ok so on this rare occasion when i actually can think of a topic, here goes. was reading this article in Today about how the writer feels that NS evaders shouldnt be called sons of singapore. the assertion was made on the grounds that they did not fulfill their duty to the country and thus we should not be so eager to claim them as our prodigal sons.
now in my view, this, is utter rubbish. yeah they were bold enough to evade, and the only penalty they incurred was the forfeit of a sum of money put up (a rather large one too). now knowing our good ol' govt, im convinced that they could come up with a tougher stance if they wanted to. probably something disadvantaging the family of the evader since in most cases, only the evader leaves the country yes? if the WHOLE friggin family moves, well sad, life sucks that way. so yeah, they DONT do anything other than to bar said evader from returning and yet after reaching the age of 40, even if he does return, they cant make him serve NS anymore anyways.
ok so pianist dude was given a paltry fine given his status. i agree that perhaps the penalty should have been heavier, im thinking higher fine and probably low pecking order in terms of stuff like applying for flat etc etc. now here's something i dont get: yeah sure he was let off rather lightly, the fine was nth to him. but people, stop your damn whining. geez, whine whine whine. boo hoo hoo. made a world-class pianist (i am not fit to judge, but it's been said many consider him world-class so im just quoting) CANCEL his friggin concert? wow! that's fabulous everyone. let's all give ourselves a pat on the back cos we forced a renown musician to cancel his act in singapore! not only that! with this in mind, everyone else who served NS during his time will now be happy that he has done his part! hmm let's see.. WRONG! freaking.. what he does now will not change the fact that he did not serve. his doing 100000 push-ups now will not reduce the load on past NSmen because duh, it's already over. so who loses out from making him cancel his concert? not him surely? he can just pack his bags and go perform elsewhere. perhaps leaving our shores once again. now people love stereotypes. nobody cares that we have low crime rates and high science and math scores. what they do like about singapore though, is how we provide them with endless talk-cock topics.
"didja hear about singapore, the place that wont even let u chew gum??"
"isn't singapore the place where they made that famous pianist dude cancel his concert"
"singapore? yeah yeah! i heard about that place. it's the city where everyone is so rigid in their thinking and people actually hold workshops on how to be creative"
on one hand, three cheers for the foreign talent schemes which provide us with ppl like itimi d*ckson and agu casm*r. their less than desirable conduct has been well-publicised in the papers. on the other hand, let's all turn away world-beaters with our lynch mob behaviour!
chalk up another one for singapore
extracted from d A r y L ' s mind at 10:38 AM
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