The trouble with our political elite - life handed to them on silver platter

[Thick Face Black Heart]

By political elite, I'm referring to key grassroots leaders, MPs, Ministers and everyone in between.

One thing that stands out in my mind is that life is handed to them on a silver platter.

Sure, they had to prove themselves worthy of joining the elite club in the first place. After that, those brought into the fold are well taken care of by the system.

When they land cushy jobs and lucrative contracts or deals in GLCs, MNCs, etc, they think this is due to personal merit.

And then there is this glass bubble which they live in where a team of dedicated grassroots volunteers carefully shield them from the harsh realities of ground sentiment and paint them a rosy picture. One layer carries the balls of the next layer, and so on. It is a system of institutionalized self-ingratiation and ball carrying.

The system of paying the elite high wages pegged to the highest echelons of the business community further entrenches the idea that they are a cut above the rest.

The result is a disconnected elite class that thinks they have superior acumen, intellect, political wisdom, etc, compared to the average Singaporean. Thus, the air of superiority with which many conduct themselves and the inability to understand or to empathize with the social impact of policies.

They don't understand the law of unintended consequences or have the patience to delve into the nitty gritty details of their policies which can have huge impact when they filter down to the ground level. That's why they don't understand issues like underemployment, disenfranchisement, etc.

 

[chongpangchixwings]

As long as they continue to get the votes why should they care. At the very most they pay lip service and do minimal to address whatever issues. Thats Sinkie politics for you.

 

[frenchbriefs]

so u prefer them to be the political unelite?meritocracy is a painful irony and a self reinforcing cycle of inevitable hard truth of economics.those who are born smarter,more intelligent more academically inclined and intellectually gifted will more often go on to occupy jobs that are more financially rewarding.the evidence is overwhelming,the average income of bachelors degree and masters degrees holders in america are much higher than those with only high school qualifications or dropouts or diploma holders or college degrees.the percentage of bachelors degree holders or higher that go on to become millionaires later in life is at a astonishing high percentage of nearly 21 percent while the percentage of high school dropouts that become millionaires later in life is only at a measly 6 percent.

these smart intelligent highly ambitious individuals go on later in life to marry other successful smart intelligent spouses and produce genetically superior offsprings,ur dna comprises of both ur mother and father's dna,if ur parents are highly intelligent highly educated adults,white collar professions,u tend to take after their characteristics too,not all the time but a high enough percentage of the time maybe 75 percent.this coupled with the superior socioeconomic background u grew up in,ur superior genes plus ur parents superior economic resources and background ensures u get all the education,tuition and upbringing and better schools.since ur parents are highly educated they might also impart upon u values and knowledge and breeding that poor peasant classes might lack,and also poor habits and poor diets and unhealthy lifestyles that poor and daft peasants might possess in greater degrees.ur child is likely to end up going to a elite school and end up a even greater more successful elite than their elite parent's generation.thus reinforcing the cycle even further.eventually the gaps between the elites and the poor driving buses and mrt trains gets wider and wider,like the recent reporting that nearly 50 percent of the RI cohorts comes from elite parents and elite backgrounds......more than 50 percent of RI graduates go on to live in landed property and condos and the "lesser" ones live in executive 5 room flats.

human intelligence go hand in hand with how well people do in life,not all the time but theres a high correlation.

this is why we need socialist economic policies in order to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.......yes not all men are born equal some of us will get ahead than the others but we must find a way to strike a balance between the haves and the have nots.

 

[Wunderfool]

By political elite, I'm referring to key grassroots leaders, MPs, Ministers and everyone in between.

One thing that stands out in my mind is that life is handed to them on a silver platter.

Sure, they had to prove themselves worthy of joining the elite club in the first place. After that, those brought into the fold are well taken care of by the system.

When they land cushy jobs and lucrative contracts or deals in GLCs, MNCs, etc, they think this is due to personal merit.

And then there is this glass bubble which they live in where a team of dedicated grassroots volunteers carefully shield them from the harsh realities of ground sentiment and paint them a rosy picture. One layer carries the balls of the next layer, and so on. It is a system of institutionalized self-ingratiation and ball carrying.

The system of paying the elite high wages pegged to the highest echelons of the business community further entrenches the idea that they are a cut above the rest.

The result is a disconnected elite class that thinks they have superior acumen, intellect, political wisdom, etc, compared to the average Singaporean. Thus, the air of superiority with which many conduct themselves and the inability to understand or to empathize with the social impact of policies.

They don't understand the law of unintended consequences or have the patience to delve into the nitty gritty details of their policies which can have huge impact when they filter down to the ground level. That's why they don't understand issues like underemployment, disenfranchisement, etc.

The question is what can you do about it ?

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

As long as they continue to get the votes why should they care. At the very most they pay lip service and do minimal to address whatever issues. Thats Sinkie politics for you.

Only way to teach them a lesson is at the ballot box

 

[KuanTi01]

As long as they continue to get the votes why should they care. At the very most they pay lip service and do minimal to address whatever issues. Thats Sinkie politics for you.

They get maximum benefits for minimum service. Their only baptism of fire in politics is to take cheap potshots at the opposition; name-calling and finger-pointing! What a bunch of greedy and self-important "key grassroots leaders, MPs, Ministers and everyone in between" to borrow a phrase from TFBH!

 

[mojito]

Not true TS. Good leaders delegate. Great leaders procreate.

 

[chongpangchixwings]

Only way to teach them a lesson is at the ballot box

Based on the BB results that day is very much in the distant future. As Leongsam had stated, all the conditions were there to put Chee in Parliament but it did not happen and its really stupid. This was a good chance to see what the man could bring to the table on behalf of Singaporeans. Whether you like his style or not at least give him a chance to perform and then judge him from there. Wasted! Wasted!

 

[eatshitndie]

Not true TS. Good leaders delegate. Great leaders procreate.

best leaders defecate.

 

[Leongsam]

One thing that stands out in my mind is that life is handed to them on a silver platter.

Life isn't handed to them on platter. It is handed to them via the ballot box by 70% of the population.

 

[chongpangchixwings]

Life isn't handed to them on platter. It is handed to them via the ballot box by 70% of the population.

In the Singaporean context the ballot box is a platter.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

Based on the BB results that day is very much in the distant future. As Leongsam had stated, all the conditions were there to put Chee in Parliament but it did not happen and its really stupid. This was a good chance to see what the man could bring to the table on behalf of Singaporeans. Whether you like his style or not at least give him a chance to perform and then judge him from there. Wasted! Wasted!

Any by election is a good chance to shake things up and express discontent at the many govt policies that have failed. So the next question to ask is, why did JBJ (1981) and Lee Li Lian (2013) succeed, whilst CSJ failed? Clearly, even in a by election where there is no risk of voting out the govt, the people still want to see some form of track record and strong sense of credibility before giving the candidate a try. That is how cautious Sinkies are. Cautious to a fault.

 

[mojito]

Any by election is a good chance to shake things up and express discontent at the many govt policies that have failed. So the next question to ask is, why did JBJ (1981) and Lee Li Lian (2013) succeed, whilst CSJ failed? Clearly, even in a by election where there is no risk of voting out the govt, the people still want to see some form of track record and strong sense of credibility before giving the candidate a try. That is how cautious Sinkies are. Cautious to a fault.

The PAP has learnt their lesson well. Never parachute new candidates unfamiliar with grassroot work into SMCs. After all that is the raison d'etre for GRCs. Note how Ponggol East, Fengshan and Potong Pasir have wisely returned to the fold in 2015. Had the ass doctor ran in Bukit Buttocks, he would have gotten a boot in the bum instead.