A Pseudo Democracy? Real Choices? Or the choice to return to the DARK side?

Sunday evening prime time news on 5 can be quite a shocker.

Parents to decide what to do with school sessions? The choice is in their hands?

Residents to decide on how to invest Town Council sinking [would have been an excellent pun here] funds? With a veiled threat that if residents choose to invest in Fixed Deposits the funds could diminish in value due to inflation?

WOW! The sudden surge of the push of responsibility and decision making to the general public is GREAT!

I've been calling for it for the longest time. And now its finally beginning to happen.

Now Singaporeans old and young will have to start thinking critically!

This is an opportunity to make democracy work in the community. Or is it?

[As an aside, in the corporate world, when a sale is occuring it signifies only 2 things. One, there is nothing left to make and the market is dry. Two, the impending losses will be unbearable for the selling company thus the urge to hive off the business. There is no such thing as 'strategic posturing' or 'market consolidation.' Its all business school manure they've shovelled down students' throats for 4 years in the prime of their lives.]

Let's take a quick look AGAIN.

Why, why would the Ministry of Education now place the choice of school sessions in the hands of parents? The question for me is how big is that piece of turd that is going to float up in the next few years ...... could be be related to costing? Population explosion / implosion? Not enough or too many foreign students coming? Very interesting puzzle.

Why would Town Councils now allow residents to decide on which funds to invest their excess collections in? Well ... this piece of turd has already floated so. But is there more turd? AND IF residents do make the decisions then do we still need to keep the Town Council chiefs on the payroll? Would the axing of the TC chiefs yield a better return on investment (ROI) as well as return on assets (ROTA) since the chiefs now appear to be neither investments nor assets? And where do the MPs on these Town Councils stand on this issue? Is there some scapegoating going on?

Curious how the freedom to make decisions lead to more questions doesn't it?

The lack of answers is actually more telling!

Will the PAP then proclaim in the coming election that Singapore is even MORE democratic now that we have 'choices' when it comes to some facets of Education as well as the investment of Town Council funds? Is this truly democracy or pseudo democracy?

For me, the process is by far the more important. Thanks to whatever is happening behind the scenes to push these two pseudo democratic practices we will be forced to start making real decisions that will ultimately impact all of us collectively.

And while I feel a twinge of apology for those not accustomed to thinking critically or those who think 'politics are for those who have nothing better to do' I do believe this pain of learning - and there will be some horrendous mistakes along the way - will yield a better and stronger Singapore in the long run. If we don't collectively run back to the nanny's arms the first few times we fall down that is.

Or perhaps that is the strategy after all? Who knows?