Will our neglect of democracy come back to haunt us?
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Chee Soon Juan
01 Nov 07
A few months after the 1997 Asian crisis began, I was invited to Sydney, Australia to give a talk. There, a reporter from the Straits Times asked me whether I felt that my views in Dare to Change (1994) had been vindicated by the advent of the economic meltdown and the problems that were developing in some of the Asian countries.
In Singapore itself, there were terrifying moments when bankruptcies were occurring at record-breaking rates, the stock market was in free-fall, and banks were recalling loans from desperate mortgagees.
It was tempting to say, "Yes, I told you so." The truth, however, was that those were not my views but the views of many people all over the world who could see that, without democracy, there could be no long-term stability.
How many of us, upon checking in to a hotel (especially if it is an expensive looking one), bother to find out where the emergency exits are, or for that matter, if they even exist at all?
Yet it could mean the difference between being a charred victim or a fortunate escapee if a fire broke out. This is one reason why fire escapes are essential to a building even though they may not be the first, or the most attractive, feature one sees when one steps into a building.
It would be unimaginable, however, for anybody to suggest that a building doesn't need an emergency exit, or worse, for an architect not to include one in his blueprint.
Democracy, like fire exits, is not immediately appreciated in the day-to-day functioning of society. It is only when crises strike that people begin to focus on the need to organise themselves and to be able to use the system to bring order and stability back to society.
At times like these, the opportunities and mechanisms that democracy provides for peaceful political transitions brings to the citizen what a fire exit brings to the desperate occupant trapped in an inferno.
Singaporeans, unfortunately, have been so busy focusing on accumulating material wealth that they have utterly and perilously neglected to construct the fire escape of democracy.
Just as no one misses fire exits when there isn't an emergency, few are concerned about democracy when society is not presented with an immediate challenge.
Remember that it was only a few years ago that the whole world stood in awe of the economic prowess of Asia. Few predicted the 1997 Asian financial crisis and fewer still anticipated the ensuing turmoil that engulfed the region.
Singaporeans should not be as imprudent as to presume that similar problems will not beset our country again in the future. The lack of a democratic system in situations of economic and political adversity could prove costly.
Our improvidence may come back to haunt us in ways we do not yet understand or expect. It is important, now more than ever, that Singaporeans take heed of economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's warning:
The security provided by democracy may not be much missed when a country is lucky enough to be facing no serious calamity, when everything is running along smoothly. But the danger of insecurity, arising from changes in the economic or other circumstances or from the uncorrected mistakes of policy, can lurk behind what looks like a healthy state.
I hope that I won't be asked again whether my views have been vindicated because the next time another economic crisis occurs, the outcome may not be as salvageable.
The above is an excerpt from Dr Chee Soon Juan's book Your Future, My Faith, Our Freedom: A Democratic Blueprint for Singapore (2001). -
Won't lah..... most S'porean plan to migrate ASAP anyway...... won't stay in S'pore long enough to wait for the HAUNTING.....
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here's the thing.. while the whole world seems to clamour for democracy as a knee-jerk action, some are already questioning the need for democracy as it is practised today in our world..
democracy of some sort is being practised in the US.. where the candidates for the elections seem to be dependent on how much money the candidates can raise...
here in Singapore, as much as people rant and rage about the 'lack of democracy', it must be said that even after all the gerrymandering of the MIW, the opposition has managed to come up with a few able, a few almost able, and a lot of clowns...
they can't even make up the number to stand without numerous walkovers...
then you see a bunch of whingers bellyaching... if you don't turn up for the dance, don't complain that your dance card is empty!
and the people too.. democracy has a lot of responsibilities.. are the people ready or willing to bear the responsibilities? are the people willing to shoulder the consequences of their decisions?
the world looks at the Swiss.. where all decisions are made through a vote.. already, there are cracks showing when the 'black sheep kicked out by white sheep' ads are causing stirrings of social unhappiness...
then there's the democracy of places like India where mayhem abounds...
somehow, we have to find our own way.. our own brand of democracy.. or something else... something which works for us... not some academic stuff thought up by people divorced from reality...
the opposition has a part to play in it, if only they show up, and run with the ball... and not bellyache about fumbling it and blaming it on everything else except themselves..
so far, people like CSJ seem to think his own fart doesn't stink and it was the MIW which planted the gas in his intestines...
that's conduct unbecoming of a person, let alone someone who purports to 'lead' the people.. yet is unable to garner enough support from the people who see through his charade..
get over it.. get on with it.. serve the people..
maybe, just maybe, he'll get some support and gain some credibility where he has none... -
Surely, your seemingly-limited wisdom should yield a Nobel Prize?Originally posted by the Bear:here's the thing.. while the whole world seems to clamour for democracy as a knee-jerk action, some are already questioning the need for democracy as it is practised today in our world..
democracy of some sort is being practised in the US.. where the candidates for the elections seem to be dependent on how much money the candidates can raise...
here in Singapore, as much as people rant and rage about the 'lack of democracy', it must be said that even after all the gerrymandering of the MIW, the opposition has managed to come up with a few able, a few almost able, and a lot of clowns...
