change a long time coming.

i've said this before, the media is a loaded gun that can be used for good or evil. this applies to all kinds of media starting but not limited to the newpaper, the straits times, the evening news, mtv, blogs, facebook and twitter.

i've had enough of this crap. people are talking about anton casey, about stephanie whatsherface, about justin beiber egging his neighbour's house, about breaking bad and real housewives. there isn't enough talk about things that concern us people, we are a culture that now feeds on gossip and entertainment. the mass effect of the fact that a majority would rather be entertained than informed is that all we get now, yes even on the news, is horsehit.

what a lot of people who fundamentally believe the same things i do, but fail to understand is this: the nonsense that plagues our daily lives is not a product of a media house that is owned by the government (i know that i'm going to catch a lot of flak for this but here it is.), it is because people choose what they want to see, and every person in this country, scratch that, THE WORLD, are after ratings because that is materialism in the purest form of the word. it is everyone's self interest to give the world what the world wants to see and hear. this, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem.

am i qualified to make this statement? yes. i'm speaking as a citizen of the world, a person who is concerned by world hunger, xenophobia and blanket discrimination, war, poverty, and not as a child who is concerned by what kim kardashian's baby wore last tuesday. there wasn't a time in my life that i wanted to write because i was interested in fashion, or penning weekend columns in women's weekly on "10 ways to please your man". what concerns me is not consumerism or pandas dying out, but the state of our spot in this universe that my generation and our descendents have to learn to thrive in.

what angers me the most about media today is that it is being abused. not just the main vein, but the social platforms that allow people who are grossly misinformed the leeway to publicly incite hatred, spread half truths or just outright lies, and keep the bandwagon of idiots on the road to self destruction going on an incredibly large platform. these people do not need to be validated. they need to be educated.

personal experience with many people who claim political apathy has taught me that people misspeak because they do not know what the word apathy means. this is, of course another cause of contention for me, as i care about the standard of education and general ignorance deteriorating and escalating, in that order. does this affect me on a personal level? when i think about the future, yes. i for one, do not want to live on a planet where the state of man is a in a constant state of regression. but i digress.

here's a lesson because i simply cannot take it anymore. political apathy is knowing that whatever systems we currently have IS NOT WORKING. political apathy is NOT voting for the opposition just because we don't think the party in power is not doing a good job. political apathy is being aware that the alternative solution that is presently available is not necessarily the solution. political apathy is knowing that we can be better, but no one is inspiring positive change, because we're too busy expecting the higher ups to come up with something better, while we at the spend none of that time thinking of what actually can be done.

people bash governments all the time. yes, i understand that this is what people do. it is also what politicians do, because no one is perfect, therefore our policies, rules and terms of government, by extension, will never make the cut of a utopian society. much as i believe that more people should understand this, i also think that people need to start believing in our ability, as a human race, to be better.

the media is a loaded gun. we, the people of the world, pick the ammunition. what we need to stop doing is to incite hatred, spread fear, discrimination of any kind, complacency, and the decadence we are used to. we need to start sharing more, giving more, loving more, living more, and caring more about what we say, do and yes, even think. we are all products of a society that has been spoiled by the riches that our grandfathers worked their asses for. it's time we start learning the value of these lessons, and indeed, start going through them ourselves. because honestly, it's getting old people, and i'm starting to get embarrassed.

letter from me to a grassroots leader (if you actually exist)

i refer to the article "letter from a grassroots leader to PM" currently circulating. many of my peers have shared it on facebook with proclamations of support for this your stand, and frankly, i am not surprised. before i begin, however, i apologize in advance for the strong tone and the occasional vulgarity, the way you should have apologized for your grammer. but as someone has pointed out, it is the message, not the language.

to be honest, i am sick to death of hearing this everywhere i go. while the PAP is by no means the perfect model of democracy, i think it hilarious to discount their leadership. singaporeans who are reading this and are starting to get riled up, yes, i'm fucking talking about you too.

