on his daughter's comments
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Daughter's comments in her blog (already shut down by now) dd 19 Oct:

mom's friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year
old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my
surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure
place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the
pool of foreign "talent" (dismissively chucked between inverted
commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he
didn't say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the
reason why no one wants kids is that they're a liability in this
world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save
us from inevitable doom but they aren't because they are stick-
shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works,
yadayadayadayada.

i am inclined - too much, perhaps - to dismiss such people as
crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often
singaporeans - both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned
socialites - kid themselves into believing that our society, like
most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a
tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is
the complement.

sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his
poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at
the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true
views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to
gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think
the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed
diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as
sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.

derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron
ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?

if you're not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that's
just how things go. there's no point in lambasting the government
for making our society one that is, i quote, "far too survival of
fittest". it's the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and
it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other
people over you, it's because they're better. it's so sad when
people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will
be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if
uncertainty of success offends you so much - you will certainly be
poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully,
which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.

then again, it's easy for me to say. my future isn't certain but i
guess right now it's a lot brighter than most people's. derek will
read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners
who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go
ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it's only sad when
people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear
derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear
derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his
clan massacred by the government?

i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched,
undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this
world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax
lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the
foreigner's, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales
assistant. it's not even about being a road sweeper. these shitbags
don't want anything without "manager" and a name card.

please, get out of my elite uncaring face.

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Derek's blog entry dd 02 Oct:

When I read the Straits Times article (dated 24 Sep) on PM Lee
calling the young to be committed and make a difference to
Singapore, I have so much thought about the issue.

I am 35 years old, graduated from University and gainfully employed
in a multinational company. But I cannot help but feel insecure over
the future of Singapore. Lets face it, it's not uncommon to
hear, "when you are above 40, you are over the hill". The government
has been stressing on re-training, skills upgrading and re-adapt.
The fact is, no matter how well qualified or adaptable one is, once
you hit the magical 40, employers will say, "you are simply too old".

We have been focusing our resources and problem solving on low
unskilled labour. But in reality, our managerial positions and
skilled labour force are actually fast losing its competitiveness. I
travel around the region frequently for the past 10 years. It didn't
take me long to realise how far our neighbours have come over the
past decade. They have quality skilled workers, and are less
expensive. When I work with them, their analytical skills are
equally good, if not better than us.

It's not new anymore. Taxi drivers are fast becoming "too early to
retire, too old to work" segment of the society. I like to talk to
taxi drivers whenever I am heading for the airport. There was this
driver. Eloquent and well read. He was an export manager for 12
years with an MNC. Retrenched at 40 years old. He had been searching
for a job since his retrenchment. Although he was willing to lower
his pay expectations, employers were not willing to lower their
prejudice. He was deem too old. I wouldn't be surprised if we have
another No. 1; having the most highly educated taxi drivers in the
world.

On PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference.
Look around us. How dedicated can we be to Singapore when we can
visualise what's in store for us after we turned 40? Then again, how
committed are employers to us? But we can't blame them. They have
bottom lines & shareholders' gain to answer to. Onus is really on
the government to revamp the society. A society that is not a
pressure cooker. A society that does not mirror so perfectly, what
survival of the fittest is. But a society, where it's people can be
committed, do their best and not having to fear whether they will
still wake up employed tomorrow. Sadly, Singapore does not offer
such luxuries and security anymore.

On the issue of babies. The government encourage us to pro-create.
The next generation is essential in sustaining our competitive edge.
Then again, the current market condition is such that our future has
become uncertain. There is no more joy in having babies anymore;
they have become more of a liability. It's really a chicken and egg
issue.

Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left.
It's what MM Goh called "quitters". It's sad but true, Singapore no
longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and
retire graciously. It's really the push factor. A future is
something we sweat it out, build and call our own. Unfortunately,
people like me, mid 30's going on 40's, staying put by choice or
otherwise, we can't help but feel what lies ahead is really a
gamble.

To PM Lee and the Ministers, we are on a different platform. Until
you truly understand our insecurity, the future of Singapore to me
remains a question mark.

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MP Dad says:
"I think if you cut through the insensitivity of the language, her basic point is reasonable, that is, that a well-educated university graduate who works for a multinational company should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life."

You must explain. Why she sounds so insulting when she didn't mean to be insulting. No need CCTV also can see. Warao. So yaya for what. Sorry not enough, you must explain. You must explain or the papaya will drop on your head.