Never Forget Where We Came From
People have to understand that Lee Kuan Yew wasn't just another government official of Singapore. He was our founding father. He fought for our independence and even went on to build us up from a third world country to first. And yes, of course he did it with a team, how else would he have done it? That doesn't mean we should downplay the significance of his contributions as opposed to lifting up those who worked with him. Look at where we were when he started and where we are now. People are so quick to forget, and our pampered generation can sometimes be a bunch of ungrateful, spoiled brats.
There are pros and cons of living in every country, and if we're being honest, Singapore really does have a lot of pros. Housing and vehicle prices are pretty damn high due to lack of land space, but our streets are clean and safe, our children can attend school without fear of being gunned down, our public transportation is frequent, efficient (breakdowns happen now and then everywhere in the world, get over it) and fairly cheap compared to other developed cities. We have high-tech amenities, clean tap water, a world-class healthcare system (ranked 1st most efficient in the world by Bloomberg just last year), a wide selection of shopping, entertainment and leisure activities that, let's face it, if you're reading this while happily surfing the Net on your computer/ mobile device right now, you can probably afford, and so on.
We are overcrowded, yes, but again our land is so small and our population ever-growing. We are like the USA of South East Asia. Many aspire to flock here and live the Singapore dream, people from all over the world and especially from our neighbouring countries. They come to work even as maids and cleaners and construction workers, jobs that most Singaporeans have the means to avoid and often feel is "beneath us". Typing it makes me cringe, but it's the truth. We are pretty damn privileged and sometimes that breeds ignorance.
And still those frogs in a well continue to croak incessantly, blaming the government for every little thing that goes wrong in their lives, refusing to be adults and take responsibility for their own problems, making unfounded accusations against the PAP and the Lee family of corruption and nepotism, hating on our culture and laws and demanding that we conform to the ways of the Western society because apparently there's only one correct method to run a developed country, thinking they know so much, their sense of superiority grossly inflated from a short stint overseas or a handful of biased articles they pored over online. The grass is always greener on the other side.
There's nothing wrong with questioning our government and holding them accountable, and of course there's always room for improvement, no matter how well a country is doing, but this isn't about that. This is about showing respect for a great man who has contributed so much, spent a good portion of his life working to provide us with a thriving metropolis and a comfortable lifestyle that we all take for granted. He, like every human being in this world, didn't always get it right and couldn't please everyone, but in his lifetime he has achieved a great deal more than most. And now as we reap the benefits of his toil and sweat, it is only decent to pay homage to Lee Kuan Yew and acknowledge his efforts.
As Singaporean Lawyer Chia Boon Teck aptly put it with regards to the Amos Yee case, "Mr Lee spent his life helping Singaporeans to put food on the table and build roofs over our heads. Since we need not worry about food and shelter, we can indulge in contemplating our right to hurt others with our words in the name of freedom of speech."