Considering today is Singapore's 50th founding anniversary so what better way than to make a Singapore related post? After writing seven things that Filipinos can learn from Singapore's rise to power it's also time to target the Pinoy pessimists. If Failipino pride is a very unhealthy attitude i.e. taking pride in the failures of the Filipino hence the term Failipino then the attitude of Pinoy pessimist is just as misguided.
If you think about it, Singapore fifty years ago was just a dump that you might call it "Stinkapore" because it really stank bad. When I think about Lee Kuan Yew, I don't think so many people would have supported his vision that changed the nation from STINKapore to SINGapore, from a nation that stank with poverty to a nation that sings of prosperity. I don't think he even expected to see Singapore rise up from the stink it was but he did. As prime minister who sat in between Malaysia-owned Singapore and would later reign in independent Singapore, he was a leader left with garbage and tons of it. I would have been discouraged if I were him.
I could imagine what if Lee himself decided to just step down instead of clean the mess that was Singapore back in his time? What if he was a pessimist? I would imagine what if he decided to say, "That's it! I'm resigning! This island can go away from the face of the Earth for all I care! America here I come!" then he would leave? I don't think Singapore today would be Singapore, maybe it will continue to be Stinkapore instead of Singapore because of all the poverty, crime rate, unemployment and corruption. Instead, he took action and didn't care what people said and instead he chose to do what is right with a "dictatorship" that would soon soon turn a third world country into a first world country.
When you think of it 1965 up to 1990 is a long period proving Singapore did not become the great nation as it was in one day. He was patient and had the optimism that certainly, the days of Stinkapore will be over and the days of Singapore will be coming in. It was time to reform Stinkaporeans into good Singaporeans which brought the country to better heights. I cannot deny that how more often than not, every time I think I want to quit, what if I decided to instead die fighting as a reformist instead of die quitting as a quitter? As said, I don't think I am a hero, I am just a concerned citizen who believes that the Philippines can certainly improve with proper reforms as there are always more qualified people than I am.
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