A government can only be judged by its effectiveness in governing....not by its policies.
This must be an about turn for me in my "anti-Kuan Yew-governing style". Truth be told, i would support even a government with socialistic policies if those policies do indeed work.
Allow me to explain before you start yapping (am going to assume you're an American reading this and is all gung-ho about protecting and upholding Democracy".
You see, as painful as it is for to say this, Singapore has got things right and Malaysia simply has not. Lets take education for instance. Back home we have like...ermm...20 or so universities? Out of which the top three so to speak are University Malaya(UM), University Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM) and University Teknologi Malaysia(UTM). If there are more, please enlighten me, because i don;t really care at the moment.
Private colleges and unis do not count.
These so called top three have world rankings as follow:
University Malaya - 192
University Kebangsaan Malaysia - 185
University Teknologi Malyaysia - not in the top 200....
Now, Singapore only has 4 major universities, and their world rankings are such:
National University of Singapore - 19
Nanyang Technological University - 61..lol, we have a lot of catching up to do...
Singapore Management University - no idea...management unis are not on the list....and its semi private.
World Engineering School Rankings
National University Of Singapore - 8 (ahead of Cal Tech and Carnegie Mellon)
Nanyang Technological University - 15 (ahead of Cornell, Georgia Tech and Princeton)
Links: Times Higher Education
World Engineering Rankings
And here's the thing...the government is still pumping in cash and setting up labs (I can get one here for myself if i have a good research project) and trying to draw in top researchers with bucketloads of cash.....
Its a rather bullish was of going about things, but hey...its got the unis somewhere....and i got to meet a few nobel laureates in the process......
Shall not digress aymore....
The reason i am feeling a bit supportive of Singapore at the moment is their meritocracy policy, particularly when it comes to education and career opportunities. Bottom line is, if you're good, you're in.
Its the reason the top students from the region, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia come here. STPM's top 3 scorers are here on scholarships......and what has Malaysia done to retain these brains?
NOTHING....not even a JPA scholarship with a bond period of 8 years with the government with shitty pay....as compared to singapore's paltry 3 years......with a PRIVATE company locally or a Singaporean based company overseas.......and we're talking about Malaysia's top pre-U students, not regular SPM scorers.
.....and i kid you not....the Indonesians are bloody brilliant. These are the chaps who come through accelerated programs and from special science education...by which i mean, these guys are trained and groomed for Physics, Math and Biology Olympiad competitions....and some of them are gold medal winners.....
Take this guy for example. Name's Edbert Jarvis Sie, from Indonesia. A Physics Olympiad competitor, and he's so bloody good at what he does, he started TA-ing (teaching assistant) a few physics classes in his 3rd and final year. Currently, he's made a research fellow (maybe an assistant research fellow, not too sure) and he TA's Quantum Mechanics classes for year 2 physics undergraduates.
These are the sort of people Singapore head-hunts and takes in, while their own nations don't give them the opportunities.
Truth be told, Kuan Yew politics is not democracy. The Lee family controls the main ruling party (common knowledge...not explicitly acknowledged), and Temasek Holdings is wealthy mainly due to Lee's political connections.......
But here's the thing, no politician is a Mother Theresa, a selfless sould working solely for the people. You want a leader like that....go to a monastery.
The issue here is, among all the politicians making a little on the side (a lot in Lee's case), Kuan Yew has given back the most to a nation. He has created within 50 years what Malaysia or any other country in the region has failed to do....
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......that is to create a country for the opportunist and the smart, where meritocracy is the way to go, where despite lack of much freedon of expression and stringent laws and censorship, one need not worry about the color of his skin nor his background in order to make it big....just a lot of brains and wit.....
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.....to create a nation with top notch education and brains.....
Singaporeans have a lot of complains, but i do urge you...take a step back, look beyond the censorship ad government control and look at what you have.....
A military research agency which has the smarts to come up with this......
Bionix 2-Armoured Fighting VechicleIn 50 years, Singapore has become a quality education hub, is poised to be a research hub, has a well connected public transport system, is drawing in brains from Asia and is one of the safest countries to walk about in...even at 2am in the morning.
They have an ongoing research into water technologies (a polite way of saying they turn what come out of you in the mornings to what you drink at night)....and this tech is being copied and used in the Middle East and Europe.
Not to mention they have caught up with Malaysia and are having a F1 race this Friday.
All this in 50 years!!!!!.....by one chap!!!!!
I am of opinion that Kuan Yew is dangerous. A guy who thinks he alone knows whats good for a nation and just carries out policies with disregard to citizen input into decision making is dangerous...but get this.....HE'S GOT THINGS RIGHT!!!!
And as painful as it is, i must admit, the same cannot be said of Malaysia or any other nation in the region for that matter. The closest we have was Mahatir, but even he could not do what Kuan Yew has done...and most of his development policies on focused on Selangor. Paltry and please don't give the bullshit reason that Singapore is waaay smaller. Size of a nation is poor excuse for lousy governance.
We may have more press freedom, but that is quickly disappearing....more explicitly these days with arrests of reporters and bloggers.....and the misuse of the ISA (Internal Security Act) the latest casualty being a man i respect for his outright way of speaking.....Raja Petra Kamarudin. Detained for 2 years WITHOUT trial.....just cos he's an anti-government blogger.
You know things are bad back home when everyone wants to vote for a chap who strikes me as smart.....yet has an air of dishonesty about him. Anwar my friends, may seem like a saviour at the moment, but i do not trust him 100% even though he does at the moment represent meritocracy and racial equality at the moment.
The general metality among young brains at the moment is to get out of Malaysia while the going is good. To seek opprtunity in a neighbour whose cash greased hands grasp ours warmly, offering us a smile of meritocracy and equality.
This is what we want which our homes have failed to provide.
Cheers and enjoy the week!
Matrix
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