on Apr 23rd, 2008Wong Can’t Sing, Mas Selamat can…
Although PM Lee has a point when he said we cannot afford to cultivate a culture whereby people are too afraid to make mistakes (for fear of their heads), this IS the perceived mentality of the bureaucratic system in Singapore. I would even go as far as to say that this mentality have been drilled into Singaporeans since young. Also known as “Kia si” which translates in Hokkien, “afraid to die”.This “Kia si” mentality might not be uniquely Singapore, but since I’ve been brought up in Singapore, I’m going to talk about it where it is relevant to the local context.
Most Singaporeans observe this “mind your own business” a.k.a. MYOB mentality, because, well, we’re “Kia si”. If you see trouble that is not happening to you, just look away. If you poke your nose into trouble that has nothing to do with you and you get into trouble yourself, well, you deserve it. (I’m sure there are readers looking at this analogy puzzled and wondering what is wrong -_-!)
Even in the office, in order to cover your own backside, you sending thousands of email a day to inform people every single thing that takes place. Why? So when trouble happens, we can check the “black and white” in our emails. We don’t want any trouble.
Singaporeans already have that “Kia si” mentality etched into our culture and society. Is there a problem with this mentality? Perhaps so. PM Lee asking us not to call for people’s head in times of trouble just contradict the very foundations of our culture. Telling us that he doesn’t want to cultivate this culture is too late, since we are already like this. Infact, I would imagine the reasons why Mas Selamat was able to escape, is perhaps of this culture we have.
They had to inform 4 people before breaking into the toilet door. The guard nearest to the toilet door could not break open the door to check because, if he did, he might be liable to his superiors for breaking protocol (one assumes)? The 2nd guard that was informed probably had the same mentality. The 3rd guard, being a female, couldn’t break open the door… you know sexual harassment lawsuits (not that Mas Selamat would be able to go trial)? The 4th guard was finally the “right” person to break the door down, and by then it was too late.
Everyone was in due process, everyone covered their backside very well, everyone “Kia si”, now end up all kenna “si“.
If, indeed, the guards thought that Mas Selamat had collapsed in the toilet cubicle… THEY SHOULD KICK THE DOOR DOWN IMMEDIATELY!@ What if Mas Selamat had died of a heart attack because they took 10minutes to “cover backside”??
Nocturne needed me to point this out “Mas Selamat never actually did commit any crime, except, escaping from prison.”
***Read this page for links to more Singaporeans bloggers’ reactions to Wong’s singing***
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