what offends you?

i was reminded of something i heard a few months ago. someone was amazed that another person in class was cheesed off by person x just because person x is opinionated.

just what exactly pisses you off?

dr lee boon yang, our minister for arts i think, says that it is immaterial that singapore journalism ranks below iraq in terms of press freedom and that singapore's ranks in the bottom three. he says that we shall maintain a press that "is responsible" and not "to win any awards."

this is very surprising just as it is shockingly blatant. and for all its controversial worth, there is NOTHING in response printed in the local papers.

while dr lee's comments is just physical evidence of the government's stand in maintaining a foucauldian power grip on the singaporean society, for him to actually have the audacity to spell it out in no uncertain terms borders on the incredible. it is definitely against the spirit of how things that lee hsien loong spelt out in his maiden national day rally. his apparent claims to greater diversity -- increased gay tolerance and having the casino are just superficial open-ness -- are all a bunch of bloody hog wash.

i really don't understand why the government is spending so much in "nurturing the creativity of the young" when they are totally unprepared to deal with the consequences of creativity. those diverse views that will come along with it -- do they actually think that the future generations will actually conform to what noam chomsky described to be the republicans' definition of democracy in necessary illusions? instead, by being so superficially liberal, they are ruining the fabric of their fundamentalism and the values of the house that lee kuan yew built. contrary to what vivian balakrishnan said, the casino is a moral decision, and not what he stipulates to be a litmus test for the maturity of the singaporean population.

what is the world coming to?