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National
Shame
01
May 07
The
media in Singapore sank to a new low. In the 2007
Freedom of the Press Survey conducted by Freedom House, Straits
Times' and colleagues' international ranking dropped from
146th to 154th,
alongside Afghanistan, Djibouti, and Gabon.
In
1990 there were 88,000
cases seeking help of mental professionals. This figure escalated
to 147,000 in
1998. In 1990 only 8.4% of
Singaporeans suffered from neurotic disorders such as anxiety and
depression. In 1998 16.6%
succumbed to these disorders. This problem continues as more
people are being diagnosed with mental disorders due to financial
woes.
In 1999, nearly 2,000
children did not attend school because their parents could not
afford it. The estimate was greater for the recent years.
A
PriceWaterHouseCoopers report in 2006 found that the "average
Singapore household is one of the most indebted in the world."
At 174% of the personal disposable
income, the household debt in Singapore surpasses that of even
Britain (116%), Japan (100%) and the United States (90%).
In Nov 2003,
Mrs Lee Kuan Yew suffered a stroke in London, the Minister Mentor
called Singapore Airlines to fly his wife home within 48
hours. The airline converted the plane into a flying hospital
replete with doctors, nurses and airline officials and promptly
whisked Mrs Lee back to Singapore.
In 2006,
a nurse was prosecuted for wrongly administering a drug to an
elderly resident in a welfare home which resulted in his death.
The coroner, however, came to her defence because she was
single-handedly looking after 180
patients.
In
a survey done by ChannelNewsAsia in 2007, more than 50%
young Singaporeans revealed that they wanted
to migrate and live in another country! In
fact 37%
of the respondents said they were not patriotic.
In 1993, 22,000
Singaporeans over the age 65
continued to work for a living. By 2003,
10 years later, the number swelled
to more than 35,000, a jump of
57%.
Ah Loh, a widower,
earns his keeps sometimes by carrying coffins and sometimes by
hauling fish. His monthly earnings? $400—on
a good month. His elderly mother takes care of his children in a
cramped, squalid flat.
Ministers should not be
expected to make "unreasonable financial sacrifices."
(Lee
Hsien Loong, justifying hiking his pay to $3.1
million a year.)
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