We Remember This

Commenting on the Wee Shu Min saga - superbly documented in this WikiLeaks account - , one blogger once wrote this:

"The saddest part of this episode is that she reminds me of the remark made by newbie Michael Palmer, "Before I joined the grassroots organisation, I never knew there were poor people in developed countries". Where does the PAP find such freaks? They are no better than the Hitler Youth, and our country can only be the worse because of them."

Yup, this guy is going to be the new House Speaker in Parliament. PM Lee nominated him, and what PM Lee wants, PM Lee gets.

In May 2008 an unemployed man was alleged to have threatened the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Member of Parliament (GE 2006) at a Meet-The-People session. He received a phone call to go down to Ang Mo Kio police station to "assist in police investigations", but he refused to turn up. Instead Mr Zuo went to the press with his account.

On a Monday evening, Mr Zuo Hong Bao — who told Today that he had gone to look for Palmer "more than 10 times" previously — met the MP and asked if he could borrow money from the MP to pay off his debts or "do some investments". Mr Zuo, 36, said in Mandarin: "I asked if he could lend me $20,000 ... I said I would return the money, plus interest, after three years. He told me: 'The Government doesn't do such things. Please go out'." Conceding that he was "a little angry" with the curt dismissal - just a shade off from the get-out-of-my-elite-uncaring-face type rebuff - Mr Zuo raised his voice and added: "I told him: 'You remember this!' "

Palmer, who claimed it was not he but one of his grassroots leaders who made the Police Report, gave his version of the encounter: "I told him that we don't lend money. I said: 'Thank you very much' and asked him to leave. So he uttered something."

This guy's a lawyer. Why would the police act if he, presumably aggrieved party, did not lodge the official complaint? Why did he have to say "Thank you very much" when Zuo was allegedly trying to borrow money, not offering to lend money to the MP? And what exactly was the "something" he claimed was uttered by Zuo? Was it life-threatening, defamatory, insulting or what? Hey, even two kids engaged in a kindergarten playground brawl will have a better recollection of their exchange.

In the summary of the WikiLeaks account referenced above, it is recorded:

"At times, the elite demonstrates astonishing arrogance and political insensitivity (e.g., MP Wee Siew Kim), which in other places might lead to real political problems. But the Wee Shu Min incident and the government's subsequent policy adjustments also highlight how adroitly the PAP manages the domestic situation and why it has been successful for so long. The government rarely if ever acknowledges a mistake. But once it has made one, it moves quickly and quietly to defuse and deflate grievances that might lead to wider discontent."

Unfortunately for them a new generation of Singaporeans has grown up, and they will be saying in chorus, "You remember this!"