Singapore Inc. means more than you think
Commentator:
The arrival of Singazine into blogosphere is timely. As so much has happened with Singaporedaily and some sites. Most of us dont dare to say anything to Singaporedaily. If we do so, the fear is they will cut is off. On the otherhand, the people who have no fear, as they presumably have a loyal readership already are the only ones who will dare to pick bones with them. The problem now is this group have all disappeared. Where does that leave the majority of us?
To make things worse. The level of trust between different sites in blogosphere is at a all time low. No seems to be talking to one another. The Online Citizen has been turned into an anti MDP site. TR is now a anti foreigner site. Singaporedaily is turning into a general nothing site. Mr Brown is his own world. The others like the Brotherhood are even creating their own world! So blogosphere is getting narrower and narrower. Instead of being united, we are so fragmented and weak. We cannot even come together and sit down in one table.
I hope Singazine will be able to unite everyone in blogosphere and serve as a voice to those who have the courage to want to be heard.
ed:
You have made some very interesting points. The thing about a confucian society is that, for the sake of political longevity, popular intellectual individualism and vibrancy has to be curtailed, or centralised, as was the case in Ancient China to-date - i.e., ‘the burning of books and burial of scholars’, Civil Service Examinations, amongst others, in China’s history. We could say that popular intellectual individualism is Curtailed, Centralised, and thereafter, the mindset of the masses is Channelled according to the dictate of the intellectual elite. It’s not too difficult to maintain political hegemony after this as the people will generally tend to not know better to think they could better their leaders - be it in the governmental or oppositional side of things.
People, being taught to just 'stop complaining and follow' will tend to look toward the prominent and powerful for directions and insight. You could say that they don't have an internal GPS system;) So, everyone is subconsciously aware that to 'be somebody' one has to lead or join an organisation. And from within such an organisation, they either lead or just follow. You aren't going to be anybody on your own. Insight means nothing, only following the prominent whether it is on the oppositional/governmental/what's popular/the majority race or culture/etc.
So everyone gets incorporated, or if they choose to be independent, be ignored by a people who have such utter disbelief in their own potential to be the masters of their destiny that they will reflexively refuse to recognise anyone unless they are part of the majority/prominent organisation/powerful/wealthy/etc.
So everyone gets incorporated, or if they choose to be independent, be ignored by a people who have such utter disbelief in their own potential to be the masters of their destiny that they will reflexively refuse to recognise anyone unless they are part of the majority/prominent organisation/powerful/wealthy/etc.
In such a ‘land of the blind’, the one-eyed person will be deemed to be handicapped as illustrated by the analytical being said to be ‘chong hei’(long-winded’), ‘complaining too much’, to be a ‘troublemaker’, ‘cannot be controlled’, amongst others.
When you stated that the group who dare to challenge the likes of SGdaily, or oppositional parties, 'new media', etc, are no more, that is because they have all been incorporated into these organisations; just give up because they know that in a ‘chinese’ society; they are going to be ignored if they aren't a part of the congregation of some famous organisation or person.
Where does that leave the majority? Well, they will be left with no alternative but to follow what's prominent and have their perspectives underdeveloped by them. As stated in other articles on the matter, a wise Chinese scholar once stated that what the state is, the people will be. Hence, when one looks at the government-people relationship, one will find that such a relationship is mirrored in almost all levels of society be it between spouses, employer-employee, party-members, family unit, etc. That is one of the reasons why when democracy arises within such a state, it usually is fascist in nature. All we see is the lower rungs of society attempting to get more ‘practical’ advantages as opposed to getting rid of dictatorial hierarchies be it socio-economic class, racial hierarchies, etc. That is the true meaning of Singapore Incorporated.
Of course, those on the oppositional side of things aren’t going to acknowledge this reality lest they are left without an emperor to lead their cause. For these people, unity is paramount. That is why we hear talk about 'oppositional unity'; or Ng E-Jay stating not too long ago that 'editorial judgement' by SGdaily is necessary to maintain 'unity' amongst the opposition, etc, etc.
"Perhaps unlike Singazine.com, SG Daily exercises some degree of editorial judgment from time to time, and refrains from linking to blog posts that clearly have an agenda of causing opposition parties to become disunited. - Ng E-Jay"
Few, if any, are bothering about the bases upon which 'oppositional' unity is being maintained. All they need to know is that the interests of the majority are being catered to, and the government is being opposed.
Few, if any, are bothering about the bases upon which 'oppositional' unity is being maintained. All they need to know is that the interests of the majority are being catered to, and the government is being opposed. All other inequities are ignored. And when this is brought up, by this site for instance, it is ignored and its origins ostracised - go and take a look to see how many local bloggers link here.
If you look at China's history, you will see that the same thing occurred there with the Civil Service Examinations sucking up and channeling all the 'talent' in the country whilst the people remained 'peasants' in their minds till the present. With Confucian singapore, history, or rather, China's history, repeats itself at all levels of society, be it in social circles, corporations, government, political parties, 'new media', etc, etc. It is no wonder that this 'triad society' or 'gang' mentality gives rise to racism and xenophobia most naturally.
