Friday, May 6, 2011

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.

13 comments:

  1. Rex comments as follows,
    I'm very surprised that George Yeo defended MM's godly pronoucement that effectively meand, singaporeans who vote WP in Aljunied, are sinners and need 5 years of repentence.

    I thought George is a religous person. Now i have totally different opinion of him.

    A truly relgious person will not accept the word "repent", because it implies a moral decadence and disobedience against a real God.

    So George seems to be just another useless minister following orders from the top. I thought he was a little bit better than that, but this latest news really put me off.

    I would not like to have hypocrites in Aljunied.

    And the winner is... Workers Party, Aljunied GRC.

    rex

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  2. It was reported in today's ST that he had to consult PM on the draft of what he wanted to say at last night's rally and unwittingly confirmed to us that he actually does not even have a mind of his own.

    So much for such an 'indispensable' Minister. What a joke, PAP!

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  3. I watched his rally speech and quite frankly thot he has proven to have totally lost the plot. By his own admission, throngs of pple came up to him and were crying with sorrows..these were accumulated and pent up anger/feelings wk after wk, yr after yr where he & his grassroot or TC team have failed to heed. So on the last days of polling the camel back is broken and everybody came up with their true feelings. From here, it showed that his team has FAILED the due diligence, and ignored people's concerns. Of course these are genuine emotions, but instead, as like any characteristics of a "rational" & "pragmatic" PAP MP he dismissed these as negative emotions and slammed Opp for trying to stoke them at athese hour! Why couldn't he see beyond that?!! Clearly the Opp has merely been able to get to the "hearts" of these issues and thus spoke/relate to these unforgotten and ignored segment that PAP & his team chose to do over and again. He has LOST my respect for his inabiity to reflect internally and recognize these are genuine concerns, not just pple looking to take a ride/advantage of the system.

    In short, GY was given a 2nd chance last time, and how many more 5 years does one have? It's best he focus on his strength and work in the diplomatic corps and just excel in his foreign relations rather than local municipal relations. He has to go and make ways for other more competent team who can.

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  4. All 'yes-man' after all. Would we even want a cabinet full of men and women who can only say 'yes'???

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  5. Do you mean yes-men & women of which LKY mentioned a long time ago of his preference only for "department store dummies" in Singapore's parliament.

    Is this a wise leader?...or a money conning grubbing greedy merchant who wants to smoke his customers to get a bigger cut of the deal!

    Sick.

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  6. /// rex said...
    Rex comments as follows,
    I'm very surprised that George Yeo defended MM's godly pronoucement that effectively meand, singaporeans who vote WP in Aljunied, are sinners and need 5 years of repentence.

    I thought George is a religous person. Now i have totally different opinion of him. ///

    What about his supporters carrying placards with the slogan "In George We Trust"? I thought "In God We Trust" is the motto of the US, and is printed on its coins and currency notes.

    So, has George promoted himself to God?

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  7. I cannot help wondering, whether George Yeo will repent if he gets booted out by sunday morning? I am inclined to think George made his choice between God and LKY a long time back, and he chose LKY.(god of wealth)

    *it is not possible to serve 2 masters*

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  8. George is a good god fearing man, why he want to join the devil incarnate LKY is beyond me.

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  9. Just want to get something off my chest

    I am a Masters Student. I met a friend from Germany who told be that the Government paid all expenses (relocation costs from GERMANY, rent, university tuition, plus ALLOWANCE) for her sister to study in NUS. Guess how all that costs?

    Now she is working in Singapore, in a bulge bracket and she sits opposite a local friend that I have known for years. Small world huh?

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  10. There are theories floating around of friction in PAP and possible reason of why GY was made the scrificial lamb. Links at

    http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2011/05/friction-in-pap.html

    http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2011/05/you-must-watch-this-youtube-video.html

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  11. As i read this blog post, i don't know what the hell you are all talking about.
    George did not said he defend MM's comment, he just said he respect the man's feeling.
    That is consider defending MM's comment?
    What did you expect him to say when you face someone saying these words in your face?

    You are blinded by the hatred, you can't see this thing in another way.

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  12. A little reminder for all Aljunied voters who want to vote for WP on 7 May:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7I5UaB7mx4

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  13. @ Anonymous May 6, 1:47pm Yes, I meant the parliament of the few decades which were devoid of opposition voices with the exception of a few. All just silenced or in fear of MM LKY and his aura, or if not, just identifying with what the main thrust of the party went without questioning. It is definitely sickening, and the fact that this GE, whatever the outcome, the fact that they drew upon so many new candidates who simply made it obvious to us that they are also potential 'yes-men' and 'yes-women' makes it even more sickening to me. We are not beholden to any party. It is not the government, despite what it chooses to make clear to us.

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