Was reading Hard Truths to keep singapore growing and i began to ponder. No, I'm not just interested in the content (which is obviously very interesting and refreshing), im not interested in the medium of content.

The book is not about MM Lee coming out to tell us some truths which we ought to know. It is a symbol of us, as Singaporeans, being ready to accept some of these truths.

Singapore is a young country, Singaporeans are usually politically apathetic and the general argument is that the bulk of Singaporeans will not understand the broader issues. People complain about the 1 party leadership and the strict manner of leading. People question certain human rights issues and debate over our legitimacy as a democracy. And most pertinent to me right now, people reject the concept of a conscript armed forces.

I am no PAP supporter nor a fanatic patriot, but I am a supporter of wisdom. The choices we have to make sometimes is "hard". And sometimes, people really do not understand what they are asking for. Youths who complain that MM Lee was a strict leader has actually never really experienced this so called strict leadership. Those who complain about the 1 party leadership often complain for the sake of doing so. Of course there are those who vote wisely and vote for the opposition for wise reasons and I respect these people for doing their homework before voting. But I know just too many people who complain about the government (or as Singaporeans like to call garrmen) merely because we have been ruled by PAP for so long.

I do not like the idea of serving 2 years of NS but at the policy level, somethings have to be done. Everyone knows the problems of war--destructions, economic standstill etc. But we hardly realise the pain of peace--complacency and lack of appreciation of the state of affairs. And complacency broods sentiments and complains.

Back to my original point; are we really ready to accept these truths? Apparently MM Lee thinks so (or at least he probably hopes) Truths can come painful, so painful people like to reject it. Truths can displace myths, and some of these myths may be what the common Singapore citizen do not want displaced. I'm not sure if I can judge if we are ready for truth but 1 thing is for sure. We have no choice but to be ready for it.