Nicely said..
exerpts from my lecture notes:
(this is why i like the lecturer so much)
<i>”Education, besides being a process, is also a cycle. it has enhanced our individual quality of life, with the subsequent hope and expectation that persons will put something back into society as educated and enlightened citizens. We expect more from persons who are educated. Despite it being a right, education is still something that we are fortunate and blessed to be able to obtain so easily in Singapore. There are still pockets around the world where children will never see the light of education. Of course there are also pockets here in Singapore that despite an education will still never see the light.”
“<b>Every Singaporean matters. Anyone can make a difference.</b>
This evoked recognition of individuals who do not conform to mainstream expectations of success, what we might call <b>off the beaten track</b> idea of success. This was an attempt to stem the growing elitism in society where the successful tended to be academically successful, and university graduates. Thus, praises were sung for those able to climb Mount Everest, train unruly monkeys, or stage a musical.”
“Since the 1990’s, Singapore has held among top rankings as the least corrupt nations in the world, and among the most transparent and corruption-free countries in Asia. This will hopefully remain as one of our strong selling-points: that our leaders are forthright, there is no “Mickey-Mouse”, and business dealings are straightforward. This might be compared with nations who might boast of an astounding human rights record and slam Singapore for NOT having one — gee, we cane people here — but have leaders who order pizza from charming interns with berets.”
“Being Number One is synonymous with Singapore. We are Number One for our harbour, airport, national carrier, most of everything I would say, except maybe food, but that’s a personal opinion.”
“What the government hopes to remake Singapore into is a nation of persons rooted to the land and who would die for something else besides their handphone, and private apartment with sauna and swimming pool — such as their country.”</i>
Arlene Bastion, in <i>Singapore in a Nutshell.</i>
Gary @ 29 Oct 2003 :: Old Deadjournal posts :: No Comments »