Signs Of A Weak, Ineffectual Government

"We've told everyone back in China how good and safe Singapore is - how do we explain to them now about what has happened to us?" The answer won't come easy for for Mr Li Wencheng, who hails from scenic Guilin, China, and now a Singapore permanent resident at Tampines. MP with special privileges Lee Kuan Yew inadvertently gave the clue when interviewed on China Central Television, "I believe once you have a weak, ineffectual government, the whole progress you have made will spiral down." That must be his son's governance he was referring to.

Li Wencheng, 39, and his wife, Yuanxiu, 42, had just returned home from their fish soup stall at Tampines 1 Mall, when they were slashed by a 25 year old at the door step of their rented flat. Their two daughters, ages 17 and 9, are studying in China, and are not taking advantage of MOE's generosity towards foreign students. Since the assailant was staying in the same block, this violence could not be pinned on the loan-sharks, who are doing a roaring trade since the casinos opened shop. Samaritans Of Singapore reported 352 calls for help about loan sharks, up from 217 in 2009. So where were the friendly neighborhood police when you need them?

The neighbourhood police post system was styled after the Japanese Koban (交番, kōban), where uniformed police work is done from small buildings located within the community, a form of community policing. In the early stages of implementation, the police actually made their patrols of the housing estates on bicycles, Japanese style. Nowadays, they prefer to be cooped up in their airconditioned cosy corners, doing their monitoring by surfing the internet. Or they might cruise the private estates in their airconditioned patrol cars, maintaining security for the odd Ang Moh jogging with an ill-fitting sports bra along deserted roads. Or handcuffing school kids who are still wondering what hideous criminality could be attributed to distributing flyers and name cards for pocket money.

3 min 50 sec of infamy

According to the police, Li Wencheng's attacker was suffering from mental problems, and "investigations are in progress", the same phrase used when responding to queries about the status of the investigation on the "Cooling Off Day" transgression. We will have to wait to see if the attack was instigated by xenophobia fueled by the likes of another China PR, Wang Peng Fei (王鹏飞). In a 4 minute YouTube video, since taken down, Wang wore ghastly lipstick and parodied Singaporeans, describing local Chinese as descendants of poor Chinese coolies. A police report has been lodged, and "investigations are in progress". The police definitely moved at a quicker pace in 2005, when two Singaporean bloggers were charged under the Sedition Act for making racist remarks online, and another Singaporean blogger promptly joined their ranks 4 days later.