"Frogs in the well" is a metaphor, some of these "frogs in the well" have been all over the world. They simply have not processed what they have seen into information and analysis.I was chewing on your words for the past two days.
I would say that more Singaporeans are well traveled nowadays. They do have opportunities to look at the outside world. However, most of the time, most of them are more concerned about hygiene matters, weather, food and many other superficial things. They do not stay long enough to appreciate the other sides of things in the places that they visit, most probably due to their short schedule.
Some who have stayed in places long enough tend to make comparisons like what our SPH would do, how Singapore is better in this and that, but never in the mode of looking at things that are better than ours and how it could improve ourselves. Have you ever seen any reports on SPH newspapers about how a place like Hong Kong or Japan is better than Singapore? Never but most of the time, they boast about how good Singapore is with all the first awards, hardly on the 147th awards.
Some people may brush this off but this is a very important matter. If a small country like Singapore has such inferiority complex, constantly need reassurance on how good we are and refusing to look at our inadequacies, strength of others, then we will be in great trouble. While we keep boasting about how our "experience" could be learned by other countries, we seldom admit that there are many things we could learn from others as well. How could a country progress with such mentality?
Goh Meng Seng
It's not by accident that Singapore has this "inferiority complex". It is all part of the masterplan to brainwash silly Singaporeans into thinking that the ruling party and its esteemed leaders are indispensable in making Singapore "what it is today".
That is precisely what we are hoping you and your colleagues will change.
