Wee Shu Min d/o AMKGRCMP Wee Siew Kim redux...

[Debonerman]

Please read also at TOC....http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/12/toc-turns-3-and-memories-of-an-elite-uncaring-face/

Wee Shu Min, an 18-year-old college student from Raffles Junior College (RJC) in Singapore that has been in the “hot seat” among bloggers in Singapore and also number 1 search in Technorati since she posted a comment about Derek Wee, a Singapore blogger who wrote “Future Of Singapore“ in his blog, which she called him “old” and “undermotivated” . Wee Shu Min is a student from the gifted program, topped O-levels in Singapore in 2004, PM’s Book Prize winner, and a daughter of Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Wee Siew Kim.

Below are comments Wee Shu Min wrote in her blog, posted on Thursday, 19 October 2006 - mom’s friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the pool of foreign “talent” (dismissively chucked between inverted commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he didn’t say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the reason why no one wants kids is that they’re a liability in this world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save us from inevitable doom but they aren’t because they are stick-shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works, yadayadayadayada.

i am inclined - too much, perhaps - to dismiss such people as crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often singaporeans - both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned socialites - kid themselves into believing that our society, like most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.

sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.

derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?

if you’re not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that’s just how things go. there’s no point in lambasting the government for making our society one that is, i quote, “far too survival of fittest”. it’s the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other people over you, it’s because they’re better. it’s so sad when people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if uncertainty of success offends you so much - you will certainly be poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully, which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.

then again, it’s easy for me to say. my future isn’t certain but i guess right now it’s a lot brighter than most people’s. derek will read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it’s only sad when people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?

i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner’s, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it’s not even about being a road sweeper. these !!^#bags don’t want anything without “manager” and a name card.

please, get out of my elite uncaring face. ==

 

[Debonerman]

Wee Shu Min comment received a massive response and slams from bloggers and forums in Singapore even tho Miss Wee Shu Min deleted her blog, but the entry she posted has been reproduced in a number of forums and blogs. And if you open her blog, you will not find the above posted anymore because somebody created a new blog with the same name.

Here are some comments which are taken from the new blog of the same name, not her original blog:

“I am very sad to read Wee Shu Min’s blog. Those in their 40 years old do not have good quality education in those days, and now those 40 years old still have to compete with the younger generation where they have good quality education and training. Yet, Wee Shu Min have miss this point.”

“shu min, u put my alma mater to shame. u need a whole lifetime education in humility.”

“Everyone has their views on life, but not everyone has the right to condemn and insult others. Unless one has gone through many trials and tribulations, only wise people have wise things to say. What our Ms RJC has said in her blog is definitely unwise.”

And, in order to make Singaporean “calm’ down a bit, Miss Wee, a second-year student on RJC’s Humanities Scholarship Programme apologised for her comments, though not directly to Mr Derek Wee. She said on wei kiat’s blog:

shu-min says:
dear wei kiat,

i apologise if i have distressed you with my tendency to rant. while i will not dispute some of the points you make in response to what i have written, i would like to bring to your attention the fact that the post in question was never meant to be a cogent response to the specific points raised in derek wee’s article. it is, quite obviously, a rant in the heat of the moment. in addition, i don’t believe that my blog has the wide readership of derek wee’s, or even your own, and my intention was more to vent my own frustrations than public denouncement.

i’d also like to clarify my use of the word “elite”. while i understand how misinterpretation may have arose, i intended to use it in irony, as a label that people assume i enjoy, and not one that i take particular pleasure in.

finally, i admit that i was harsher than i should have been, although the the crux of my belief in self-improvement and self-determination has not changed. once again, i apologise if my words have unintentionally offended you - i was under the rather naive impression that nobody reads my blog

We don’t know what she was thinking, but I guess she was surprised and did not expect that she would get a lot of attention, as she mention that nobody read her blog, but that doesn’t mean that she can judge people who have lived a life very different from her own short privileged one. But I believe Miss Wee Shu Min has drawn enough criticism for her insensitive remarks. Hopefully, she will learn from this saga and move on.