An overarching, 'you're either with us or against us' mentality reigns supreme. Singazine is not going to do much in changing this as most posts written by almost everyone or organisation are generally self-absorbed, chinese-centred, and abide by the directives of some leader or party. If anything, it is going to further reinforce such tendencies amongst the young and everyone else as there is little that besides.
ed
note: ‘Chinese’, is, at times used with inverted commas as it is more a cultural descriptor than a racial one. A ‘Chinese’ who is accustomed and partial to a multicultural milieu remains a ‘chinese’ in terms of ethnicity, but not culturally. Likewise, an individual of any ethnicity, accustomed to a monocultural and top-down managed society becomes ‘chinese’ in persona in not in ethnicity. In essence, a ‘chinese’ refers to an individual who observes particular customs and conventions unique to China that arise in the mass effort to get around the problems emerging from their depoliticisation and ensuing apathy. Legalism-Confucianist perspectives are a significant part and foundation of such a persona.
The arrival of Singazine into blogosphere is timely. As so much has happened with Singaporedaily and some sites. Most of us dont dare to say anything to Singaporedaily. If we do so, the fear is they will cut is off. On the otherhand, the people who have no fear, as they presumably have a loyal readership already are the only ones who will dare to pick bones with them. The problem now is this group have all disappeared. Where does that leave the majority of us?
To make things worse. The level of trust between different sites in blogosphere is at a all time low. No seems to be talking to one another. The Online Citizen has been turned into an anti MDP site. TR is now a anti foreigner site. Singaporedaily is turning into a general nothing site. Mr Brown is his own world. The others like the Brotherhood are even creating their own world! So blogosphere is getting narrower and narrower. Instead of being united, we are so fragmented and weak. We cannot even come together and sit down in one table.
I hope Singazine will be able to unite everyone in blogosphere and serve as a voice to those who have the courage to want to be heard.
ed:
You have made some very interesting points. The thing about a confucian society is that, for the sake of political longevity, popular intellectual individualism and vibrancy has to be curtailed, or centralised, as was the case in Ancient China to-date - i.e., ‘the burning of books and burial of scholars’, Civil Service Examinations, amongst others, in China’s history. We could say that popular intellectual individualism is Curtailed, Centralised, and thereafter, the mindset of the masses is Channelled according to the dictate of the intellectual elite. It’s not too difficult to maintain political hegemony after this as the people will generally tend to not know better to think they could better their leaders - be it in the governmental or oppositional side of things.
People, being taught to just 'stop complaining and follow' will tend to look toward the prominent and powerful for directions and insight. You could say that they don't have an internal GPS system;) So, everyone is subconsciously aware that to 'be somebody' one has to lead or join an organisation. And from within such an organisation, they either lead or just follow. You aren't going to be anybody on your own. Insight means nothing, only following the prominent whether it is on the oppositional/governmental/what's popular/the majority race or culture/etc.
So everyone gets incorporated, or if they choose to be independent, be ignored by a people who have such utter disbelief in their own potential to be the masters of their destiny that they will reflexively refuse to recognise anyone unless they are part of the majority/prominent organisation/powerful/wealthy/etc.
So everyone gets incorporated, or if they choose to be independent, be ignored by a people who have such utter disbelief in their own potential to be the masters of their destiny that they will reflexively refuse to recognise anyone unless they are part of the majority/prominent organisation/powerful/wealthy/etc.
In such a ‘land of the blind’, the one-eyed person will be deemed to be handicapped as illustrated by the analytical being said to be ‘chong hei’(long-winded’), ‘complaining too much’, to be a ‘troublemaker’, ‘cannot be controlled’, amongst others.
When you stated that the group who dare to challenge the likes of SGdaily, or oppositional parties, 'new media', etc, are no more, that is because they have all been incorporated into these organisations; just give up because they know that in a ‘chinese’ society; they are going to be ignored if they aren't a part of the congregation of some famous organisation or person.
Where does that leave the majority? Well, they will be left with no alternative but to follow what's prominent and have their perspectives underdeveloped by them. As stated in other articles on the matter, a wise Chinese scholar once stated that what the state is, the people will be. Hence, when one looks at the government-people relationship, one will find that such a relationship is mirrored in almost all levels of society be it between spouses, employer-employee, party-members, family unit, etc. That is one of the reasons why when democracy arises within such a state, it usually is fascist in nature. All we see is the lower rungs of society attempting to get more ‘practical’ advantages as opposed to getting rid of dictatorial hierarchies be it socio-economic class, racial hierarchies, etc. That is the true meaning of Singapore Incorporated.
Of course, those on the oppositional side of things aren’t going to acknowledge this reality lest they are left without an emperor to lead their cause. For these people, unity is paramount. That is why we hear talk about 'oppositional unity'; or Ng E-Jay stating not too long ago that 'editorial judgement' by SGdaily is necessary to maintain 'unity' amongst the opposition, etc, etc.
