26 July 2006

Get married, have a load of kids, don’t protest.

I just received a SDS membership welcome package in the mail. Turns out that any single is a member by default. Unless you happen to have a university degree, in which case you will be promoted to a SDU membership. Frankly, in this days and age, is there a need to pre-classify people by our education level? How ironic that SdS's motto is “redefine boundaries”.
I found this poem at talkingcock:

An
Ode to the SDU and SDS

In a different world,
You would have been lovers
From the start
But the heart is complicated
For despite your similarities
You play up your differences
And refuse to merge.
"How can I marry down?"
Wails the SDU.
"Won't she look down on me?"
Cries the SDS.
And so, with duplicity in your hearts
You duplicate your functions.
With matchmakers like you,
It's no wonder
People in Singapore
Aren't
Getting
Married.


I appreciate the concern from the government of Singapore and I understand that it is of utmost important that young people get married and have kids fast to replace the aging, shrinking, and migrating population. However, I believe that we should not be having kids because of economic, social or moral pressure, but out of a sense of love and commitment.

I find the programs cute and sweet, but I can’t help noticing that my life is too regulated by the government. From what movies I can watch, the language I should speak, the news I receive, how I should behave, when I should smile, right down to how many kids I should have and when. It is any wonder that Singapore finest are leaving?
(Singapore has a high migration rate est at 9.12 in year 2006, compare to Switzerland’s 3.12, Canada’s 5.85, Australia’s 3.85, Malaysia’s 0, and Brunei’s 3.31)

On another note.
Come September, the IMF and World Bank meeting will bring with them the usual, and I would say traditional, protesters. This year, they will be coming to the Republic of Singapore.[news here]
Protests in Singapore are almost unheard of. There’s one last year outside CPF , one against the death penalty, one cute bear with an anti-fur message , and the Mr Brown protest .

Nevertheless, the activist have written an open letter to PM Lee, and
“The World Bank, however, has stepped in to assure activists that space for
civil society is being negotiated to avoid what some critics of the
international financial institutions says will undermine the credibility of the
Bank's claims to promote good governance, accountability, transparency and
democracy.”

I’m guessing that it’s going to be a NO-NO, or permits must be applied before protests can be staged, and the permits will be hard to get.

It’ll be interesting to see how this will turn out. Will Singapore allow foreigners to stage protests in its home soil while her citizens are often denied the privilege?

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