A Singaporean In Australia

Let me share with you what someone who works as a waiting staff once told me, "If you want a job which makes you hate humanity, be a waiter." I'm sure this resonates with you, at least as a joke. Now, do you know why a Singaporean waiter cannot smile as well as his Pinoy counterpart? This is probably what goes through their minds when they work;

Pinoy: I'll build 3 houses and live on rental income back home when I'm done with these assholes.

Singaporean: Either the paramount task of becoming one of these assholes or spend the rest of my life serving them.

Not very much for the Singaporean waitress, to smile about, if you ask me. I will hardly be surprised if most do not agree with my views about the ugliness of Singaporeans in general, as this isn't probable as a proposition  before putting ourselves in a contraposition to discern.

Bear with me, I am coming to your question,  "If any of our leaders have to live a life that you described, will they still think Singapore is the they want to be?"

My answer is yes.

The reason for my answer is very simple. We have been indoctrinated to believe that Singapore is a paradise. We are convinced that the countries beyond our shores are a little worse at best and right next door to hell at worst. Just imagine being a waiter in a restaurant built on an active volcano with customers loaded with racists remarks ready to fire at you while that hailstorm shatters the windscreen of your parked car outside. All these would be avoided if you accept the dearer option of using the ERP, EPS, COE, HDB and the PAP. With this mentality in mind, workers within the lower social fabric do not think about where else they want to be. They work towards where they will rather be in our Singaporean society. When all hopes seem to fade, there is always the lottery to look forward to. It is far more comforting to hope to be a lottery winner than to think about the possibility of settling down in another country being happier, freeier, than before.

If our Ministers were to live vicariously of a peasant for a stint, the answer will be the same. If anything, it will fortify their beliefs that the Singapore system provides sufficient avenues for people who want to upgrade themselves and take themselves out of their current mire. The constant feeding of inspirational stories to the public, such as the $7000 taxi driver, the $1000 hdb family man and evergreen rags to riches accounts of Singaporeans, does its part to convince every Singaporean that we have an equal chance to be what we want and if we fail, we have ourselves to blame because we are not hungry enough to succeed. Their vicarious adventure will end with them convinced that they deserved their million dollar roles because they are men above men.