Thank My Lucky Stars or Not?

The NUS department of Political Science would do well to pay attention to the international spats created by MM Lee. It is highly instructive in how not to conduct diplomacy. Any student at GWU would tell you that as well, much less other schools which conduct courses on diplomacy.

But let's go back a little in time. Was it not just a few months ago, prior to Singapore's General Election where PM Lee basically told the Australians how to run their country?

So they say in statistics, once is an occurence, two can be a coincidence, three is typically a trend.

Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia makes three.

So why thank my lucky stars? December 1999 I applied for a position with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went for three rounds of interviews and was, fortunately today, rejected. I would not have the face or the know how to placate our neighbours who are far larger then us. I do not even know if placating them would be the right thing to do since such irresponsible words are uttered with nary a thought on the political fallout. And I certainly do not want to do an Adlai Stevenson or be done into an Adlai Stevenson situation wherein an internationally respected and upright diplomat is called upon to essentialy lie for his country due to the lack of information provided. Nor do I wish this on any of our many fine and distinguished diplomats of today. But, good luck to all of you!

And hey, is not Minister George Yeo, our Foreign Affairs Minister the right person to address these issues since these are international relations issues? And Second Minister Raymond Lim? So why the silence? Autarky? Or as the locals prefer .... bo chi?

Are these really the men to lead Singapore into the future where our economy is growing ever more closely tied to the international and regional economies? And wither those who support these men?

Has common sense and simple manners gone out the window with each successive electoral victory, never mind how it was achieved, scored? Can we then blame our fellow citizens for the boorish behaviour so often lamented about in the offline and online forums?

To top it off, the silence on the status of OUR national investments in Thailand is curious.

Makes me wonder if I should really thank my lucky stars or not.

While the MSM (mainstream media) is going on and on about how much fun our neighbours are having discussing remarks made by our elder statesman I have not seen any real debate or discussion in the same media on how we Singaporeans feel.

Is there something being hidden? Some other bad news which has been conveniently tucked away into an obscure column in an obscure page while the headlines rage on? What of our money in Shin Corp? What of the economy and what is happening here and now? The untimely demise of some other mega company which Temasek bought into? Mind you these are questions, not aspersions.

For the sheer hell of it I went to apply for a taxi driver's vocational licence today. If and when I do pass I hope to someday drive a taxi to understand what is really going on in the taxi industry.

There were some 50 people who were to be 'interviewed.' I asked around and found out that that is the average daily number who are slated for interviews. Every working day 50 Singaporeans are applying to be taxi drivers. Lost job? Cannot be re-employed? Employment of last resort?

Compare this to headline news barely a month ago where the papers were screaming about unprecendented low unemployment rates? About how employers were upbeat and planning to employ more and more? More Singaporeans or more foreigners is my first question here.

If one bothers to scan through all Saturday recruit sections for a year or so one may realize that many Governmental and quasi-governmental bodies are constantly looking out for the same positions. I wonder why? To make the job market look good? Turnover too high because working conditions are ridiculous (8am to 11pm at some former stat boards where I have friends who are bonded? family time?) or because Singaporeans are too spoiled?

I don't have the real answer. It could be a mix of factors. All of the above and more. But it remains that what I see today at the Singapore Taxi Academy is telling to me in more ways then one.

Every working day 50 Singaporeans apply to be taxi drivers. 200 working days a year works out to 10,000 Singaporeans a year applying to be taxi drivers. Probably a piddling percentage are folk like me today. Is the local economy really ok? Is Singapore really ok?

Edit: Kelvin, thanks for writing in. Even if I discount 50% of the taxi applicants as repeat applicants we still get 5,000 Singaporeans a year applying to be taxi drivers. Still a large number by any measure going forward into the future. No other industry, including today's civil service has that many job openings in a year every year.