"Perhaps unlike Singazine.com, SG Daily exercises some degree of editorial judgment from time to time, and refrains from linking to blog posts that clearly have an agenda of causing opposition parties to become disunited. - Ng E-Jay"
Few, if any, are bothering about the bases upon which 'oppositional' unity is being maintained. All they need to know is that the interests of the majority are being catered to, and the government is being opposed.
Few, if any, are bothering about the bases upon which 'oppositional' unity is being maintained. All they need to know is that the interests of the majority are being catered to, and the government is being opposed. All other inequities are ignored. And when this is brought up, by this site for instance, it is ignored and its origins ostracised - go and take a look to see how many local bloggers link here.
If you look at China's history, you will see that the same thing occurred there with the Civil Service Examinations sucking up and channeling all the 'talent' in the country whilst the people remained 'peasants' in their minds till the present. With Confucian singapore, history, or rather, China's history, repeats itself at all levels of society, be it in social circles, corporations, government, political parties, 'new media', etc, etc. It is no wonder that this 'triad society' or 'gang' mentality gives rise to racism and xenophobia most naturally.
An overarching, 'you're either with us or against us' mentality reigns supreme. Singazine is not going to do much in changing this as most posts written by almost everyone or organisation are generally self-absorbed, chinese-centred, and abide by the directives of some leader or party. If anything, it is going to further reinforce such tendencies amongst the young and everyone else as there is little that besides.
ed
note: ‘Chinese’, is, at times used with inverted commas as it is more a cultural descriptor than a racial one. A ‘Chinese’ who is accustomed and partial to a multicultural milieu remains a ‘chinese’ in terms of ethnicity, but not culturally. Likewise, an individual of any ethnicity, accustomed to a monocultural and top-down managed society becomes ‘chinese’ in persona in not in ethnicity. In essence, a ‘chinese’ refers to an individual who observes particular customs and conventions unique to China that arise in the mass effort to get around the problems emerging from their depoliticisation and ensuing apathy. Legalism-Confucianist perspectives are a significant part and foundation of such a persona.
I think you have pissed off so many people abt your observations concerning Chineseness in general that you are alienating your site from other blogs. No offence, but as a British expat. I frankly find your comments condescending bordering on rude. To be perfectly honest with you Ed, I dont even believe you are British at all. Why dont you just aggregate and spare us all the hot air? Do us all a favor and shut that trap!
ReplyDeleteGreetings nameless,
ReplyDeleteYour being a British expat, i have to wonder why you don't find a problem with the sort of thing that goes on in singapore, especially since half of that would have caused a public furore in the UK if it was to happen here. What do you think the British people would turn out to be if they accepted, bred, and thrived under a BNP-led government for half a century.
Anyway, you can find it as 'condescending' and 'bordering on rude' as much as it takes to crease your brow, but i'd like to see you prove that anything that is being said here is untrue - whilst not pointing to exceptions to prove your case.
The point here is simple enough. Give any sector an advantage over others; have what is claimed by their leaders to be 'their culture' elevated over all others; claim the country for one as opposed to all others (via, amongst others, the 'singapore must have a chinese majority' policy and 'mandarin will be our mother tongue in 2 generations' statement by LKY); and you are certainly going to give rise to self-absorbed arrogance and bigotry in the said sector, diminution of all others, and in the longer run, underdevelopment of all regardless of race.
What these series of articles aim for is an address of the factors that give rise to and reinforces this so that all may be freed from the consequences that visit upon a people afflicted by such conditions. In this context, i have only alienated racists and those whom are accustomed to it.
And anyway, it doesn't matter if i'm British or not - which i'm not anyway, and never claimed to be - stick to the issue and put some modicum of thought into your rants so that it might be more insightful than an exclamation mark.
Keep up the good work ed! Don't listen to people like him. He is ignorant or pro-chinese and think the chinese are like god's chosen people and cannot do anything wrong. This guy supports racism and you are the only one who really speaks about this problem and hopes for real unity. I understand that. Hope other do also.
ReplyDeletetesting one to three
ReplyDeleteAny reason why I think the groups that dare to challenge the likes of SGDaily or oppositional parties, ‘new media’, etc are no more, is the lack of empathy on those groups unless their interests are affected. During the building of a fascist state in the past decades, I don’t recall any concerted efforts from groups/parties to highlight the unfair treatments of the minorities. The blatant campaign to promote speak mandarin, SAP schools, recruiting only mandarin speakers in jobs. These actions have greatly underdeveloped the minority races. In the recent years, with the influx of the foreign (Chinese) workers, do we see groups/parties calling singaporeans to unite. Isn’t this obvious that if the chinese interest is not affected, would they think of the minority races.
ReplyDeleteVery well said on the description of the ‘chinese’. It is definitely more a cultural descriptor than a racial one. Though most of the Chinese I know in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China displayed this chinese traits, sadly, I am also seeing some of my singapore Indian and Malay friends/colleagues displaying the same chinese traits. I was told by them that they are going to be ignored or bypassed any promotion opportunities at work if they are not part of the chinese groups.
I agree that Singazine is not going to do much to change the conditions in the blogsphere. However, it is one site that will show people more truth what singapore is, after taking away the icing and frosting.
Keep this up, Ed!