R.E.S.P.E.C.T

I always believe in giving credit when its due, and today's post is about giving credit. Its about recognising the efforts and contributions of certain groups of people and highlighting the characteristics that makes them special. So without wasting any time, let us dive straight into the first group.

BODYBUILDERS

You know every now and then you take a walk down town or anywhere with lotsa human activity, and you are very much likely to bump into many of these hardcore bodybuilders. And you will know a bodybuilder when you see one, not just because of those bulging muscles, but also because of their highly unproportional body structure. And then you think to yourself, damn.. This people need our respect. Of course they do, especially when they spend so much of time, effort, sweat and whatever not, on manipulating their body for a specific purpose, though many of us are unable to understand what the purpose is. But credit has to be given to their exemplary discipline, in doing something to themselves, that not only makes them look ugly, but is also potentially harmful to their health (with all the dietary requirements that accompany bodybuilding), and might also have life altering effects. Why they body-build with such fervent enthusiasm, i never will be able to know. They might try to hide behind an insecure self by building up their physical structure, but hey even that is respect worthy too.. Bruce lee, is by far the world's best known martial arts exponent, and he had a way of training his body that made him look hot as well as fit. Though many of these bodybuilders, might never be able to define the meanings of healthy and fit, they deserve my respect for the sheer effort they put into what they do, even if what they do is highly contradictory.

GOSSIPMONGERS

Ohhh.. These people deserve even more respect than the bodybuilders. I mean, can you imagine the effort they put into their tasks. Sitting down with a group of potentially uninterested people, engaging them into a conversation, and then giving them totally unnecessary information and critiques about other people, and then injecting the right amount of humour and sarcasm to make themselves look believable?? Jus typin it out takes so much effort. Imagine doing it. Damn they have my respect. I mean can you even imagine the repercussions these people face. Not only are they stigmatised as "bitches" and "bastards", they also face the possibility that they might do exactly the same things that they bitch about other people doing. But they continue what they do, so fearlessly, and not giving two hoots about the hypocrisy label that might befall them. And not forgetting the countless enemies they make along the way. Yet they persist in doing what they do. Damn.. These people definitely have my respect.

PESSIMISTS

If the previous two groups earned my respect, these last group of people have taken it for wholesale. When i mean pessimists, i do not talk about the practical people who know when the end is near. I'm talking more about the people, who not only believe that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, but rather believe that there is no light at all. You know who i'm talking about. The one who pours cold water on every plan discussed. The one who is fearful, and has no hope whatsoever for anything. The one who believes that there is no point in doing anything to salvage a situation since it is gonna be over any way. And trust me, this people definitely have my respect. Hope is what makes the world go round. When the shit around you, makes you feel sad and gloomy, Hope is wad makes your heart go warm. And im sure many of you might have felt that. (hope warming your heart in a near hopeless situation). And that simply is why, pessimists have my respect. Simply because they live their lives with no warmth. I mean, can you imagine being negative about everything. That must be damn sad. But these people live every waking day with such sadness, and in fact live it as their norm, so it really isnt sad for them. Now isn't that respect worthy? If not for pessimists, the world would be too happy a place, where everything is possible. Now would you want such a world? That is why, pessimists have been the ideal synonym for respect-worthy, in my dictionary.

Now let us just take a moment, to be in awe over the ideals represented by these above groups of people and also curse our wretched self, (me for writing this post, and you for reading it). I have absolutely no purpose in writing this, except to put in black and white my thoughts on this current day. Now accept my sincere apologies for having you read this literal diarrhoea, and be rest assured that the next post will DEFINITELY be more RESPECT-WORTHY!

What would you do?

Everytime i hear someone say nasty about our PAP government, i get pissed. Not because i'm a fan of the PAP, (im not actually), but its because i hear them making stupid comments. Comments that are made just for the sake of saying sumthg intellectual. Comments that are made to show off one's political knowledge, but ends up highlighting their supreme ignorance. Now pardon me, if i come across as too arrogant. But the converse is true. I refrain from making broad sweeping statements, simply because im humble enough to know that i do not know all the facts. And hence, if i do not know much, how can i criticise something that has been around for a long long time.

Now let's list the main arguments against PAP.

1. Lack of political Freedom

• Electional maneouvring
• Lawsuits against dissenters
• Control of media
• Control of rights to free speech

2. Cronyism and nepotism

• Placing relatives and close ones in high places
• Every powerful organisation helmed by a political insider
• Dynasty like political succession
• Barrier to entry in politics

3. Judicial oppression

• Courts not being free
• Verdicts rarely pressed against the state

And so the list goes on blah blah blah.. Now im just asking you to follow me on a imaginary ride. Now just close your eyes. Close it. Im telling you right.. Close for 3 seconds... ok now u can open your eyes.. Now imagine yourself, being the ruler of a young nation, that has nothing. Except its people. And you have no infrastructure and no money whatsoever, but you have to build and run this country. What would you do?

You would start by assembling a team of skilled people and you would want foreign investment, and you would do all the necessary things required. Because you got the confidence, that you can pull this through and you got the confidence that you have the right team. Now there is only the small problem of elections. Every 5 yrs, there is a small possibility that another party, can come to power just by stirring up rhetoric and making empty promises. And everythg that you have planned for can come to naught. You have seen that happening all around the world. So what do u do? To make sure that an unqualified opponent, never even comes close to messing up ur system, ur country, ur nation. You have to do something, so that you yourself need not have to worry about needless election based politics, that will take your time and energy away from doing good for the people. What would you do? Think.. How can you come up with a system that will solve the problems that have been mentioned in this paragraph. What would you do?

Then there is the problem of actually running the country. The civil service is the most important aspect of any country, yet bureaucracy is the worst problem in so many countries. How would you make sure, that the people who are running the country are the best in what they do? How would you ensure, that once they are in a position of power, they will not abuse that power and are held accountable for their actions. They say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. How would you ensure that the people in the most sensitive areas of this country that you are building from nothing, are not even tempted to do anything wrong. What would you do to make sure the best are running the most important areas of the country. What would you do?

The beauty about law is that it is like a condom. Never 100% safe. There is always a loophole somewhere to be exploited. Just ask those criminal lawyers. So what would you do, if sum1 who is threatening to destroy the system that you have created, is able to exploit technical loopholes and continue doing their shitwork. What would you do, to help protect the law that is supposed to protect the people. What would you do?

This is not propaganda. I'm not joining the PAP Youth. Not yet. I don't think im worthy anyways.. But its just a simple exercise, to let people know that running a country is not easy. Yes i believe the PAP has made mistakes along the way. I for one, am against its policy of putting foreigners ahead of locals. But whenever the PAP realises that it makes a mistake, it attempts to negate it. This characteristic is never given credit in the media. Opposition parties never admit that they are wrong, but the PAP always rectifies its mistakes, the moment it realises it makes one, and does not even give people a chance to rebut. In any case what's the point of pointing out a mistake, when you dun have solutions. I dun have a solution for the foreigner vs local conflict, atleast not yet, so i keep my bloody mouth shut. When i do, you guys reading will be the first to know. But till then, if you do not have better solutions than PAP, keep your mouth and fingers shut! If you do however, you can either choose to be a good opposition politician like chiam see tong, or you can be a crazy nut that pushes the Opposition's cause 10yrs backwards, or you could join one of the grassroots organisations. You will contribute more there, than toking cock in your beer tables. Have a great day people. Love ya'all.. With LOVE.. L.O.V.E!