Saturday, March 28, 2015

Shades Of Stockholm Syndrome

It was Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who castigated Singaporeans by pointing out the trash that was left behind at the Laneway music festival (mostly Ang Moh fans) and contrasted it with how Myanmar football supporters (dressed suspiciously like hired help) picked up after themselves after a match at the National Stadium. Singapore's unique rubbish headache stems from its small size and high population density (Reuters, 21 May 2008).

But all is forgiven when garbage piled up along various parts of the meandering queue to Parliament House - where  Lee Kuan Yew’s body was lying in airconditioned comfort - despite an army of cleaners being deployed on the ground. A 57-year-old cleaner (Singaporean, not Burmese) who should have collected his CPF and be at home playing with his grandchildren told TODAY, “We have to constantly walk around to clear the rubbish... If there are more people we may have to work overtime depending on instructions.” The irony of the situation was not lost on one commentator, “Remember to keep the place clean and green. Don’t forget (Mr Lee’s) legacy.” Wait till the old man gets up and scold you, then you know.

Imagine the horror if the keechiu general had ordered packet rice to add to the hordes drawn in by freebies like bottled water, umbrellas, and snacks. Dismissing the freeloader mentality, there is another plausible reason for the horrendous queues snaking towards the casket for a 3 second viewing.

Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon which explains why hostages express sympathy and develop positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors. Popularised in the 1988 movie, Patty Hearst, an American heiress from the Hearst publishing family kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), was a dramatic demonstration of the transition from victim to supporter.

The shift in Hearst's inexplicable behavior with the SLA has been widely attributed to the psychological phenomenon, an effect thought to occur when victims' initially frightening experiences are later countered with acts of compassion or comradery by those same perpetrators. The horror of the Central Provident Fund nest egg being held hostage are quickly forgotten, in exchange for GST vouchers, Pioneer Generation cards and other "acts of compassion". Either that or the surfeit of celebratory champagne is kicking in.

21 comments:

  1. I think it is time to lay off. Peace to you.

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    1. Think is time to ask all the main stream media to lay it off instead! They are becoming an international jokes! All if not most community events are canceled and apparently, even in death, everyone has to center their lives around him. Geesh!! Get a grip people. Pay your gratitude yes, but do we really have to shut down the universe on his island just for him and PAP to play up their supremo leader who is by now, a saint?!

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  2. On the contrary. Its time to up the ante. The Grand Master is gone, but the eunuch court jester is till around. There is still work to be done.

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    1. I wouldn't recommend this though:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD4y3U4TfeY

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    2. Why not? Since this seems to be sport here.

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  3. The curse of LKY. Let's face it, how many times does his so-called recipe is replicable anywhere else in the world? It simply CANNOT be scaled for various good reasons. Chief of all, he or no other leaders will ever get this done without the type of Citizens who gave him the carte blanche and trust. Stockholm syndrome or whatever is called, he never knew he had it good for so long. And despite that, his entitlement and arrogance grew, and currently his team has the same attitude. History will prove that he does not deserve such an exalted send-off. He did good in the overall progress of Singapore. No doubt, the nation is richer (credits to him), but a people is poorer too. That is his legacy. And the MSM is not helping by inflating him to such a saint-hood that it is hurting theirs and our credibility. Particularly whatever tributes that has been published in the last 1 week , they have lost whatever redeeming credibility they have. As a citizen, NO ONE, not even his son, will ever be able to over-achieve what they claimed he has "single-handedly" done. Good luck to LHL for even trying to come anywhere close to his status. It must be hard to be his successor.

    “The cult of Lee Kuan Yew has poisoned Eastern Europe, but we should remember that it is also a global phenomenon. Brilliant Western intellectuals, CEOs and leaders created this cult over many years at Davos and other conferences and summits of the global power elite, thus fueling the authoritarian temptation in Eastern Europe.”

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/lee-kuan-yew-legacy-116317.html?ml=po#.VRYiLChT-x6

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  4. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/lee-kuan-yew?CMP=share_btn_tw

    Philip Bowring has a more balanced obituary and makes a good read.

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    1. Yes, I agree. Especially this part:

      //Quite why Lee, revered as the father of the nation, found it necessary to use such sledgehammers was not clear. In the 50s, the communists were real and ruthless. But as time went on, real threats vanished. Yet the unrelenting ambition did not, and Lee was unable to change his self-image as a political streetfighter, the gang boss who forever had to prove his ruthlessness. //

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  5. The Curse of Lee Kuan Yew
    The leader eulogized by Obama as a ‘giant of history’ is being used to re-legitimize tyranny.

    Sample:
    "The problem is that in Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, strongmen inspired by Lee Kuan Yew have only led their countries into war, chaos and economic dead ends, all the while professing to follow his example. The cult of Lee Kuan Yew has allowed these elites in Moscow, Kiev and Tbilisi to make the case that they could find an alternative path to success without liberal democracy. And this is the cult that the sycophantic eulogies of Western leaders are now elevating only further."

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/lee-kuan-yew-legacy-116317.html#ixzz3VeRNWq2Q"

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  6. tsk..tsk..without prompting, the default blame will be :

    Singaporeans are too lazy to find a bin for the disgusting thrashes again.

    What else could there be?

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  7. Only 2 more days of this drama. Next week, its a new chapter in our history. I hope the pink one decides to retire VERY comfortably in a place far far away from SG.

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  8. Were the seeds of our current Pro Alien Policies planted in 1977?
    The Straits Times, 19 August 1977, Page 16
    Lee: Things going to get tougher as new problems arise

    “If that is so, then our work permit phenomenon is a permanent one.
    We will have an annual intake, which will be permanent, of so many thousands of healthy, striving, often because they are hungry, types.
    They, having stayed here five years, can be expected to marry a Singaporean and add to your population.
    There is, logically, no other way.
    At the same time, we must also lower our birth rate in order to absorb foreign workers on a permanent basis.”

    SOURCE:
    eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19770819-1.2.69.aspx

    ----------------------
    - would I be correct to say that LKY seems to be suggesting a permanent policy to reduce the population of Singaporeans?
    - and to replace Singaporeans with aliens?

    - Is it correct to also infer that if there are not enough jobs to go around, priority will be given to foreigners and Aliens?

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  9. "Stop Queueing. Get back to work."
    What LKY might say.

    http://diylol.com/meme-generator/lee-kuan-yew/memes/stop-queuing-get-back-to-work

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  10. The sheeple herd mentality is what will cause Singapore to sheepwreck. Some party are very happy to lap it up at this opportune time. 300 packets of chicken rice is freely distributed by an unnamed Minister, to further contribute to the trash scene. I mean, hello, can we stop pampering the singaporeans when there is clearly no need to, and nobody requested for it? Are people really so yao-gui or must be bribed to pay respect to old man? How to build resilience like that? LKY will be flipping in his coffin now.

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    1. Yes, all true blue singaporeans are "yao-gui"
      but they may not necessarily support you either ( votes )

      Yet they are shy/lazy to bend down and pick up 5 cents.

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  11. I must say the constant indoctrination these last 5 days does wonders for the PAP . Never understand how the North Koreans could behave when their Dear Leader died but now I do !

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  12. The ones in the queue are the hardcore ruliing party supporters, the 40% who will vote for them come what may. Life will not go back to normal next week because the real leader of this nation has died. He only left cabinet in 2011. It will be interesting to see developments in the ruling party as well as in the docile msm.

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  13. The title for this post should be SG50 Shades of Stockholm Syndrome to include the grassroots leader Jason Tan who threatened to cut off a 17-year-old teenager’s penis and “put it in his mouth” for speaking out loud. After all, we do have more than 50 shades of grey areas in the justice system.

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  14. The Stockholm Syndrome, or capture-bonding between master and well trained dogs? Reminds me of the story of Hachiko the Japanese dog who, even when his master had died, waited for him every day at the railway station. And a case of trained adult dogs who even today deliberately Pee And Poo anywhere, because they were not started young.... in the words of the late LKY.....

    “Mine is a very matter-of-fact approach to the problem. If you can select a population and they're educated and they're properly brought up, then you don't have to use too much of the stick because they would already have been trained. It's like with dogs. You train it in a proper way from small. It will know that it's got to leave, go outside to pee and to defecate. No, we are not that kind of society. We had to train adult dogs who even today deliberately urinate in the lifts.”

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  15. Mein Gott.....why? Why LKY leave...why....now Pinky left with surrounding un-orginal thinkers who are loyal unto death but always when implementing pinky policies and ideas make Pinky look extremely bad....why LKY...why leave Pink with these surrounding self serving un-orginal people with Pinky...why...nein nein nein.....haiiizzzzzzssss...

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