12 May 2011
;02:12 "But just by observing the adults around me I understood very early on that life goes by in no time at all, yet they're always in such a hurry, so stressed out by deadlines, so eager for now that they needn't think about tomorrow. But if you dread tomorrow, it's because you don't know how to build the present, and when you don't know how to build the present, you tell yourself you can deal with it tomorrow, and it's a lost cause anyway because tomorrow always ends up becoming today, don’t you see? That's what the future is for: to build the present, with real plans, made by living people."
//Muriel Barbery; The Elegance of the Hedgehog
In the midst of sea change and separation, it is sometimes difficult to begin to make sense of it all. In these times, Ecclesiastes reminds me that there is a time for everything, a season for every activity. There will be a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up. Maybe we don't understand why things have fallen this way, maybe this is not how we wanted or thought it would all turn out but I think that the time for change is now. And I think I know the type of change that I want. It's not really about freedom, listening or opening up even though all the above will be nice.
I think it's about learning to have heart and soul.
"I know of one family who complain (sic) the cleaners in their precinct were lazy and too old. They want young, fast workers, efficient workers. They do not want local workers who are old, they want young foreign workers to do the job. So I changed the local workers to foreign workers."
// MP Ong Ah Heng (Yishun Central), Singapore Parliamentary Debates (2nd March 2010) vol 86
We have been brought up to be efficient, effective and economical. We were taught to be cheaper, better, faster. We pursue the goal of growth at all costs, no matter the people who fall through the cracks and or who get left behind in the hustle-bustle of becoming bigger and better. Afterall, this is a meritocratic system and the country does not owe you a living. If you're 'lazy and old', who cares if you get replaced by a younger, faster and more efficient foreign worker? That's how the market works.
But a country cannot be run like a company. A country has heart and soul. And in this chase for cheaper, better, faster, our MPs the persons whom we elected to run this country have lost their heart and soul for the people who matter the most. For the people who contributed the best years of their life to this country and yet in their old age, not only find that they have no one else to turn to but also that their country has turned its back on them.
Maybe he would think twice about calling these elderly workers "old and lazy" if he read the case of the elderly couple who work as toilet attendants and eat outside the public toilet to save a few extra cents here.
Maybe he would treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve if he remembers that at their age, their spirit is willing but their body is probably not.
Maybe he would think twice about making such callous remarks if he recalls that he is one of the oldest MPs in Parliament at the age of 66 and the same thoughtless and unfeeling criticism that he tars others with can easily be applied to himself.
Or has Mr Ong forgotten PM Lee's speech at the 50th PAP anniversary rally where he said "in order to win elections, the party must maintain the support of the majority of Singaporeans, we are not representing just one group - we're representing all groups, young, middle-aged, the elderly - they are all our supporters" ?
Or are we to blame? Those who voted in an MP who has neglected his duty to diligently protect the interests of his constituents? Who have implicitly consented in the mindless drive towards progress without a thought about the people who are too weak to catch up with this relentless rat race?
I was brought up in this country and I love it, warts and all, because I believed that underneath it all, we have heart and soul. But do we care enough to stand up and say that something is wrong when we know it is? Or do we simply close an eye to another unfortunate person who has fallen by the wayside of progress?
"But just by observing the adults around me I understood very early on that life goes by in no time at all, yet they're always in such a hurry, so stressed out by deadlines, so eager for now that they needn't think about tomorrow. But if you dread tomorrow, it's because you don't know how to build the present, and when you don't know how to build the present, you tell yourself you can deal with it tomorrow, and it's a lost cause anyway because tomorrow always ends up becoming today, don’t you see? That's what the future is for: to build the present, with real plans, made by living people."
//Muriel Barbery; The Elegance of the Hedgehog
In the midst of sea change and separation, it is sometimes difficult to begin to make sense of it all. In these times, Ecclesiastes reminds me that there is a time for everything, a season for every activity. There will be a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up. Maybe we don't understand why things have fallen this way, maybe this is not how we wanted or thought it would all turn out but I think that the time for change is now. And I think I know the type of change that I want. It's not really about freedom, listening or opening up even though all the above will be nice.
I think it's about learning to have heart and soul.
"I know of one family who complain (sic) the cleaners in their precinct were lazy and too old. They want young, fast workers, efficient workers. They do not want local workers who are old, they want young foreign workers to do the job. So I changed the local workers to foreign workers."
// MP Ong Ah Heng (Yishun Central), Singapore Parliamentary Debates (2nd March 2010) vol 86
We have been brought up to be efficient, effective and economical. We were taught to be cheaper, better, faster. We pursue the goal of growth at all costs, no matter the people who fall through the cracks and or who get left behind in the hustle-bustle of becoming bigger and better. Afterall, this is a meritocratic system and the country does not owe you a living. If you're 'lazy and old', who cares if you get replaced by a younger, faster and more efficient foreign worker? That's how the market works.
But a country cannot be run like a company. A country has heart and soul. And in this chase for cheaper, better, faster, our MPs the persons whom we elected to run this country have lost their heart and soul for the people who matter the most. For the people who contributed the best years of their life to this country and yet in their old age, not only find that they have no one else to turn to but also that their country has turned its back on them.
Maybe he would think twice about calling these elderly workers "old and lazy" if he read the case of the elderly couple who work as toilet attendants and eat outside the public toilet to save a few extra cents here.
Maybe he would treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve if he remembers that at their age, their spirit is willing but their body is probably not.
Maybe he would think twice about making such callous remarks if he recalls that he is one of the oldest MPs in Parliament at the age of 66 and the same thoughtless and unfeeling criticism that he tars others with can easily be applied to himself.
Or has Mr Ong forgotten PM Lee's speech at the 50th PAP anniversary rally where he said "in order to win elections, the party must maintain the support of the majority of Singaporeans, we are not representing just one group - we're representing all groups, young, middle-aged, the elderly - they are all our supporters" ?
Or are we to blame? Those who voted in an MP who has neglected his duty to diligently protect the interests of his constituents? Who have implicitly consented in the mindless drive towards progress without a thought about the people who are too weak to catch up with this relentless rat race?
I was brought up in this country and I love it, warts and all, because I believed that underneath it all, we have heart and soul. But do we care enough to stand up and say that something is wrong when we know it is? Or do we simply close an eye to another unfortunate person who has fallen by the wayside of progress?
