Asian Correspondent Asia News

The other way to see it is that because the PAP has consistently claimed to be the best government in the world and so very deserving of their outrageous salaries, so when anything goes wrong its not unexpected that people blame them for it.

If they are less arrogant and not heap praises on themselves all the time, I am sure people would be more forgiving of their mistakes.

If our leaders cannot tell the difference between the government and political party, I don’t expect the common man on the ground to be able to do so.

i think you guys have confuse “blame” with wanting the garmen or authorities to come up with ideas to prevent another similar occurrence in future.

generally, people don’t blame because, we are all learning as we progress.

and i won’t go to the extreme to think that if the garmen pays more attention to our grouses, it will lead to the garmen mirco managing our lives.

i think they will just impose more severe laws and regulation – as usual.

“However, the fallacies of this argument become obvious as the chili bottle was thrown by a deranged woman who is unlikely to have been the sole perpetrator of all six cases.”
On what basis do you concclude that the woman is ‘unlikely to have been the sole perpetrator of all six cases”? The crux of the matter is not whether there is one or many perpertrators, it’s about residents’ complaints that no action was taken by the Town Council. At most you should argue whether that is thhe role of the Town Council.

In the Geylang Serai Food Poisoning issue, the public perception is that the hawker was made the scapegoat for the neglience of the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Kampung Ubi Citizen Consultative Committee which oversees the food centre. Why were over a hundred rats caught after the food poisoning but not before despite the Committee’s claims of “best efforts”? Why was the hygience certification done but certificates delayed over a month? Put all the blame on that one hawker? How fair is it?

It is not a matter of “we expect the PAP to manage Singapore flawlessly, we must expect to concede to an even greater role of the government in our lives”. It is more of the PAP government not being responsible and accountable in lapses which comes under their current roles.

Please do not report only part of the story and twist the facts to exonerate the government.

You are spot on. We should all be responsible netizens and call an apple an apple.

“Blaming the PAP for every aspect of our lives will thus have the effect of acknowledging that we want the PAP to play a role in every aspect of our lives, and manage it flawlessly. And that… will not be a desirable outcome.”

Are you working for PAP ? Such a nonsensical and illogical statement can even come from you ?

If someone oppress and hurt you in every aspect of your body, instead of blaming that person for the injury, will you say that “Blaming the attacker for every injury of our body will thus have the effect of acknowledging that we want that person to play a role in hurting every aspect of our body, and manage it flawlessly. And that… will not be a desirable outcome.” ?

Great article! Good to know there are still sensible bloggers in Singapore. Though from some the other comments I doubt it’ll invite anything other than scorn from its intended audience.

Hi
Just as we don’t want PAP to take credit for all things good, we should also not blame them for all things bad.
Is there a place for rational debate in Singapore ?

Rather than tell the people not to blame PAP which is known to control every aspect of your life whether you like it or not, isn’t the best way is to tell the PAP is to start listen to people and earn the trust of lesser mortal ? If lesser mortal trust the God and Demi-God that whatever they are doing, they are doing for good of the nation rather than political and self-serving agenda, the former will be more willing to compromise and seem rational behaviour. The mortals are what they are because of PAP, or are they not. So instead of solving the root of problem, you actually help to deflect them and put the blame on lesser mortal.

Allow me respond to the comment made by Anonymous.

According to this person,

If someone oppress and hurt you in every aspect of your body, instead of blaming that person for the injury, will you say that “Blaming the attacker for every injury of our body will thus have the effect of acknowledging that we want that person to play a role in hurting every aspect of our body, and manage it flawlessly. And that… will not be a desirable.”

===========================================

I don’t really see how the scenario painted by Anonymous at all contradicts the logic put forth by Norvin. Allow me to rephrase both arguments.

Norvin’s argument is that by blaming the government for every single thing we concede that they have a duty to manage our welfare in every single area, and therefore by extension accept their authority in every area of our lives, leading to an overly invasive government.

Anonymous then argues that if we blame the attacker for every little scrape we suffer we concede that the attacker has a duty to manage our physical welfare in every single area and thus acknowledge that we want them in every area of our life.

Indeed, the attacker should be responsible for every single injury he causes, but not those that he is not responsible for, just as the government should not take the blame for every single thing. If we blame the attacker, we concede that we want him to be responsible for our physical welfare in every aspect, just as we concede that we want the government to be responsible for our welfare in every area if we blame it. Surely neither an aggressive person or a dictatorial government is desirable in our lives. I do not see how Anonymous has rebutted Norvin’s argument.

Chuan Yi

Appreciate if you can respond to my post.

Hello sgcynic. I didn’t know that you wanted a response yep. So here goes:

“On what basis do you concclude that the woman is ‘unlikely to have been the sole perpetrator of all six cases”? The crux of the matter is not whether there is one or many perpertrators, it’s about residents’ complaints that no action was taken by the Town Council. At most you should argue whether that is thhe role of the Town Council.”

The problem is that if the chilli-sauce hurler did not hurl rubbish prior, she will not be caught even had the town council took action and arrested the 6 evildoers responsible for the 6 letters. Even if the town council took action, the tragedy hence cannot be avoided.

“Why were over a hundred rats caught after the food poisoning but not before despite the Committee’s claims of “best efforts”? Why was the hygience certification done but certificates delayed over a month? Put all the blame on that one hawker? How fair is it?”

Although there were a hundred rats, or a thousand for that matter, should we consider only the geylang serai case, rats has nothing to do with it. Khaw Boon wan was called to resign over the cuttlefish and gravy issue, not the rats. Should the rats had been blamed on him, it will have made a little more sense. However, that is not what the PAP was blamed for.

“It is more of the PAP government not being responsible and accountable in lapses which comes under their current roles.

Their current roles in both incidents, are yes, to ensure safety. Yet they are only able to maximise safety, not to give complete safety. Should we expect absolute safety and the complete absence of risk, then we will have to give them complete power as well, and that is the essence of the argument.

And have a good day :D

Norvin

Thanks Norvin,
Now I understand that your post is directed at the few who made stupid demands, not the many who were right to question the negligence and incompetence of the government in the cases that I cited.

I was call a lackey by an opposition supporter just because I ask them to think carefully when they vote. I now salute no longer the opposition supporter who think so highly of themselves cause they think they are the ‘brave’ people who stood up and go around scolding and name callings others who does not. This is definitely not the kind of singapore I want.

You pay seven figure annual salaries for a management team that is so much higher than what any other company pays, you have a right to expect a performance much higher than from any other management team. They’ve never pretended to be affectionate so why are we trying to be affectionate to them?

Norvin, drop your condescending attitude. Wasn’t it your best friend Lee Kuan Yew who said: “The PAP is the Government and the Government is the PAP”?

They subverted stated agencies for partisan use and now you are telling us not to blame them? It was the former President Nair who said that the PAP is so pervasive that it interferes with every aspect of out lives “from the boardroom to the bedroom”.

Pls go get a firm, fair and complete grounding in Singapore politics.