Hi Chan Chun Sing, let me tell you #IAmAFailure by your standards. Now I don’t have a problem with you having a problem with Chee Soon Juan because he is your political opponent. I do however, have a problem with your definition of success because that affects the rest of us.
I am not an army general. I am not well liked by my peers, certainly not enough to be elected into a central executive committee of any kind. I can’t speak my dialect because of you-know-whose-policy so I can’t eloquently ask my fellow hokkienpengs to #keechiu. I am an entrepreneur running a business that seems like it’s stuck in startup mode, that won best website in Asia, in a competition that is not run by SPH or MediaCorp awarding prizes to itself. But oh well, since local media never picked up this story (since I beat all of them), I guess that is deemed a failure by you too.
I am not an engineer, doctor or lawyer paying high taxes that this government loves. I did not study abroad as a government scholar so that effectively means I am out of the system.
But guess what, the reality of Singapore today is this: Most of us are not IN THE SYSTEM and that includes 2nd, 3rd generation Singaporeans as well as new citizens. This coveted system of yours. Most of us are stuck in this rat race that we don’t want to be in. We don’t want shopping malls in every housing estate, raising rents high so local businesses are squeezed out of existence. Give me the Tiong Bahru before the hipsters took over. Most of us don’t ascribe to the milestones that an older generation thought was necessary to propel us to 1st world status. Most of us want to manage our own savings ourselves into old age — even if it is to splurge on a tour around the world in 80 days, then come home to starve to death. So be it, that is our choice, not one decided by someone else more “successful” than us.
Anyways, long story short: You’re lucky I don’t live in Tanjong Pagar. I would still vote for Lee Kuan Yew but I certainly wouldn’t vote for you.
You need to learn what it feels like to fail, before you know how to lead the people.
Kien Lee
Source: www.therealsingapore.com
