Hi all!
I've just recovered from work trauma during today's Hari Raya Holiday when I came to read on the article in the Strait Times about this AMK's MP daughter making a name of herself in bloggerdom. This Wee Shu Min gal, aiyo...I tell you, if you never read, must take time to read lah....it's a case of
buying a pc: $2K
writing a blog entry: 30 minutes
writing with your full name in your entry, dragging your dad's name through mud, demarcated a country into the elite and stoopid and create a news furore at the same time: priceless
OK in order to be fair, here's the one article that started it all. This is by Derek Wee:
**********************************************
By Derek Wee
Oct 12, 2006
When I read the Straits Times article (dated 24 Sep) on PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference to Singapore, I have so much thought about the issue.
I am 35 years old, graduated from University and gainfully employed in a multinational company. But I cannot help but feel insecure over the future of Singapore. Lets face it, it’s not uncommon to hear, “when you are above 40, you are over the hill”.
The government has been stressing on re-training, skills upgrading and re-adapt. The fact is, no matter how well qualified or adaptable one is, once you hit the magical 40, employers will say, “you are simply too old”.
We have been focusing our resources and problem solving on low unskilled labour. But in reality, our managerial positions and skilled labour force are actually fast losing its competitiveness.
I travel around the region frequently for the past 10 years. It didn’t take me long to realise how far our neighbours have come over the past decade.
They have quality skilled workers, and are less expensive. When I work with them, their analytical skills are equally good, if not better than us.
It’s not new anymore. Taxi drivers are fast becoming “too early to retire, too old to work” segment of the society. I like to talk to taxi drivers whenever I am heading for the airport.
There was this driver. Eloquent and well read. He was an export manager for 12 years with an MNC. Retrenched at 40 years old. He had been searching for a job since his retrenchment.
Although he was willing to lower his pay expectations, employers were not willing to lower their prejudice. He was deemed too old. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have another No. 1; having the most highly educated taxi drivers in the world.
On PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference. Look around us. How dedicated can we be to Singapore when we can visualise what’s in store for us after we turned 40? Then again, how committed are employers to us? But we can’t blame them. They have bottom lines & shareholders’ gain to answer to.
Onus is really on the government to revamp the society. A society that is not a pressure cooker. A society that does not mirror so perfectly, what survival of the fittest is.
But a society, where it’s people can be committed, do their best and not having to fear whether they will still wake up employed tomorrow. Sadly, Singapore does not offer such luxuries and security anymore.
On the issue of babies. The government encourages us to pro-create. The next generation is essential in sustaining our competitive edge. Then again, the current market condition is such that our future has become uncertain. There is no more joy in having babies anymore; they have become more of a liability. It’s really a chicken and egg issue.
Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left. It’s what MM Goh called “quitters”. It’s sad but true, Singapore no longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and retire graciously. It’s really the push factor.
A future is something we sweat it out, build and call our own. Unfortunately, people like me, mid 30’s going on 40’s, staying put by choice or otherwise, we can’t help but feel what lies ahead is really a gamble.
To PM Lee and the Ministers, we are on a different platform. Until you truly understand our insecurity, the future of Singapore to me remains a question mark.
**************************************************
So ok hor? Not too heavy, I hope? Now here's the reply from the zarbor:
**************************************************
mom’s friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the pool of foreign “talent” (dismissively chucked between inverted commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he didn’t say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the reason why no one wants kids is that they’re a liability in this world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save us from inevitable doom but they aren’t because they are stick-shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works, yadayadayadayada.
i am inclined - too much, perhaps - to dismiss such people as crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often singaporeans - both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned socialites - kid themselves into believing that our society, like most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.
sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.
derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?
if you’re not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that’s just how things go. there’s no point in lambasting the government for making our society one that is, i quote, “far too survival of fittest”. it’s the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other people over you, it’s because they’re better. it’s so sad when people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if uncertainty of success offends you so much - you will certainly be poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully, which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.
