Thursday, May 5, 2011

It Is The Song Of Angry Men

Vandalism is a serious offence in Singapore. The fact that it happened was social commentary that some thresh hold of pain of the common man must have been breached. In a rare and bold public display of outrage in 2005, someone - or some people - sprayed paint on the outer walls of the NKF headquarters at Kim Keat Road in the early hours of the morning. On one part of the outer front wall were the words 'NKF=liar' written in English, and 'big liar' in Chinese - all spray-painted in bold. The word 'liar' was also written in bold on every alternate pillar. The culprits also vandalised the side of the building with the words 'Save Singapore' and 'Liar'.

Revelations about the abuses at the National Kidney Foundation include medication for kidney patients which were routinely sold for a tidy profit. Their "subsidy" turned out to the difference between what was billed and what was charged in the open market. The needy patients were denied the bulk discount prices enjoyed by NKF. Sounds familiar?

Fast forward to 2011, Ms Tan Bee Lan, election agent for Foreign Minister George Yeo, reported that vandals have defaced or removed posters and banners put up by the People's Action Party (PAP) team contesting in Aljunied GRC. The mischief was first discovered on Labour Day when banners and posters put up along roads and campaign vehicles had either gone missing or were smeared with paint. She said 30 posters had disappeared and 29 were vandalised. She added that, while there were isolated cases in previous hustings, this was the first time in the five elections she has helped Yeo that the problem has been widespread, a bellwether of what is to come for the Minister and his GRC team.

While investigating the problem, her team also noticed some Workers' Party (WP) posters in Aljunied GRC did not have Elections Department stickers or had the wrong stickers. Ms Tan said they had lodged a police report and filed a complaint with the Elections Department. Complaining to the Elections Department we understand, but must the police be involved? Maybe she's following the example of Lui Tuck Yew, "so that this episode would be placed on record". Seems like she 's more determined to fix the opposition rather than hunt down the culprits who messed with her posters. For her sake, her supporters had better not be playing mischief with the stickers. That would be embarrassing.

8 comments:

  1. Why is the Elections Department in the business of regulating/enforcing stickers for posters? It is pure red tape and serves no purpose.

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  2. The westerners call this "Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

    Singaporeans call it "wayang."

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  3. By the way, supposing if later it was found to be carried out by an overzealous PAP supporter to sabotage others, will it be another honest mistake ?

    For argument's sake, is it a crime if one decides to deface on one's own poster ?

    One can never really know whether they will stoop that low, isn't it

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  4. Just a thought. If MIW continue to be in denial and remain clueless, the song of angry men will be taken over by violent men. 87-0 scoreline on 8th May will be the catalyst.

    But my hunch is sporeans will vote wisely, they deserve a break and I look forward to this weekend, that it will become the most significant in my entire life. cheers!

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  5. before tbe song of angry man why not a simple song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxX-QOV9tI to remind ourselves until this Sat. with some change in lyrics ;)

    Seems like garment got a price,
    I wonder how they sleep at night.
    When the sale comes first,
    And the truth comes second,
    Just stop, for a minute and
    Smile

    Why is garment so serious
    Acting so damn mysterious
    Got your $$ on your eyes
    And your pay so high
    That you can't even have a good time

    Everybody look to their left (yeah)
    Everybody look to their right (ha)
    Can you feel that (yeah)
    We're leaving Papies behind
    It's not about the money, money, money
    We don't need your money, money, money
    We just wanna make Singapore dance,
    Forget about the Pap Tag
    Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching.
    Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
    Wanna make Singapore dance,
    Forget about the Pap Tag.

    Okay!
    We need to take it back in time,
    When policies made us all unite
    And it wasn't low blows and msm hoes,
    Am I the only one getting tired
    Why is garment so obsessed
    Money can't buy us happiness
    Can we all slow down and enjoy right now
    Guarantee we'll be feeling Alright.

    Everybody vote to their left (yeah)
    Everybody vote to their right (ha)
    Can you feel that (yeah)
    We're leaving Papies behind
    It's not about the money, money, money
    We don't need your money, money, money
    We just wanna Singapore dance,
    Forget about the Pap Tag
    Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching.
    Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
    Wanna make Singapore dance,
    Forget about the Pap Tag.

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  6. Maybe this is our version of a 'false flag' operation.

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  7. It seems vindictiveness runs in the whole family.

    Yeap, better not be their own supporters playing mischief.

    You never know, they like to shoot at their own foot lately.

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  8. Is there even a possibility that this vandalism is a case of someone just trying to attract attention to the act itself so as to distract attention away from the main issues which are at stake, and indirectly saving the incumbent some extra votes? After all, it is fashionable in ideology to cry "victim"!

    ReplyDelete