Well, Happy 55th Birthday Singapore, right? Well, I was glad to know that the 25th anniversary of Flor Contemplacion's "martyrdom" was hit by the COVID-19 otherwise known as the Legacy Virus. Also, it's nice to know that Singapore has managed the Legacy Virus infection. How's the Philippines? Now TOP ONE in Southeast Asia yet the wokes still don't want to hold pasaways accountable. One of the many touchy issues that a lot of Filipinos tend to raise is Singapore. Yes, there's still that pathetic cry from Migraine International to remember the "martyrdom" of Flor as a heroine who was "unjustly" executed. Their best source? Maybe the BS film called The Flor Contemplacion Story by VIVA Films? Well, I felt like it's time to irritate them further if there's going to be another anti-Singapore rally today because today is the birthday of Singapore.
I remembered reading articles on Get Real Philippines about Singapore. One article was titled "Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore he built is proof that the Philippines did it all wrong". The other article was titled "3 things holding the Philippines back from becoming another Singapore". Unfortunately, the Ignacio couple (Benign0 and Ilda) however just DO NOT understand how FDI works at all. All they cite are about the Philippines' lack of law enforcement, patronage politics, and anti-intellectualism. Unfortunately, Benign0 himself has shown his utter CLUELESSNESS about system change and economics. When we consider it - Benign0 himself is really a case of wanting the Philippines to improve but doesn't understand the need for system change. He's lived in both parliamentary and presidential but doesn't see the difference. I'm amazed at how Benign0 praises the late great Lee but fails to see that it was both parliamentary system and foreign investments that brought Singapore up. If they bothered to reread From Third World to First then they will realize Singapore was once poorer than the Philippines.
Turning Singapore into a business hub
Unlike Benign0, Lee didn't wait for Singaporeans to be business-savvy. Singapore was once that underproductive island. Try looking for photos of Singapore BEFORE Lee took over. Do you think Singaporeans were always disciplined and business-savvy? No, they were a city full of poverty and crime as a result of it. What Lee did to Singapore wasn't a result of self-industrialization. Lee didn't adopt Benign0's thinking that they will just waste the money with foreign capital. Lee didn't think of sending Singaporeans to other countries and rely on OSW (Overseas Singaporean Worker) remittance. Instead, Lee decided that he'd invite Foreign Direct Investors (FDIs) into Singapore to begin their investment. This model was somewhat copied by Deng Xiaoping into China which would probably be the biggest reason why Filipino commies hate the country. Just imagine if Benign0 waited for Singaporeans to be business-savvy then the country would never rise up at all.
I could imagine what life was probably like before Singapore rose up. Maybe, it was cool to be an unemployed bum before in Singapore. I could imagine a lot of Singaporeans before were palamunins like Chinese before Deng rose up. Introducing FDIs into Singapore started to change the values of Singaporeans. It was probably once cool to be a palamunin until more Singaporeans started getting employed into FDIs. Businesses in Singapore that were probably very lousy soon faced it that either they evolve or perish. The result of FDIs soon forced small businesses to evolve into bigger businesses. More competition also means more customers eventually. If your customers have competition then doesn't that mean you need to GRAB that OPPORTUNITY rather than whine like Neri Colmenares?
Just consider that poverty itself is a source of crime. What's the use of having strict law enforcement if poverty is sky-high? Some people easily enter into a life of crime, not for personal gain, but because their families are in desperate need of life's necessities. When Singapore started providing more jobs then poverty started dropping lower. If you want crime to drop low then you really need to start providing jobs so poor people can have work. The more legitimate jobs available to poor people - the less the crime syndicates can exploit them. Poverty itself is after all one of the many reasons why white perverts and Chinese crooks love the Philippines.
Introducing the parliamentary system shook Singaporean politics
The introduction of the parliamentary system is another thing Lee did right. How can that be considered as such? It's because as said the parliamentary system is SUPERIOR to the presidential system. Sure, one can argue some presidential countries are also doing good (such as Taiwan and South Korea). However, it's because they put parliamentary features into their presidential government. The premier of Taiwan and the Korean prime minister have NO term limits in contrast to the presidents.
How did Singapore's parliamentary system prove the Philippines wrong? The EDSA Revolution should've replaced the 1973 pseudo-parliament with a 1987 REAL parliament. The late Cory Aquino was the unifying figure of EDSA hence was more suited as the SYMBOLIC head of state. Meanwhile, Fidel V. Ramos was more qualified as the head of government. Cory felt more like a ceremonial figurehead during EDSA. Cory's role during EDSA as a unifying figure would have dictated that she was better off as the Philippines' symbol of unity while Ramos himself was qualified to be the prime minister. Sadly, the setup never happened all because the Yellows fought against it without knowing they too could benefit from it.
Singapore's parliamentary system has given real power. As said, no parliamentary means no great leaders like Lee and Mahathir Mohamad. Singapore's parliamentary form of government has the weekly question hour which gives more transparency. Is Lee Hsien Loong the absolute ruler? Not if you realize that the Singaporean parliament has a two-party system where both the majority and the minority engage in formal debates. They would give more transparency to both sides - something that the Philippines badly needs. Also, real democracy is a rule OF the people, BY the people, and FOR the people and not a tyranny of the majority or plurality. Only if the Philippines shifted to parliamentary years ago - it could've also been another Singapore!
Prioritizing discipline OVER democracy
Democracy is important but to have a GOOD democracy - discipline is vital. If there's one thing worth noting is that Filipinos NEED more discipline than democracy. Besides, how Filipinos think about democracy really is a defining factor of the way they think and act. It's really becoming more evident that Filipinos really do NEED discipline for its democracy to function well. Unfortunately, way too many Filipinos for a very long time have equated discipline to tyranny.
What makes Singapore also a very clean and orderly city is DISCIPLINE. Just thinking about how they implement civil penalties for stuff like littering and jaywalking is one good reason why its citizens follow simple guidelines. Littering? You get fined. Jaywalking? You get fined. One can go ahead and scream "DICTATORIAL!" or "DRACONIAN!" BUT it's not. Implementing reasonable fines is not draconian. In fact, it's one of the reasons why investing in Singapore would be better because you've got a safer environment. It's not just that Singapore accepts FDIs as welcome competitors. It's also about how Singapore actually keeps its cities safe by disciplining its people. One reason why it recovered from the sudden surge in the Legacy Virus outbreak is good discipline.
Now, the Philippines is stuck with pending Legacy Virus cases also because of a severe LACK OF DISCIPLINE. Do you still think that it's more fun in the Philippines because of a lack of discipline? That mentality of "It's More Fun in the Philippines" instead led to a skyrocket in Legacy Virus cases. While government neglect should be addressed but what about civilian pasaways? The rallies in QUEZON CITY should've been apprehended by Mayor Sad Belmonte. ABiaS-CBN and communist rallies also proved how Filipinos do lack discipline. Instead, by permitting them, Sad might as well be held accountable for it. Just think that Taiwanese former vice president Chen Chien Jen had said that good behavior is part of winning the fight against the Legacy Virus. Apparently, Leni Loud Robredo thinks otherwise which would wonder what could happen if she were president right now. Only if Filipinos were MORE DISCIPLINED then the Philippines would be a much better place too.
remember the "martyrdom" of Flor as a heroine who was "unjustly" executed.
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