Below are responses from Rafflesians (RJC - Raffles Junior College) taken from various blogs:

“As a Rafflesian, I am saddened that our good name has been smeared by the poison pen of one elitist female. The saddest part of this episode is that she reminds me of the remark made by newbie Michael Palmer, “Before I joined the grassroots organisation, I never knew there were poor people in developed countries”. Where does the PAP find such freaks? They are no better than the Hitler Youth, and our country can only be the worse because of them.”
“I’m a classmate of Shu Min in RGS and RJC. Many of us don’t know her well because she does move around in her own exclusive circle of the smart and well-connected. And yes, she is conceited, overbearing and thinks that she and her clique own the world. But, I do think some of the comments here are excessive, even unreasonable. You can fault her character and her worldview, but is there a need to descend to vulgarity?”

 

[Debonerman]

 

[Debonerman]

1. The Original Letters

“Future of Singapore,” by Derek Wee, “Many of my peers, bright and well educated have packed up and left. It’s what MM Goh called “quitters”. It’s sad but true, Singapore no longer is a place where one can hope to work hard their lives and retire graciously. It’s really the push factor. A future is something we sweat it out, build and call our own. Unfortunately, people like me, mid 30’s going on 40’s, staying put by choice or otherwise, we can’t help but feel what lies ahead is really a gamble.

To PM Lee and the Ministers, we are on a different platform. Until you truly understand our insecurity, the future of Singapore to me remains a question mark.” (2 Oct 2006)

“Original Blog Now Removed – Full version available here” by Wee Shu-Min, “…dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner’s, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it’s not even about being a road sweeper. these shitbags don’t want anything without “manager” and a name card.

please, get out of my elite uncaring face.” (19 Oct, 2006)

2. The Uproar

“Future of Singapore”, Solitaire Joker, “I wonder if the future of Singapore belongs to people like her.

If so, I have no wish to be part of this future. It would mean that little would change.” (20 Oct, 2006)

From Sammyboy’s Alfresco Shop:

“the issue here is how she said it. More precisely, her mindset. If she were the daughter of some rich tycoon – a Paris Hilton, a Xu Chun Mei – I’d say to hell it with and let her make a bi*ch of herself.

But if she is indeed the daughter of an MP, and a very possible future “leader” in Singapore – whether it’s in the civil service or a GLC – then such mindset is worrying. She seemed to have taken the wrong foreign language, for she should be reading Nietzsche in German instead.

Disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful….” -satoshi83

“So sad that it is these elite people, who treat us with contempt, that have their university education financed by government scholarship and paid for by taxpayers, like you and me.” -teh si

“there is a lot of arrogance in Sg. I think it is not due to ability or talent. it is due to overcompensation and ignorance. the young girl is ignorant of greater things that’s why [she] speaks so pompously, many adults in the work place can be like that too.” -NLA

“There are many ways to put your views across but hers is over the top – caustic, rude, demeaning and condescending (have I missed any other …. )

I can’t believe its Wee’s daughter.” -Scroobal

“Looking Back Home” Wei Kiat’s Blog, “I had been trying feverishly for the past 10 minutes, but the less-than-elite mind of mine still could not figure out how spelling affects the ability to get an iron rice bowl, except in her own dreamy view of how the world works, where everything seems to lie in the hands of spelling errors and grammar mistakes.

No doubt this girl is a high flier in terms of academic. But I guess she couldn’t shake away from the world of of academic results when it comes to real life. Spelling and grammar are important when you are 18 years old and writing an essay for your teachers, but unless she felt that her life consisted of only General Paper essays, she shouldn’t be that much ignorant, and much like a “stick-shoved-up-ass elite who have no idea how the world works”.” (Oct 19, 2006)
.

 

[Debonerman]

Considered Responses

“The Wee Shu-Min Cyber Drama” Hear ye! Hear ye! “If Shu-min had been my peer, I would most probably have been tossed into the trash can. My dad was a blue-collar worker, and my mum’s a housewife. By some stroke of miracle, I was granted access to good schools and received a good education. However, to her, she probably thinks that it is her right to enter a good school and receive top education. Her worldview is different because that’s the kind of world she knows.

