Black sheep or white sheep, you are still sheep
Posted by admin on February 9th, 2007 filed in GeneralDeng Xiaoping had this famous quote attributed to him, which goes something like this:
“No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.”「不管白猫、黑猫，逮住老鼠就是好猫。」
And I realised that this could be easily adapted for our Singaporean context, but with a twist in the meaning. In Singapore, it doesn’t matter if you are black sheep or white sheep, you are all still sheep.
I think there’s no need to assign colours to the 2 sides, either colour will do. The important point is to acknowledge the fact that people who are unthinkingly anti-govt/PAP and people who are unthinkingly pro-govt/PAP are equally moronic.
Sad to say, there are no signs that the unwashed masses have any intention of lifting themselves out of their stupor. Those who think it is oh-so-fashionable to be rabidly anti-establishment have merely flipped from being mindless followers of one Master to being mindless followers of another Master. No gain in self-awareness, no signs of any thoughtful self-reflection. Just look at the commenters on Mr Wang’s blog , or Singabloodypore , or Singapore Election Watch .
The worst thing about these people, is that they do not realise that they are STILL being sheep. By reflexively opposing any position taken by the PAP, without exercising anything in the manner of critical thought, analysis or just some effort in trying to understand what is at stake, these people are acting in the very manner that validates MM Lee’s belief that Singapore is still a long way away from being able to adopt a Western-style democracy.
And that makes me very sad, because I have always thought that all human beings are capable of rational thought and reason. It appears that many Singaporeans are not. This is a state of affairs for which I lay the blame squarely on MM Lee himself. For years he has cultivated a political culture which discourages clear, independent and analytical thought. This culture permeates every facet of Singapore life, from the civil service to our education system, right down to the person on the street. The end result is that whenever Singaporeans talk about politics, people unthinkingly repeat the same few natty slogans and catchphrases that Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP foisted on the people. Train them to think for themselves? Blasphemy! There is only the prophecy of the lightning bolts. Everything else is banned.
Now the results of this policy have come full circle to haunt the PAP. We have generations of unthinking morons in Singapore, unable to think or fend for themselves in a new global economy. They think that they either have to blindly follow the PAP, or blindly follow anything that appears to be opposed to the PAP, their minds trapped within this false dichotomy. Without anything to follow, they become lost, without their moorings, without a shepherd or a Master to guide them in this strange new world.
As long as these morons do not realise that their only master is themselves, they will always be, regardless of which colour they take, mere sheep.