while your entire letter is rife with critique, you have nothing to but to point out that you're angry about many things, that you don't like what the PAP has proposed, and then proceeded to piss on their efforts to rectify problems that you have identified, but have not given solution for.

i see that what you're valiantly trying to suggest is that LHL start listening to what the good people of singapore have to say about the decisions made. my question is, listen to who, exactly? people who know about the issues singapore is facing, who know about the decisions handed down by the PM and his mates, bitch about it, but do fuck all?

i have expressed my views on facebook, and a good friend of  mine (intelligent and very very handsome. no hard feelings dh!), suggested that the higher management levels of the government are there to bring in the complex solutions and not lean on the suggestion of grassroots leaders such as yourself, because that is their job. his exact words in support of this statement were "you don't get paid for tuition by asking the students how to solve problems right?"

right.

the issue here at hand is clear, and i will address it. decisions were made, such as the white paper initiative that shook the country. i will be using this as an example as it is current, interesting, a popular topic, and i want this to be short, succinct and precise to a point. a precaution must be taken prior to this, and i must warn whoever is reading that you may not like what you read here on out.

an aging population, an immense competition for work, the rising cost of living.. these are all issues to be dealt with. the population white paper (PWP) was intended as a solution, and to the best of our leaders' knowledge, the most viable solution. obviously, this view is contested by a vast majority of singaporeans. everyone knows this, because everyone hears it, and everyone speaks of it. it is hence popular opinion that the PWP is the problem. hell, the PAP is the problem, and a majority of the fault lies with our PM.

i fucking disrespectfully disagree.

the sordid truth is, dear singaporeans, that you are the problem. not all of you, of course, not those who see things for what they really are. the ones that i am talking about here are those who, bitch, whine, complain about everything and anything, but do nothing. i do not, cannot respect you, and i do not care for your disdain when you speak of your country and government.

the greatest cause for concern at hand is not really an aging population or any of the aforementioned hurdles our society has to overcome, but the attitude that many of you singaproeans have adopted towards your life here. singaporeans complain about "foreign invasion" causing rife, taking our childrens' slots in schools, taking our jobs, marrying our women, while the blatant fact you turn a blind eye to is that the people here have gotten less motivated to strive to be the best. you complain about taxes, the high cost of living, forgetting that development of a country comes at a cost as well. you bitch about blanket laws that grip our society, and put restrictions on so much, but forget that our young are safe guarded by the very same rules.

pointing the accusatory finger has become culture here simply because it is easier than fixing the problem. streets would be dirtier, more dangerous, if not for stringent laws that govern smoking, alcohol and drug intake, and littering. roads would be even more congested if not for road tax, import tax, the erp system and the high cost of vehicle ownership. the streets would be narrow, buildings dilapidated, factories old, and society backward if not for the tax that we all pay.

yes, living in this country is causes strain that we all feel. but what differentiates those successful and those just getting by is their motivation; a little something many singaporeans have ditched in favor of a stone to cast.

the solution to this problem, which is the underlying cause of every other one, is not something your government can slap a fine on, pass a referendum for, or impose a governing law upon. in fact, it's pretty much impossible to come outright and speak about to begin with, as telling a country that it's own people is the enemy is pretty much deemed a downright stupid thing to do. well the PAP may be too politically savvy (politically correct), to see it done but that is no concern of mine.

singaporeans, fix yourselves. fix your mindset, mentality and attitude before it infects the minds of the next generation and they are poisoned to anything that would otherwise promote growth of our country. leave your cock-stroking for something less detrimental to yourselves, leave your arrogance, conformity to popular opinion, and wake up your fucking idea. the first step to solving a problem is recognizing that there is one. lucky for you lot, you only need go as far as your mirror.

maybe then, we can talk about how to better tailor a answer to our economical, social, environmental and political challenges.

yours,
sarah t.