You Have To Repent



But when we are angry, and someone
 tries to reason with us, we reject it.

Whoa! What was that George Yeo was saying on national TV? Not only did he maliciously slice into the internationally acclaimed reputation of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, lauded by the likes of Margaret Thatcher and Henry Kissinger, Yeo tried to obliterate what's left of the remnants of respect for the esteemed founder of Singapore. Unlike Yeo, Singaporeans in the main are well brought up by their mothers to respect the elderly, and to treat Ah Kong with kid gloves if he tends to act slightly cranky at old age. The politics of this general election just hit rock bottom.

But there it was, in print, in the mainstream media of the state paper:

"Some voters in Aljunied are so unhappy., thery are prepared to vote WP because of these grievances. When angry, some will reject rational thinking. This is why when MM said that Aljunied voters will have to repent if they vote WP, there was deep resentment. When I was having dinner last night at Blk 401, one man told me to my face that he was voting WP because of what MM said."

The above is an edited version of what Yeo actually said on TV, the Straits Times being the Straits Times. They left out the last part, when the Minister told the man he supports his stand on polling day tomorrow. In case the video is deleted, this is what was in the video record:

"You know when people are angry, sometimes they get very emotional. They lose their temper, we lose our temper, we say things, we do things, which we regret later. But when we are angry, and someone tries to reason with us, we reject it. So when MM said, "You will have to repent!" This created greater anger, greater resentment, in many people.

Last night when I was having my kway chup supper at Block 401, opposite Ponggol Park, I went round shaking hands. And one Chinese man in his forties, he said "I am voting for the Workers' Party because of what MM Lee said".

I look at him, with a certain sadness, and I said, "I respect your feeling."

Notice that in the careful choice of words, in the Gospel according to George Yeo, everyone stinks, and only he emerges smelling like roses.