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Showing posts from August, 2013

My Singapore, Our Home?

"Singapore is not perfect; no society is perfect." This recent statement, by a senior government leader, reveals that not all is well in the land that has been my home since birth. Mr Tan Chuan Jin, the Acting Manpower Minister, was making these remarks in response to two letters from Singaporeans giving reasons why they no longer want to call Singapore their home. While one writer lamented that Singapore had lost its soul and has developed an "obsession with GDP growth" over social and cultural concerns, the other author expressed frustration at the government's lack of acceptance and tolerance. I can understand why both these writers have such deep-seated grouses; the cost of living is at an all-time high (Singapore has remained on the Top-10 list of most expensive cities for the past three years), and the government-citizen relationship has been at its most strained in years (the last General Elections saw the ruling party returned to power with it