Anti-establishment propaganda stole my photo
In Singapore, there is this phenomenon called “blame stuff on the government”. It is a national past-time where people free themselves of all social responsibilities and blame everything that goes wrong on the government.
This photo was used in the video without my permission
Someone made a “documentary” called One Nation Under Lee on how Singaporeans are suffering under the iron fist of dictatorship, brutally forced to live in a country with one of Asia’s highest standards of living, and on how it is evil for the government to make money through smart investments.
Normally I wouldn’t be interested in local political squabbling, but apparently these guys used a photo taken by me without my permission.
The photo was taken by me some time ago and placed in my gallery as part of my Haruhi Time Capsule Project. The picture is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license scheme, which requires all usage of it to be non-commercial and properly attributed.
Since no one is likely to pay for this terrible documentary anyway, I guess non-commercial is pretty much guaranteed. However, I was not credited in the video! This makes me sad. :(
Fear, uncertainty and doubt
Moreover, the message of the video is nonsensical, illogical and full of FUD. I’m happy to criticize government policies when it makes sense, such as the completely asinine censorship policies that resulted in my hardcore guro Elfenlied DVDs getting confiscated, but it’s seriously an insult to the viewer’s intelligence for the video to shamelessly blame every social ill in Singapore on the country’s lack of democratic governance.
We all know how American democracy has completely solved the poverty problem and that there are no ghettos anywhere in the States, right? Oh, wait a minute…
And the sad thing is that Singaporean youth buy into these blatant propagandas because it’s “cool” to be rebellious and everyone knows that only intelligent people can see through the “lies and deceit” of the establishment and become anti-government crusaders of democracy, justice and love.
I mean, jeez, is the Singaporean government corrupt or what? Just not too long ago, I had to bribe someone hundreds of dollars to get my passport renewed… Oh wait, no. That was back in China. My bad.
And yeah, isn’t it outrageous that government ministers in Singapore earn millions of dollars a year? Those poor Western politicians have to survive on measly hundreds of thousands! It’s a good thing that they can earn back the difference from lobbyists and corporations through “political contributions”, i.e. legalized bribes, or they would never have been able to afford the same luxuries that Singaporean politicians are allowed.
I guess some people would rather have government policies be dictated by lobbyist money.
Anyway, enough ranting. Go watch the video on YouTube and see for yourself. If this is the best argument that Singaporean opposition parties can come up with, then I hope they never come into power.
June 16th, 2008 at 6:26 am
“And there’s the problem of legitimacy. Are you willing to respect the law that some smart people simply say “We think this is the best for the country. Obey or face the consequence”? Democracy, as I understand it, gives you a say on what the law should be.”
I would. Why? Firstly, as you stated, they are smart. They’re the ones with political expertise, not us. Unless some of us here have held a government position at some time or another, which I believe nobody here has.
Yes, you deserve your say in regards to a law. I agree with that completely. Still, that doesn’t mean your say has to be listened to. It could be completely flawed, and wouldn’t work in the long run. The way I see it, say or no say, there is no difference, aside from the personal satisfaction that you put your ideas out there. I would prefer being able to voice my opinion on a law, but, if the laws work and I don’t have a say in them, I wouldn’t have a problem with that, either. As long as the government works and benefits the people, I’m down with that.
June 16th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Sorry, but I don’t seem to be able to edit my last post to put this little bit in.
“While, in a democratic system, you can be more like Zero. You only need leadership to go on your way to gather a group of loyal followers and seize government power directly through an election.”
You forgot the violent rebellion, and trust me, violence only complicates matters further, creating lasting conflicts which shall never end. Just look at Israel and Palestine. As the saying goes, if the whole world keeps taking an eye for an eye, the whole world will go blind.
“As such, unless you have l33t piloting skills AND a mad scientist/rich aristocrat to give you uber gears, your cause is lost.”
Really? What about Civil Rights in the US? MLK gained so much support from the white and black communities, as well as from the government, that he was able to make all peoples in the US, regardless of race, equal. He didn’t have great combat skills, or a rich scientist/aristocrat to aid him…plus he was non-violent (w00t)
June 16th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Woohoo! Someone actually read my long post. I decided to cut it short. For your reference, here’s what it was in its full glory.