… I think that what should really be examined is what led her to develop such a high and mighty attitude.” (Oct 21, 2006)

“Class Disconnect,” Kitana, “But my point is this: is meritocracy really working? Are we allowing people from the heartlands to go through the system and excel so that they can in turn, help the rest of their class to move on up? Or are we simply creating more clones of an elite class, that once they escape their own class, they will no longer identify with the issues of the common man? Yes, there are definitely exceptions, but for the most part, how true is the mindset that that RJC girl has? My suspicion is that it isn’t unique to her alone. It’s just that not that many people would be silly enough to blog about it. But still.

And you wonder why the disconnect.” (Oct 21, 2006)

“Wee Shu Min just me, us, just like another Singaporean, just better Engrish” What’s in Your Goodie Bag? “Do we not recognize her attitude (as contrast to her views) of human beings as potentially dangerous taken to its logical conclusion- there are leeches and those who believe they rule over them. There are those that we can be sad for, those who could have been winners and those who could never be. We have kept dangerous ideas out of our shores, censored a million things, but what if, what if this portending darkness of ideas which is anti-human, this darkness is already within us? Wee Shu Min, whether she likes it or not, whether we like it or not, is after all, just one of us. Does she really believe what she wrote, will she if she realise otherwise, change her view as a rssult of this debate, or will she just repress those views since they are unpopular. I wonder about the man who had the courage – nay, the desperation, who jumped off the track – and I wonder, how truly, truly, does Shu-Min think of a man like that?” (Oct 21, 2006)

“The brilliance of youth” My Singapore News, “What we see in her is the tip of a smelly iceberg. It transcends from the little spoilt brat that demands the maid to do everything for ‘it’ to the peanut people among the elite. Not all elite are in the same shitty mindset. Thank god.

…Our society has indeed stratified into two separate worlds, not so much in material wealth, but in the value of life and life philosophy. On one end, money is not enough. On the other, money is never enough. And for the latter, the world owes them a living because of their talents.” (Oct 22, 2006)

“Of blogging and censorship views” George Yeo “Words matter. Words said to your face matter. Words overheard also matter. Kind words can lift our spirits. Cutting words can be demoralizing. For this reason, all communication in human society is regulated to a great or lesser degree.” (Oct 24, 2006)

3. Wee Siew Kim’s Apology

“I think that if you cut through the insensitivity of the language, her basic point is reasonable, that is, that a well-educated university graduate who works for a multinational company should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life.

Nonetheless, I have counselled her to learn from it. Some people cannot take the brutal truth and that sort of language, so she ought to learn from it.” – Wee Siew Kim, full version available at ‘Elitist’ Blogger Counselled

Responses to the Apology


“Half-Assed Apology That Wasn’t” Insane Polygon “I guess when it comes down to half-assed apology that’s not really an apology, the men in whites has honed it down into a fine art. If you don’t think you’re in the wrong, then please do not apologise. A half hearted one is worse than not apologising at all.

Obviously empathy is not a lesson you deem important enough to teach your precious daughter. And for goodness sake, why is the father “apologising” for the daughter? Where’s your precious, why has she not said anything about the whole ruckus she started in the first place? Why is no one apologising to Derek Wee?” (Oct 23, 2006)

“Open Message to AMK MP Wee Siew Kim,” Ripperstrife “I am deeply ashamed to see someone as pretentious as you sitting on a parliament seat. Why do I say pretentious? If this is how you daughter and father think in private with your elitism views of the society, I cannot even fathom why you should continue being an MP. Surely, how can someone like you begin to imagine what it is like to be near bankrupt because of a business failure? How it is to be debt ridden? How it feels like to be at your prime age of 40 and yet feel insecure about holding on to your job? Where is your compassion and understanding of the unfortunate ones who are only venting their frustruation through a virtual medium? It sickens me to see that sort of remarks coming from a minister.” (Oct 24, 2006)

