National Day Rally: why were these pressing concerns ignored?

PM Lee addressed some of the concerns of Singaporeans eg. housing, education, overcrowding on the MRT, influx of foreign workerss, religious extremism and so on.

But I feel that he spent too much time on motivational talk as when he held up certain individuals worth emulating.

Instead he could have focused on the real concerns of the average Singaporean as expressed in coffee shop talk, letters to the newspapers and feedback in blogosphere.

Some of these concerns are

-public security, in particular on the MRT

-increasing incidents of violent crime

-lack of police presence in HDB estates and public  places to deter crime

-lack of traffic police presence on our roads and expressways, leading to a culture of dangerous, reckless and rude driving even to the extent of racing in Orchard Road and hit-and-run accidents

-a culture of private tuition among our students

-the prevalence of poor school discipline

-thuggish and violent behaviour eg. assaults on bus captains and passengers

-intolerance of dissenting views e.g. an Authority went after a political party selling their newsletters

-unlevel playing field in the political arena

-”limited political freedoms” (Newsweek magazine)

-a lack of respect for human rights

-filial piety lacking among the young

-general disrespect for senior citizens and the elderly

-the many ERP gantries which many feel are just revenue-raising measures

-the need for evening and Saturday ERP

I am sure you have other concerns that you hoped PM Lee had addressed.

These are the issues people are talking about, some with vehemence, even virulence, and if not addressed and resolved will lead to resentment.

If they are really serious about building a democratic society based on justice and equality as envisioned in our National Pledge, then some of these concerns should be the prime preoccupations of PM Lee and his government.

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