they can't even make up the number to stand without numerous walkovers...
then you see a bunch of whingers bellyaching... if you don't turn up for the dance, don't complain that your dance card is empty!
and the people too.. democracy has a lot of responsibilities.. are the people ready or willing to bear the responsibilities? are the people willing to shoulder the consequences of their decisions?
the world looks at the Swiss.. where all decisions are made through a vote.. already, there are cracks showing when the 'black sheep kicked out by white sheep' ads are causing stirrings of social unhappiness...
then there's the democracy of places like India where mayhem abounds...
somehow, we have to find our own way.. our own brand of democracy.. or something else... something which works for us... not some academic stuff thought up by people divorced from reality...
the opposition has a part to play in it, if only they show up, and run with the ball... and not bellyache about fumbling it and blaming it on everything else except themselves..
so far, people like CSJ seem to think his own fart doesn't stink and it was the MIW which planted the gas in his intestines...
that's conduct unbecoming of a person, let alone someone who purports to 'lead' the people.. yet is unable to garner enough support from the people who see through his charade..
get over it.. get on with it.. serve the people..
maybe, just maybe, he'll get some support and gain some credibility where he has none...
For all your criticisms of the US and Switzerland (societies whose economy, political and social fabrics are far more robust than this regime's) founded on knowledge amassed from sources enjoying the rights of a free press (it would hardly surprise me if you didn't even realise the sources that fed you with the ammunition to criticise countries far more successful than this regime are founded on principles you regard to be dispensable and secondary to bread-and-butter issues), your beloved regime must surely be a paradise on earth for all its ills are not documented in a press ranked 141st for press freedom.
Maybe, just maybe, North Korea might prove to be an even finer utopia given the even further dearth of insights available on its inadequacies. At the very least, I'm sure Kim and gang goes to great lengths to ensure your ignorance is self-sustaining and they'd be more than willing to help you live in self-denial...
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free press???
a free press that stole an election for Dubbya..
think about it.. find out.. who is being myopic here?
i've asked about how democracy is being practised around the world, and all you can do is come up with this??
seriously.. do you even KNOW that people are asking questions about democracy.. the most participative types which the swiss have?
sometimes, it comes back to this: just coz everyone says so, does it mean i have to do it?
i can disagree... and isn't that the premise of freedom and democracy?
i disagree with you.. but i'm not allowed to in your form of democracy, is it?
i can't say that CSJ is a charlatan that he is... it's not your form of democracy either right?
believe what you will.. we sure as hell ain't gettin' no Nobel Prizes anyhow -
You're either hopelessly myopic or naively stupid to make such sweeping statements.Originally posted by the Bear:free press???
a free press that stole an election for Dubbya..
think about it.. find out.. who is being myopic here?
i've asked about how democracy is being practised around the world, and all you can do is come up with this??
Lest your intellect does not permit your comprehension of the 2000 debacle, while the GOP-leaning press did call the elections in favour of Bush in Florida prior to the official release of results, you may wish to know that did not decide the presidential race as you had been mistakenly led to believe.
It was the question of the hole-punching issue on ascertaining the confusion of the voter's intent that had been casted - which was eventually decided 5-4 in Bush's favour by the US Supreme Court in "Bush v Gore" that the Florida electoral procedure should stand - which led to the eventual Bush victory. By all accounts, the lawyers running the roost for the Democrats in the campaign didn't put up a very strong case, but that's story for another day.
Now, maybe you would like to shed some light on the sort of drivel you could "come up with" to even back your nonsensical polemics about the press not being free? At the very least, you are not deprived of gaining access to a press inundated with opinions that give Dubya a run for his money, are you? More importantly, you don't see frivolous libel suits being thrown around, do you?
Well, by your warped logic founded on concepts comprehensible to the insane and delusional, you surely must be unaware of the need for reasonable causes and doubts for your hypothesis to stand, are you? After all, why don't you make a case for you having the right to murder someone and expect to get away scot-free on the basis that you're doing something "everyone else" isn't doing? Surely, you must deserve a pat on your back for having the guts to be different just for the sake of doing so.Originally posted by the Bear:seriously.. do you even KNOW that people are asking questions about democracy.. the most participative types which the swiss have?
sometimes, it comes back to this: just coz everyone says so, does it mean i have to do it?
i can disagree... and isn't that the premise of freedom and democracy?
i disagree with you.. but i'm not allowed to in your form of democracy, is it?
i can't say that CSJ is a charlatan that he is... it's not your form of democracy either right?
believe what you will.. we sure as hell ain't gettin' no Nobel Prizes anyhow :lol
Sure, you're entitled to disagree with me and call CSJ a charlatan. That's freedom of speech and expression just as I'm every bit entitled to label you an idiot of the highest order which I regard to be an apt and appropriate description of you. After all, I'm sure your intellect isn't exactly empowered sufficiently to raise a reasonable doubt on the basis of my assessment to warrant a credible challenge of my judgment (go over the difference why blind assertion of authority doesn't work in the case of someone wanting to commit muder for the sake of being different and you might be better able to comprehend what exactly constitutes press freedom - just maybe).