Subscribe Feed (RSS)Singapore News
April 10th, 2007 by eyal | Filed under Asia. |
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Occasionally I check out news about Singapore in Google. This time there are a couple of interesting, if a bit unflattering news items.
The first:
Singapore is banning a film about a former political detainee who was held for 17 years without trial to protect public interests, the government said.
Full item here.
The second:
A senior White House official on Tuesday admitted he was floored by the news that Singapore’s prime minister earned five times more than US President George Bush.“I’m going to emigrate and run for office in Singapore,” the official said on condition he be identified only as “a senior administration official who sits in disbelief after reading that story”.
Full item here.
Although the PM’s salary sounds outrageous when compared to Bush’s salary, I don’t really care how much he makes. Money and politics go hand in hand and if the salary of politicians, anywhere in the world, was the only area of concern in this regard then that would have been great.
As for banning a film which deals with an individual’s detention for 17 years on political grounds starting in the 60’s, well that’s a real shame. Especially in view of Singapore’s efforts to globalize its workforce, promote knowledge economy, higher education, creativity and entrepreneurial thinking amongst its citizens. Restricting knowledge, criticism and media makes all those other efforts an exercise in futility.
one thing we singaporeans have gotten used to over the way politics is run here is that once the govt has decided, there is no change despite all the “consultations” with the public through the “media” etc.
nothing will change the govt’s decisions short of war. we are just the employees of the country. cynical but sadly true.
Yes, I would agree with that. Which is why it strikes me as odd that some are surprised and disappointed that Singapore is losing talent to other countries like Australia, US etc. At the end of the day, if all that matters is the economy and a utilitarian approach then there should be no suprise that some decide to “take their business” elsewhere. Each system has its pros and cons and its unrealistic to expect only pros.
Funny thing about the consultation, it’s kind of like going to the doc, he/she tells you what your problem is, prescribes the medicine you are to swallow and charges you for their service :-)