“Scholar Behaving Badly” desperate youth “wee sk’s response, which takes the form of a personal attack on derek wee, ignores that the latter purported to be voicing concerns not unique to himself, but ones that are shared by other singaporeans of his age group. just last week the results of an international study by kelly services saw singapore ranked among the top three countries for age discrimination …; shouldn’t that have been a cue to take people’s thoughts on this issue more seriously?” (Oct 24, 2006)

 

[Debonerman]

4. The 2nd Apology

‘We both apologise to the people whom we have offended, and especially Mr Derek Wee,’ the MP said. … Yesterday, in his apology, he said: ‘I should not have said what I did about people’s inability to take the brutal truth and strong language.’ – From Straits Times 28th Oct

Responses & More Commentary

“The Secret Identity of Elite Girl,” Insane Polygon, “As for that whole apology thing, the half-heartedness with which it was initially made is worse than not apologising. Patronising to the core. If WSM and her father don’t think they are wrong,they shouldn’t apologise. Just come out and defend your viewpoints with good arguments. Instead WSM closed down her blog and than her father came out with some gibberish. Even if I don’t agree with your viewpoints, I can still respect you for the courage of your convictions. But here, it just makes you look like hypocrites. Apologising for the sake of appeasing angry constituents and probably mostly to save face and your own political career. If you want to be an elitist, at least give us some good arguments to support yourself. If you can’t even do that, then how elite can you truly be?”

“Humility is not a lesson that is easily taught and…” Urbanrant, “For him to make the insensitive remarks that ‘Some people cannot take the brutal truth and that sort of language, so she ought to learn from it,’, it showed a callous disregard for the electorate that voted him into power (although he did got into parliament by virtue of a walkover in 2001).

I often wonder what is the price of having that many MPs who “walk”(over) into Parliament so easily. I guess now i know the answer.”(Oct 28, 2006)

“Sorry misses the point” E Pur Si Muove, “The main point is still that Mr. Wee had added insult to injury by issuing a non sequitur of an apology. In addition, Mr. Wee has neatly answered the question: where did Shu Min get her smarmy attitude from? The most likely suspects are family and friends; Mr. Wee’s reponse supports strongly the hypothesis that the elitist attitude comes from at least one person in the family; the father in particular. But in that case, should the father have any business running a constituency if he appears to have condoned tacitly the class divide that characterizes the attitude of someone who says “Please don’t bother me with your problems”?” ” (Oct 28, 2006)


http://intelligentsingaporean.wordpress.com/wee-shu-min/

 

[IR123]

sigh, is there any need to bring this up again?

all it tells me is to give Goh Meng Seng a chance

perhaps that is the way to go if we want a better singapore

 

[Debonerman]

sigh, is there any need to bring this up again?

all it tells me is to give Goh Meng Seng a chance

2 reasons.

1) Article on her in TOC's 3rd Anniversary.

2) The coming GE. Giving all, time to think ratioanally.

 

[IR123]

2 reasons.

1) Article on her in TOC's 3rd Anniversary.

2) The coming GE. Giving all, time to think ratioanally.

I think TOC is being opportunistic on the article.

But the coming GE - yes, i think so.

This is about one of the very few things that will make me vote for the Opposition

 

[myfoot123]

It is good to remind Singaporeans that our monies have been used to feed the fat mole who bite the hands that feed her. Her father is the greatest pest who sucked us poor by licking his master's boots.

Let's have this article print out loud and duplicate for various channels in the coming election.

 

[Debonerman]

It is good to remind Singaporeans that our monies have been used to feed the fat mole who bite the hands that feed her. Her father is the greatest pest who sucked us poor by licking his master's boots.

Let's have this article print out loud and duplicate for various channels in the coming election.

I believe the dastardly bastards will conduct some sort of local forum blackout through the ISPs that they control on the final days leading to the next GE. If we we don't dig out the sins and shame of the recent past now, do we do it after the results are out which in all likelihood, another sweeping victory for the Traitors?