The political blogosphere

Ever since I made my first "serious political blog post", I've been getting quite a lot of hits from some "very obviously political" blogs. I'm not sure to be worried or not, after all, I'm not a regular "political post-er". My mum said, "You better not get into unnecessary trouble" after she learnt that I was "trying my hand" at making political posts. That's it for her, getting into trouble. The very mindset that PAP wanted(?) to inculcate in the general public, so that policy-making would be an easier task (they've really succeeded for the older generation). I believe that whatever I say here makes sense (at least to me) and I am not getting involved in brainless slandering, so I have nothing to fear. After all, PAP would not be so dumb to arrest me for something so small. Singapore is not yet that scary a police-state as foreigners would have you believe. For me, writing about these issues are more of an exercise in my language and ability to debate on serious stuff. I'm not sure, but it could also be an awakening in my political senses, whatever.


After blog-surfing with one blog referring to others, I chanced upon a blog which Chee Soon Juan wrote in. Wasn't really interested in his writing, cos his posts were not bite-sized (I have "Attention Deficit Disorder" =P). From that blog, you can link to many other political blogs, so I guess I do have some reading material whenever I am bored.


But it's quite heartening to see that there are many locals who share a deep interest in reigning issues in Singapore. Ministers' salaries aside, there have been quite some other issues out there too, like neighbourhood upgrading (a mindless posting written in appalling English - well at least it looks like English - with interesting comments by others), a blogger's reply to this, and others. I think the leaders should be proud that their wishes have come true, that the young are no longer as politically apathetic as they once were. It's what they wished for, didn't they? (That's why I am a firm believer of "being careful of what you wish for".)


This might actually bode well for Singapore as a whole, because more Singaporeans feel more strongly about many issues, which only goes to show that they regard this land as their home and they actually want to make things work properly here. Of course there will be people so disillusioned that they decide to leave for greener pastures, but I think it's about the same everywhere. The saying "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" goes for EVERY government in power, the degree of which is reflected in the balance of power in the ruling government's favour.


For me, I will definitely be making Singapore my home, at least for the foreseeable future. I do not indulge in absolutes now, after observing first-hand what happened in other countries, and because the world is so wide. At this stage in my life, I am more mobile than most other older people, because I have not bought a house or car (which requires you to sink a substantial part of your finances in, therefore giving you a firm "rooting" to Singapore.) I hope my 6-month overseas stint will give me something to think about. For me, pure democracy is a stupid system, simply because in general, I believe majority of the people are stupid, and they do not know what is good for them. It takes someone with foresight to lead a nation, and the notion of "majority wins" is something best left to a group of friends deciding on where to eat for dinner.


I have to say I'm quite impressed with the PAP policymakers' foresight after hearing from my European friends about their own governments back home. The opposition parties in Singapore are, in my belief, not quite up-to-mark yet, they are, at best, only functioning as a check on PAP (so they do not have "unfettered power"). As a blogger said (I'm not sure if it was a Young PAP person), these opposition parties have yet to submit proposals for a Shadow Budget to show how they would allocate national resources for various purposes. I believe that would be a clear indicator of their level of preparedness, if they were able to draft something like that up. Till then, let the opposition "rule" Potong Pasir and Hougang, just so long as PAP doesn't rule over the whole land.


OK that's all for today. Nothing's been too interesting in my life now, so I guess, posts nowadays will mainly consist of what I read in the papers or online.


P.S.: There was a newspaper columnist who called the term "blogosphere" nonsense. Guess he doesn't believe in the evolution of language. Things change (and on a large scale, add up to a paradigm shift), mindsets that don't are best left in the history section of the library.