So you’re content with:
1) The opinion that democracy is not required to respect the rule of law.
2) A government that does its job is all that matters. It’s origin doesn’t have to be democratic.
Sure, Singapore is blessed with visionary leaders who took the nation as far as it is today. You’re able to live in a peaceful and prospering country thanks to them. This is something I as a Thai don’t have, but I totally disagree with you.
Where are you in such a political system? If you disagree with the law, what would you do? Say, what if the Singaporean government makes writing blog posts about eroge illegal? (I know they wouldn’t do such a thing, but, in Thailand, I will be jailed if I write a blog like Mou Yamete.) You flamed “One Nation Under Lee,” but do you think the government has the legitimacy to seize it (as reported by LianYL over at Riuva)?
The bad of such a system is that it is very hard for your voice to be heard. Those competent bureaucrats have their own ideas of how the nation should be run. You may agree with them in general, but the law is more complicated. Copyrights are good, right? But how far should it be enforced? Preventing kids from accessing porn on the Internet is good, right? But should you install age or ID verification system on all computers? As we know it, the fine points of law can make big impact on society. The world is changing everyday, and no one knows for certain which option is good for the country. I cannot leave decisions I care about to others, and I’m sure you think the same.
And there’s the problem of legitimacy. Are you willing to respect the law that some smart people simply say “We think this is the best for the country. Obey or face the consequence”? Democracy, as I understand it, gives you a say on what the law should be. You probably are going to say that just one vote won’t make any difference. But, what if you can’t vote at all? What if you can’t campaign for the policy you want to see happen, or if you can but it doesn’t make any difference? What if those competent bureaucrats are so sure about their policies that they just wouldn’t respond to you? Don’t say that you don’t care about democracy. You don’t mean it.
Let me put it this way. You are saying that you want to be in a society where, if you want to see a change, you would have to behave like Suzaku and try to change the system from within. (I think this is probably already in your mind, eh?) As such, unless you have l33t piloting skills AND a mad scientist/rich aristocrat to give you uber gears, your cause is lost. While, in a democratic system, you can be more like Zero. You only need leadership to go on your way to gather a group of loyal followers and seize government power directly through an election. OR you can support those who think like you to take office like how the Black Knights support Zero. The point is, you are entitled to power in a democratic system. That power is very small indeed, but you don’t have to earn it. Democracy gives you the power to push for changes you care about, and I think this is very important.
Oh, and Zero is much cooler than Suzaku, by a million miles.
@dan Are you really from America?
June 16th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Yes. What, am I not the stereotypical American to you? Every group of people has a spectrum, from the far left to the far right.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:32 am
If CG was not an anime we would be calling Zero a terrorist along with the rest of the world. Suzaku is the one who is taking the (relatively) democratic route to change, while Zero is using force.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:49 am
The cameo was totally random… the whole 5 seconds plus
One thing to note, they removed your watermark on the picture.
I do not really want to discuss politics, but I just want to say that I do not like it, but it works and I am not complaining. I would really want to say “I have no interest in an ordinary government”; but Singapore’s political system is far from ordinary, so I have to replace “ordinary with “boring”. lol
June 16th, 2008 at 7:52 am
As they say, if you want to start an argument fast, bring up politics and religion.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:27 am
don’t go there darkmirage.
dictatorship is never the answer(just for you to know Brazil had 21 years of that, and didn’t leave a good impression).
And by the way, keep writing,you’re good(first comment,but aways checking in your site)
June 16th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Singapore is not as bad as people like to think it is. It’s far from a dictatorship. Elections are held regularly and it’s not the ruling party’s fault that people vote for them in light of their proven track records.
Foreigners have a skewed perspective of things because there is prevailing sentiment that anything that is not a full Western democracy is unacceptable.
Media coverage of political oppression in China, Myanmar and North Korea has programmed into the people an automatic preference for the message of those who claim to be fighting for democracy around the world. There are real dictatorships in this world and there are political dissenters who are genuinely popular, such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Singapore has neither.
The mainstream media bias in Singapore is a lot less severe than Fox News. Furthermore, internet penetration is at 70%, on par with America, and connections are not censored. Literacy rate is 95% and education is basically free. Politicians and public servants whom I have met in public appearances have no qualms in answering questions about free speech and political freedom. There is simply no room for a dictatorship to exist under such conditions.