then again, it’s easy for me to say. my future isn’t certain but i guess right now it’s a lot brighter than most people’s. derek will read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it’s only sad when people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?
i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner’s, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it’s not even about being a road sweeper. these ****bags don’t want anything without “manager” and a name card.
please, get out of my elite uncaring face.
posted at 12:08 PM
And here was her public apology on one of the blogs that were discussing her entry :
i apologise if i have distressed you with my tendency to rant. while i will not dispute some of the points you make in response to what i have written, i would like to bring to your attention the fact that the post in question was never meant to be a cogent response to the specific points raised in derek wee’s article. it is, quite obviously, a rant in the heat of the moment. in addition, i don’t believe that my blog has the wide readership of derek wee’s, or even your own, and my intention was more to vent my own frustrations than public denouncement.
i’d also like to clarify my use of the word “elite”. while i understand how misinterpretation may have arose, i intended to use it in irony, as a label that people assume i enjoy, and not one that i take particular pleasure in.
finally, i admit that i was harsher than i should have been, although the the crux of my belief in self-improvement and self-determination has not changed. once again, i apologise if my words have unintentionally offended you - i was under the rather naive impression that nobody reads my blog
*************************************************************
Hey, the purpose of this entry today is not to add oil to the frying pan liao, I think she's doing a good job of it so far trying to set herself on fire.
I just want to say that her dad? that AMK MP? Yup, he also 'elite' hor, Raffles all the way, then Stanford and yadda.
Guess where she got all her teachings, inspiration, social conscience from? Yup, no need to be aghast at the daugther when its the Dad and the Family who brought her up. This is called mei you jia jiao. Confirm its because Papa like that, daughter also like that.
Some one's paying the price for his actions and it's certainly not Derek Wee.
And to all those scholarship hopefuls out there, perhaps you should be glad you did not get in, because- can you imagine the type of people you might meet? and the type of personality erosion you might suffer?
Buddha Forbid.
Haiz.....I fear for Singapore.
OUT!
AKK
I've just recovered from work trauma during today's Hari Raya Holiday when I came to read on the article in the Strait Times about this AMK's MP daughter making a name of herself in bloggerdom. This Wee Shu Min gal, aiyo...I tell you, if you never read, must take time to read lah....it's a case of
buying a pc: $2K
writing a blog entry: 30 minutes
writing with your full name in your entry, dragging your dad's name through mud, demarcated a country into the elite and stoopid and create a news furore at the same time: priceless
OK in order to be fair, here's the one article that started it all. This is by Derek Wee:
**********************************************
By Derek Wee
Oct 12, 2006
When I read the Straits Times article (dated 24 Sep) on PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference to Singapore, I have so much thought about the issue.
I am 35 years old, graduated from University and gainfully employed in a multinational company. But I cannot help but feel insecure over the future of Singapore. Lets face it, it’s not uncommon to hear, “when you are above 40, you are over the hill”.
The government has been stressing on re-training, skills upgrading and re-adapt. The fact is, no matter how well qualified or adaptable one is, once you hit the magical 40, employers will say, “you are simply too old”.
We have been focusing our resources and problem solving on low unskilled labour. But in reality, our managerial positions and skilled labour force are actually fast losing its competitiveness.
I travel around the region frequently for the past 10 years. It didn’t take me long to realise how far our neighbours have come over the past decade.
They have quality skilled workers, and are less expensive. When I work with them, their analytical skills are equally good, if not better than us.
It’s not new anymore. Taxi drivers are fast becoming “too early to retire, too old to work” segment of the society. I like to talk to taxi drivers whenever I am heading for the airport.
There was this driver. Eloquent and well read. He was an export manager for 12 years with an MNC. Retrenched at 40 years old. He had been searching for a job since his retrenchment.
Although he was willing to lower his pay expectations, employers were not willing to lower their prejudice. He was deemed too old. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have another No. 1; having the most highly educated taxi drivers in the world.
On PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference. Look around us. How dedicated can we be to Singapore when we can visualise what’s in store for us after we turned 40? Then again, how committed are employers to us? But we can’t blame them. They have bottom lines & shareholders’ gain to answer to.
Onus is really on the government to revamp the society. A society that is not a pressure cooker. A society that does not mirror so perfectly, what survival of the fittest is.
But a society, where it’s people can be committed, do their best and not having to fear whether they will still wake up employed tomorrow. Sadly, Singapore does not offer such luxuries and security anymore.
On the issue of babies. The government encourages us to pro-create. The next generation is essential in sustaining our competitive edge. Then again, the current market condition is such that our future has become uncertain. There is no more joy in having babies anymore; they have become more of a liability. It’s really a chicken and egg issue.
Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left. It’s what MM Goh called “quitters”. It’s sad but true, Singapore no longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and retire graciously. It’s really the push factor.
A future is something we sweat it out, build and call our own. Unfortunately, people like me, mid 30’s going on 40’s, staying put by choice or otherwise, we can’t help but feel what lies ahead is really a gamble.
To PM Lee and the Ministers, we are on a different platform. Until you truly understand our insecurity, the future of Singapore to me remains a question mark.
**************************************************
So ok hor? Not too heavy, I hope? Now here's the reply from the zarbor:
**************************************************
mom’s friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the pool of foreign “talent” (dismissively chucked between inverted commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he didn’t say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the reason why no one wants kids is that they’re a liability in this world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save us from inevitable doom but they aren’t because they are stick-shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works, yadayadayadayada.
i am inclined - too much, perhaps - to dismiss such people as crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often singaporeans - both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned socialites - kid themselves into believing that our society, like most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.
sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.
derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?
if you’re not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that’s just how things go. there’s no point in lambasting the government for making our society one that is, i quote, “far too survival of fittest”. it’s the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other people over you, it’s because they’re better. it’s so sad when people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if uncertainty of success offends you so much - you will certainly be poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully, which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.
then again, it’s easy for me to say. my future isn’t certain but i guess right now it’s a lot brighter than most people’s. derek will read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it’s only sad when people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?
i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner’s, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it’s not even about being a road sweeper. these ****bags don’t want anything without “manager” and a name card.
please, get out of my elite uncaring face.
posted at 12:08 PM
And here was her public apology on one of the blogs that were discussing her entry :
i apologise if i have distressed you with my tendency to rant. while i will not dispute some of the points you make in response to what i have written, i would like to bring to your attention the fact that the post in question was never meant to be a cogent response to the specific points raised in derek wee’s article. it is, quite obviously, a rant in the heat of the moment. in addition, i don’t believe that my blog has the wide readership of derek wee’s, or even your own, and my intention was more to vent my own frustrations than public denouncement.
i’d also like to clarify my use of the word “elite”. while i understand how misinterpretation may have arose, i intended to use it in irony, as a label that people assume i enjoy, and not one that i take particular pleasure in.
finally, i admit that i was harsher than i should have been, although the the crux of my belief in self-improvement and self-determination has not changed. once again, i apologise if my words have unintentionally offended you - i was under the rather naive impression that nobody reads my blog
*************************************************************
Hey, the purpose of this entry today is not to add oil to the frying pan liao, I think she's doing a good job of it so far trying to set herself on fire.
I just want to say that her dad? that AMK MP? Yup, he also 'elite' hor, Raffles all the way, then Stanford and yadda.
Guess where she got all her teachings, inspiration, social conscience from? Yup, no need to be aghast at the daugther when its the Dad and the Family who brought her up. This is called mei you jia jiao. Confirm its because Papa like that, daughter also like that.
Some one's paying the price for his actions and it's certainly not Derek Wee.
And to all those scholarship hopefuls out there, perhaps you should be glad you did not get in, because- can you imagine the type of people you might meet? and the type of personality erosion you might suffer?
Buddha Forbid.
