Wednesday, August 25, 2004 :::
was helping my bro to do homework..write a newspaper article review on the recent national day rally speech. i didn't watch the speech, and all my information was from the papers. and this is what i finally wrote.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his augural National Day
Rally speech to his people, comes across as a leader well-trained and
well-prepared by his predecessors, yet with an approach distinctively
unique from them.
Just sworn in a mere ten days before delivering the speech, he
could have tailored his speech just to reiterate the positive effects
the recovering economy would have on Singapore and constantly give
assurance of the nation's long term economic viability. However, he
only gave scant mention on the economy and policies, but more
impressionably he did not shy away from discussing any of the more
persistent problems, and from political apathy to education woes to
casino considerations, he made mention and gave his analysis, not
fearing backlash from the people.
His focus on problems and seeking out solutions was also
refreshing, filled with interesting anecdotes from his personal
experience about Singaporeans and their idiosyncrasies. Through these
relations, he painted a tongue-in-cheek caricature of a typical
Singaporean - more haste, less speed, and too efficient to try to do
something in a new way. And this focus will be crucial in this stage
of the nation's growth as the previous two PM have done their part by
first building the nation and then building ties and relationships,
now will be the time to push towards the frontier and break existing
barriers.
The way PM Lee dealt with the issue of the pending casino
construction in Singapore is also a big hint on how the Government
will act and respond to various issues in the future. PM Lee himself
had said that proposal for the casino had come up in the past, but it
was turned down time and time again without much due consideration for
it. But now, it seems that the Government has given much thought on
issues it had previously said no to, and have begun to try things that
they would not have inclined to. In the case of the casino, the
Government is now not saying no, but focusing in minimising the bane
effects involved and looking into the merits of the boon factors, a
trait that is now evidently reflected in PM Lee and his new team of
leaders.
In all, the National Day Rally speech had been a surprise of sorts,
not only relaxing policies on the surface, but also giving the people
a indepth preview into how the new Government will work, the PM's
focus, his proposed changes and what will drive this nation in this
age.
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::: posted by Richard Wan at 12:20 AM
Friday, August 13, 2004 :::
i feel like i've suddenly lost my enthusiasm for writing. in fact, i think i lost my mind. i'm hardly the analytical and cantankerous critric i remember i once was. i now skim through the headlines of the papers and feel reading the news is a chore.
many times i felt the burden to pen down what had been troubling me, but everytime i get to blogspot, i find i can't aptly put my feelings to words anymore. it feels like the mode i'm most proficient in communicating with people has suddenly become defective, and i'm trapped with emotions i can't liberate.
perhaps i'm merely disacquainted due to scant usauge, or maybe the army really makes one dull. i don't know. i can't tell. until i regain my dexterity around words and sentence structures again, i fear this blogger will find it hard even to post a worthy entry.
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::: posted by Richard Wan at 3:27 AM
