Keep Singapore out
Amri RahayatPublished: Dec 19, 2000 5:40 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
...of heated debates on the state of our own affairs.
Time and time again, the poor country gets dragged in when some ignorant idiot feels compelled to present an "obvious example" of how fair or unfair Malaysia is.
One problem they have not considered is just how similar is Singapore to us, really? Sure, we started off from a common ground. But that was 30 years ago. And even then Singapore was already well ahead of Malaysia in general, mainly due to its preferred status under British rule.
Today, Singapore is internationally acknowledged as a developed country. So let's give credit where it is due, and take our hats off to that country's leaders.
After all, taking a tiny island without natural resources in the 1960s, when there was no such thing as a virtual Internet economy, and turning it into the economic powerhouse it is today is no mean feat.
Oh, and that often quoted "problem" of the oppression of the indigenous Malays by the ruling Chinese? That's their internal issue. So let the Singapore Malays themselves do something about it.
What, are we going to go there and help them solve it, too? When our own back-ends are still so much exposed here?
That's to say there is a problem to be solved in the first place. Has any of them come knocking on your door asking for help? If so, then do as much as you can. If not, maybe it's because they don't have a problem in the first place.
Agreed, due to the common ground we share, Singapore is a useful benchmark for our own progress. But let not our own insecurities drive us to whack that very benchmark, when it did not ask to be used in the first place.
Time and time again, the poor country gets dragged in when some ignorant idiot feels compelled to present an "obvious example" of how fair or unfair Malaysia is.
One problem they have not considered is just how similar is Singapore to us, really? Sure, we started off from a common ground. But that was 30 years ago. And even then Singapore was already well ahead of Malaysia in general, mainly due to its preferred status under British rule.
Today, Singapore is internationally acknowledged as a developed country. So let's give credit where it is due, and take our hats off to that country's leaders.
After all, taking a tiny island without natural resources in the 1960s, when there was no such thing as a virtual Internet economy, and turning it into the economic powerhouse it is today is no mean feat.
Oh, and that often quoted "problem" of the oppression of the indigenous Malays by the ruling Chinese? That's their internal issue. So let the Singapore Malays themselves do something about it.
What, are we going to go there and help them solve it, too? When our own back-ends are still so much exposed here?
That's to say there is a problem to be solved in the first place. Has any of them come knocking on your door asking for help? If so, then do as much as you can. If not, maybe it's because they don't have a problem in the first place.
Agreed, due to the common ground we share, Singapore is a useful benchmark for our own progress. But let not our own insecurities drive us to whack that very benchmark, when it did not ask to be used in the first place.
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