Haiz.....I fear for Singapore.
OUT!
AKK
18 comments:
Succint and humourous comments. One reaps what one sows. I think Senior Wee should just apologise sincerely for her daughter's uncalled for comments, instead of a justified apology. A MP (communal leader) should have self-confidence but at the same time must show compassion for the people. His statement did not give the impression. Instead arrogance may be appropriate. Will he be where he is without the votes from the heartlanders? Can he just depend on the elitists?
We read that the PAP MPs are given training prior to their stint. Perhaps their kids need to be trained too !
[tongue in cheek]
Folks, don't whine about the shortfall of our education system. This is a great example of getting supplementary education, and it's free !
Elitism 101
Learning Objective : At the end of this short, but intensive course, you'll learn the definition of an elite and get some practical experience of being labelled as one.
Method : Post an honest response of how you feel about a fellow blogger's gripes about living in Singapore and claim to be an elite.
Tuition : Read all the blogs and responses to your post.
Results : Ask daddy. It seems that the conclusion in this case is that the lessons are very good.
your comments are humourous but to the point .... one needle see blood. good post.
if i were the father, ill be very embarrassed of my idiotic daughter who is a snob and probably think she is an 'elite'.
serves her right for being blamed and all. she should. such 'atas' behaviour disgusts me.
she should be spat on.
Funny how most of the folks who commented earlier are anonymous. Hmm...
Anyway, this is a classic case of a Republican vs a Democrat. One school called for working hard in order to reap your rewards while the other calls for the need of a social safety net.
While both have their valid merits, I would say that either side would be better off applying it with a bit more empathy and compassion.
Unfortunately for Ms Wee, this is sorely lacking and the "kick in the balls" is that she is exactly the type of "sinners who will inherit the country".
Before you bitch about how Singapore's future is doomed with this type of people expecting to be ushered in via the back door (can you say GRC?) to take over the reins of our Gahmen, let me tell you this. We are already doomed even as we speak coz the folks in the gahmen at present are already this kind liao.
Ayah, the Republicans and the Democrats have no true difference, besides I dislike the US political scene anyway. Too dichotomic.
Anyhow, I think it was PM Lee's comments that started it all. Imagine! ;-)
Really, because it's people observing the people who slam Shu Min who attacked Derek who is cynical about Lee's comments.
It takes all kind of people to form a community. Nothing right or wrong with individual points-of-view.
OK. Now let us all rise and recite The Pledge together..........
isn't it amazing the degree of arrogance some people (read: elite >.<) can achieve and not give a rat's ass about others? She deserves a prize for having so much arrogance that the world could sink in it. -.-
i wonder if she would feel the same way if she was replaced by someone better than her? -.-
ha... classic example of great upbringing of a typical singaporean.
to achieve the results that the gahmen wanted, we forgo humanity and moral obligations. that's why nowadays pple get axed 'cuz they can't catch up with the rat race, and those rats are those who call themselves elite.
Oh well, it's just a game altogether. In the end, what goes around comes around: there's always a better 'elite' than the other... no mountain is forever the HIGHEST.
Singapore is really on the way to destruction at this rate 'cuz basically the people sucked in characters. it's sad and shameful, but it's a hard truth. thanks for this great elite, they just prove me so damn right. :)
Dear anon:
ayay, you mind writing a nick? otherwise i keep thinking they are all from the same person. kam siah. 3rd anon quite funny.
ice:
kam siah
nad:
actually her papa same pattern one...
jay:
i hope not all leh....
John:
that's the way it should be, that something so major should be raised from an appropriate source like this.
ah fatt's fan:
er...i have to disagree that there is no right or wrong. Individual opinions can be wrong also. since we are in a society, then it is the societal opinion which will be deemed correct. In this case, elitism is a minority vote.
ensui:
she'll probably blame everything else but herself.
