PAP SHOULD ASK THEMSELVES WHY OUR YOUTH CMI

Speaking at the inaugural Singapore Teochew Entrepreneur Award dinner, DPM Tharman said, “Many employers give us feedback that something is changing in our new generation, those who are starting work or who are early in their careers – people do not stay long on the job, and are impatient to move on, fewer believe in learning the ropes, taking time to develop skills on the job and working their way up.”

Now I wonder why is that so. The PAP should really take a piss and look in the reflection. This sense of self-entitlement is the result of PAP elitism creeping into every echelon of our society. PAP earmark their scholars for bigger things at the age of 18 when they take their A levels. Many of them are book smart but they do not have street smart of the EQ to be true leaders. Many of them are just arrogant and look down on others who are not as academically inclined as them.

The PAP elite are impatient to move on because every other year they are granted promotions no matter how they perform. Just look at our PM Lee Hsien Loong who was made a Brigadier General in record speed. They are many such examples in our civil service and political offices. They are appointed to position of power and they try to profile themselves by coming up with useless initiatives and policies without first understanding the ground.

In fact, many of the PAP elite are exactly what DPM Tharman described them to be. Impatient, eager to score, don’t bother to learn the ropes, don’t take time develop the skills and work their way up. That’s why we always say these scholars take the helicopter in.

DPM Tharman also say, “There is less hunger compared to 20 years ago, and of course compared to 40 or 50 years ago. It is not something we have hard data on, but the qualitative feedback is common and widespread.”

And I totally agree with him. The first generation leadership like Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and Lim Kim San were hungry for Singapore to succeed. They work long hours with not much pay and sacrificed much for the country. Now PAP leaders believe that in order to attract talent and prevent corruption they must be paid millions a year. Even after paying ministers millions, what we get is mediocre performance.

Now our youth are not driven by hunger or passion. They are driven by $$$. Only got money then work hard. Only if parents promise to buy me this or go overseas holiday then I will study hard. Why is this so?

So before DPM Tharman and PAP criticize the youth of Singapore, they should really look at themselves and see how this problem was actually created by them. They have made Singapore into a purely transactional society where money speaks louder than anything else.

A retired civil servant