As a vibrant election campaign comes to a close, it looks like I wont be able to use my favourite jokes when giving talks in Singapore in future…
Whenever asked about politics, as a visitor I had said…
“I’m sorry i dont know much about Singaporean politics…
….apart from that there isn’t much.”
or…
“One thing i quite like about your system is that, unlike where Im from, your politicians can’t blame the previous administration!”
Democracy is becoming more complicated in Singapore, and so at least in future foreign experts wont find it as convenient to say uninformed sycophantic nonsense about being culturally open when speaking about different political systems. (if you are reading, yes, you know who you are – you called it professional, I call it cowardly).
So while Brits vote against greater democracy, Singaporeans embrace it more. The world revolves and I know where my hopes now lie.
No, it’s not for haters: democracy is for lovers.
Professor Jem Bendell 