Opinion do not have right or wrong until it is translated into action. There is a definitive consequence to an action, thus we can termed it as right or wrong. However, an opinion is merely a point of view. And nobody have the right to term an opinion right or wrong unless he/she can stand in exactly the other party point of view. Thus, i only rate an opinion as different, but not wrong.
haiz. let her tok like that lor. sure got kharma one.
when she loses her backing, see how she tok lor.
Stay humble so you won't stumble. It's obviously a value that Shumin's laopeh didn't impart to her. Reading her comments doesn't make my blood boil. It just saddens me to know that there are such myopic, uncaring and naive young people out there. I hope it's just because she is young that she is speaking through her arse. I came from a reputable school, had a Gahmen scholarship (an elite one, if I may add), worked overseas and yet, I share Derek Wee's views. Again, maybe, it will be a matter of time before our arrogant bitch ... I mean friend (Shumin to be specific) will grow up and empathise with the views of those who've had more experience in life.
spinnee:
actually most of our thoughts of the gov't is correct, it really bites that while the majority thinks so, the minority (ie gov't) doesn't. now, that bites.
ah fatt's fan:
ah..before we start to engage in a battle of different opinions. will you agree that certain opinions shouldn't even be said, for fear of causing a tremendous backlash? take for example, that convicted criminals have the opinion that rape of women and children are what they deserved and purely the rights of men? that God forgives those who kill and take innocent lives to achieve a goal, ie Osama? do you really want to wait until 2 whole towers have indeed collasped or a 6-yr-old child submitted to brutal rape and torture before you take action since the felons have taken theirs already? You see, this is the normal SOP that policemen used to go by. they only come when things have already happened. but now, would you say that after 9-11, sercurity now includes a steady surveillance of those who express certain opinions that don't adhere to proper society? so would you agree that opinions are now seen almost similar to premediated action and thus these opinions are regarded closely? so, meaning presently that opinions do come in rights and wrongs?
perhaps in this issue, opinions are too trivial to be termed right or wrong and you are rite, it's just a different opinion voiced in the worst way possible. but I still believe that opinions, other than different, can still be wrong also. but of cos, I accept your differing views on this concept. we each have our own. :)
V_icks:
that's not flaming and you know it lah...chey...
adrenaline:
heheheh....nah...this is just a piece of news I picked up, I'm not worried (ok, a bit), just that she is really either very super thick-skinned or her IQ is not there at all, altho she is a scholar.
meepok:
so sorry, I'm suddenly afraid to hear the word 'elite' already. I fear its original definition must have eroded far too much, like the word 'scholar'. I believe only Singapore uses these 2 words like slang in their normal lingo. A prestigious scholarship lah, not elite, would you say? elite make me think of snotty noses and pointing pinkies when handling a teacup.
comment a bit late here.
Everyone had their say but I don't quite understand the hoo haa that was generated. It is just a rant by a little 18 year old kid. Say whatever you want, she is entitled to say her say. Her words are harsh and arrogant but I don't understand why the majority of Singaporeans have to put her down so much with so many comments.
I rather agree with what she is saying because Derek is very typical singaporeans, always wanting the government to do something. I am in my mid-forties and can be retrenched anytime and I have a family to feed - I never once thought I am living with an insecure future.
simple man:
i believe the hoo-haa is the big upset she has caused people by her attitude and ruthlessness in her execution of her words. And that she is considered one of Singapore's best by Singapore Gov't own system of categorising. U know? Like a mini-hitler? We are considered a meritocratic society, everything should be analysed by performance in all areas. But our gov't screens for academic merit, which is not enough. The scholars they choose think they are the best, but are they? And do they have the right/experience to put down others?
personally i feel what wee shumin has said is not completely wrong-maybe just the way way she had put it was quite harsh. the word "elite" could have been used simply to differentiate between the "smarter" people and those who are not as intellectualy capable.certainly self-improvement is important to survive in today's society as one's capability often determines his or her future.but this action-instead-of-complaints belief does not mean discrimination for those with a lower level of education or rather whom she dimmed "sadder class".
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