Scumbaggery in the UK.

Sun, 14 Aug 2011
2 min read
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Anarchy in the UK.

(NOTE: For the young ‘uns, the title of this post and the image is a reference to a song by the Sex Pistols.)

I’m quite tired of people hijacking the event popularly known as the London ‘riots’ for their own agenda.

Some examples:

  • “This justifies the strict laws against rioting and protesting we have in Singapore”.
  • “This is why we need to love our government, regardless of whoever is in the government”.

I don’t think those two claims are relevant or appropriate to the situation.

The first misses the larger point – this is not a riot, but simply a case of looting and theft carried out by opportunists who have purposefully disregarded social mores and notions of prop(ri)erty.

The second claim entails a blind subservience without moderation or calibration; a one or the other approach seldom makes sense, especially in contexts like these.

In my opinion, the most pertinent issues that seem to have conveniently been forgotten are:

  1. How this scumbaggery has been wrongly labelled a ‘riot’ or a ‘protest.
    This merely legitimises the actions of the looters and thefts and encourages them to be bolder in their impunity.
  2. How everything including the kitchen sink is wrongful fodder for blame with regard to these acts of “feral” scumbaggery.
    When in actual fact, the adage of “Those who criticise [the younger] generation forget who raised it” has never rung truer.

These articles may flesh out my arguments better:

  1. The UK riots and language: ‘rioter’, ‘protester’ or ‘scum’?
    (via Yu-Mei)

  2. Britain’s liberal intelligentsia has smashed virtually every social value.
    (via Andrew)

BTW with regard to the second article, I disagree with the portion on the “destr[uction of] the traditional nuclear family”.

I think the traditional nuclear family is ONE of the ways in which the problem of “a world where the parent is unwilling or incapable of providing the loving and disciplined framework that a child needs in order to thrive” can be resolved.

Also, I’m advocating a moderate approach to parenting/discipline – it’s okay to ‘let children be’, but at times you really have to rein them in.

Don’t wait for others to speak up.

Tue, 14 Jun 2011
2 min read
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Dear Madam/Sir,

I REFER to “Pole-axed by passengers’ insensitivity on trains” (June 13).

As a society, we need to be honest with ourselves about two aspects of human behaviour:

  1. People do not know they are behaving inappropriately until they are told otherwise, and
  2. People will continue to behave inappropriately until they are told otherwise.

Unfortunately, we have been dependent on everyone except our own selves to do the work of telling people off.

This in itself is inappropriate behaviour, and we direly need to undergo a paradigm shift as a society.

Instead of standing by and waiting for someone else to chastise wrong-doers, we need to exercise more boldness in our approach.

We need to firmly and politely inform these wrong-doers in question about what they are doing wrong, and what they can do to correct their behaviour.

Let’s remember that the fruits of tomorrow are borne from the seeds of today.

If we truly value graciousness and civic awareness in our society, then we ourselves must be a part of the process of inculcating said values in our fellow Singaporeans.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Laremy LEE (Mr)

(Published as “Don’t wait for others to speak up” on 14 Jun 2011 in TODAYonline.)

POSKOD.SG: Ten Steps to Communicating Effectively.

Thu, 26 May 2011
2 min read
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POSKOD.SG Graphic

No -

My latest article on POSKOD.SG, the latest big thing to hit our shores.

Ten Steps to Communicating Effectively.
A guide to winning over friends and contacts in Singapore. (Mostly contacts.)

Besides playing good football and making babies, there is nothing else that we on the Little Red Dot are better at than communicating effectively.

And for good reason too: what in the world could be more Merlion-esque than saying something that one means?

In any case, here are ten steps to effective communication, the Singaporean way.

  1. When conversing, the first thing you want to do is to include people in the conversation. Hence, name-drop or insert as many obscure allusions as you can into your speech:

      “Yes, Delia said the same thing about the Blue Paper. In fact, she said it was similar to the Green Grass Policy implemented back in ’08.”
  2. If people don’t get it, show amusement. The is best displayed through subtle upward spasms of the muscles between the upper lip and the cheek:

      “You… don’t know Delia?” *twitch* “Oh, right – you weren’t on the Remaking WLB committee with us.”
  3. Use acronyms. They are the PIE to life in the fast lane during AM rush-hour traffic, just before SUVs go past the ERP gantry:

      “WLB, WLB! What part of WLB do you not understand?”

(continued…)