It’s one thing to claim that Singapore needs to allow greater freedom of expression and another altogether to claim that it is a dictatorship. The problem with political dissenters in Singapore is that they like to be overly dramatic with their claims and stir up trouble that is greatly disproportional to the actual problems they are supposedly trying to solve. Yet from a foreigner’s perspective, these people are no different from Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Singapore government is some kind of evil dictatorship. That kind of sentiment is not helping anything.
The LDP has been running Japan for 50 years except for a short break in 1993 and no one accuses Japan of being a dictatorship, despite the fact that a portion of the political system is plagued with cronyism and criminal influence, and there are active attempts by the right to censor certain political and social topics. Give Singapore a break.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
A little nitpicking…
“But personally I think bureaucrats ought to be paid private sector rates so that they have less incentives to pander to the rich and influential.”
“Greed is eternal.” If they are corruptible, they will be corrupt, regardless of the pay. Besides, I would not trust people who run for political offices for money.
I would not take this video too seriously. Sure, it reiterates some issues with regards to the ruling party, and there are some times that I think the government is full of fools/evil, but I have to admit, overall, they have done quite a good job. The opposition, quite naturally, targets their flaws.
As a side note, I feel that the merits of democracy is overrated. I mean, I’m sure anyone can think of at least one evil/useless leader that came to power because of democracy, right?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
As you say, corruptible people will be corrupt, and conversely non-corruptible people will be upright. Higher pay does not change that.
The difference is that people whose selfish desires manifest into corruption do so out of personal interest. If punishments for corruption are severe and the pay is already high, there is little to be gained from taking such risks. This reduces the incentives for certain selfish individuals to succumb to temptation, with the additional benefit of staying competitive in a free market economy against the private sectors when it comes to attracting talented people.
People who become politicians out of their true desire to serve the people will still continue do so. They don’t give that up just because the pay is high.
It’s also not true to say that because the pay is low, people who join politics therefore have noble intents. Politicians wield an enormous amounts of influence after all, and the fact is that there are corrupted politicians everywhere in spite of the low (legitimate) pay.
June 16th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
My point is that the pay rise is more likely to attract the wrong kind of people to the jobs: the added lure of money combined with the power & influence that comes with the job attracts those that value money & power more than the responsibilities and duties of the job.
Like you said, those with the desire to serve will still do so, and perhaps the pay rise does reduce the incentives for people to by corrupt, but I feel that human greed knows no limits, and subsequently this move is unlikely to significantly curb corruption, if such is the case.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Increased pay will certainly attract a lot of people into considering politics as a career. They certainly won’t all be your so called “wrong kind of people”. There are plenty of honest, hard working people out there who simply aren’t idealistic enough to give up a 7 figure salary for position in public office. Does that necessarily make them the wrong kind of people? If a pay rise can attract the CEOs of multi national corporations, who make their companies billions in profit every year, into running the country’s economy, it can’t be a bad thing. At the very least it may provide the voters with a candidate that has more skills than simply evading questions at press conferences.
As far as corruption goes, it really boils down to the effectiveness of the internal control of the political system. Any corruption in the system should really be seen as a failure in the system, and not as whether or not the politicians are being paid too much.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Maybe the guy intended to produce a crappy documentary just to insert in a subliminal message about haruhiism and rebelliousness. heh.
Just as this post is nothing but a subliminal message for us readers to push darkmirage as the next Great Leader of Singapore :D
June 16th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
A minor point but education is not free for the majority of the population. Malays get it free up to uni-level and if you are not Malay, there are various other scholarships and various other schemes, but 70% of the population still pay for their education; granted it is still relatively cheap, besides private schools.
I agree with much of what has been posted; the opposition makes a great deal of noise considering what means they have available and a little extra, but they offer little to back things up.
The SDP site makes it seem like the government can “come down” on you at any time; that is really not the case unless you’ve done something to warrant that. Granted, there is a great deal of Byzantine red-tape, but few (I daresay none at all) governments in the world are void of it.
I am dissatisfied with some of the current policies (conscription) but the opposition does not seem like it will solve any of those problems. Granted, I still hope that I can migrate by the age of 30, primarily because of the climate and the food.