yep happy new year to you tooI think you can think and still try to do something for your country. The quote isn't about blind loyalty, really.
The fuller quote from JFK (inaugaral speech) is actually: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
My takeaway from the quote is that it is an imploration for people to think beyond themselves and dedicate their lives to a greater good. The concept is loosely linked to the article I posted here: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/kopitiam/1223181-pursuit-happiness.html
I've said this many times and I'll say it again. If you really feel that Singapore is your home, and that you have some vested interest in it - do something today. It need not be big. It can be small. Think that the government isn't doing enough to reach to the less well-off? Make the effort, walk the talk, start an effort to help. Change doesn't always come about through some overnight revolution oft imagined that is the result of watching too many dramatic movies (e.g. Les Miserables). It can, and in many cases, starts small, through individual or small group efforts, before it grows and grows positively into something more beautiful and substantial.
Echoing the multitudes of criticism doesn't do much. Arguing on the Internet serves no one except perhaps yourself. You can do that to blow off steam, to express a POV. But do more. Otherwise it's just a load of hot air achieving nothing but a sense of having done something and effectively deceiving one's self.
Happy New Year to you, btw.
for me, it has to start with the first part, is Singapore really the place for you? A lot of people don't seem to have an answer to that yet, and a lot of them still searching.
If it is, how do you want it to be? Is it good for all of us? on goes the questions and considerations. then slowly you can move on to do stuff in small steps.
I believe our version of that Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country is "No one owes Singapore a living"
One consideration as to whether Singapore is for you or not would be, are the policies something you agree with (and do they make sense)? I'm still racking my brains over that. I still can't make head nor tail from the white paper what is the ideal population/growth.
However, this is the view that i subscribe to:
http://www2.smu.edu.sg/about_smu/images/documents/hokwanping/ST_20120117_1.pdf
I don't think the White Paper addresses these underlying issues yet.
I don't want to be in a nation where the policies might potentially hurt us as a country. The little stuff i try to do, can only affect so much, while theirs is more or less a game changer...
Last edited: