Military style politics

There is only so much of the PAP candidate Chan Chun Sing that i can stand listening to. This guy exemplifies everything that is bad about English in Singapore. This wouldn't matter in everyday life, but here is a candidate potentially being groomed for a ministerial position. His grammar is non-existent, his enunciation is dismal and his accents throughout his sentences are seemingly random. It boggles my mind how someone who has spent 4 years in Cambridge University and Oxford can have this level of spoken English. His language skills is merely the first impression. As for the substance of his speeches, his analogies are irrelevant and obfuscate his points, and every interview question he answers is filled with rhetoric, like he was a character from a civics and moral education textbook. Yes, remember that one? Hao Gong Ming?

Let's take one of his interviews as an example. The question was, what grassroots experience do you have? He starts by saying that he started only 10 days ago due to his previous job, which required clear separation between military and civilian life. In the 10 days, he was working in Buona Vista, which is a microcosm (one of his favourite words) of Singapore. The question is, how do you bring them togetherThe challenges that people in Buona Vista faced, were not that much different from what his men in the military faced. Everyone has different aspirations and challenges, and the question is how would one bring all these people together? He was impressed with the poor people he met, who were disciplined and determined to climb out of poverty. He was inspired to try and do better. He was more concerned however, with the group who was slightly more priviledged, but need a little help with their financial circumstances, that despite the fact that they have more, they may need more help. He hopes to bring the community together where the haves can help the have-nots, then the community will be strong. He said that poverty will always exist in society, and the important thing is to have the rich help the poor. Then he invokes his 'hero' Spidey. Those who have the means should reach out to the less fortunate. He goes on to cite his 'humble' beginnings and how he has risen and benefitted from the system. He wants to ensure that next generation Singaporeans will be able to continue to benefit from this system, so that able and willing people can always rise up regardless of their circumstance.

How did his grassroots experience turn into quoting Spiderman and rising up regardless of circumstance? His directionless ramble managed to touch upon an unidentified group of slightly priviledged people who need help, having the rich help the poor, and maintaining a system of social mobility.

Nowhere in there was a discussion of the causes of poverty in Singapore, concrete plans on how he was going to get the able to help the poor or even a hint at his ideological stand on whether it should be the government's job to alleviate poverty. It was just three minutes of fluff and rhetoric.

Can we finally have someone of more substance? Next....