On Anwar and I Not Stupid.

Some of my friends have expressed their dislike of Singapore to me which I find to be something that interests me.

Some of them have said that the society here is conformist, obeying whatever the government tells them with unquestioning loyalty and this level of conformity is something they cannot stand. Hence they don't want to come here at all.

For the sake of historical purposes, the ruling coalition the PAP have commanded a near total majority of the parliament here, and the opposition are very weak, certainly not as strong or controversial than their counterparts in Malaysia. After all, I have never heard of any famous opposition figures in Singapore, with the exception of one Indian fella (whose name I forgot) who managed to win a seat in parliament but was subsequently sued into oblivion and died before his wish to re-enter parliament is ever realized. He spent his dying days peddling books written that were critical of the government. Not a very nice ending, and probably something some people would say only the 'law abiding' country of Singapore can come up with.

Years of enjoying massive financial prosperity have probably bred a sense of complacency and that's the reason why the Singapore political scene have remained a largely one-party occasion.

In fact, our neighbours from the south seem to be even more keen on political developments in Malaysia than in their own lands. The other day, news of Anwar's successful entry back into Parliament made front page news in the dailies in Singapore, something I am amused to discover.


Mahathir have criticized Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew for controlling the strings behind the scenes when he retired and set up a Minister Mentor post while transferring power to his son. The irony is made profound when he rejoined UMNO last week and subsequently got his son Mukhriz back into politics after he was defeated in the UMNO Youth elections. I guess we can expect more 'mentoring' from Mahathir in the near future, for better or worse.

Another have expressed their dissatisfaction with how the Singaporean government treats their citizens; those who can perform are looked after while those who cannot excel (especially in school) are ignored and sidelined. A truly meritocratic society to the fullest. The Singaporean parent's obsession with education is exemplified in the popular TV show I Not Stupid, which brings this issue into the forefront and makes fun of it, while carrying undercurrents of the feelings of hope for the well-off and despair for the less-to-do that every child faces here.


But is Malaysia any better? At least here, those who perform gets rewarded, but in Malaysia, there have always been stories of able, talented people who are sidelined due to the affirmative action policies and double standards practised here. Unfortunately nobody in Malaysia have yet to make a funny, snide and frank movie about the education system here. But many have gone on to accept positions in Singapore, which I guess is why the Singaporean media like to keep the Malaysians working here updated on things happening back home.

So in the end I ask you, which country is more open and tolerant of opposition views? This is a deeper and more complicated issue than it appears on the surface.

So forget about the generalization and misconceptions you may have about Singapore. It's just another country with its own pros and cons; long-held beliefs that may have passed to you from your parents or even the last generation have rapidly eroded although we still hold these to be the truth and nothing but the truth. Things like kiasu, kiasi, and all the other types of kia kia out there.

But chew on this for a moment.

Will we see an Anwar rising from political ashes in Singapore? Probably not anytime soon. But will we ever see an I Not Stupid movie made in Malaysia and stamped with the Malaysian government's stamp of approval? Definately not. As a society, we still have a long walk ahead if we were to look back at ourselves and laugh.