It's all about Amelioration

Remember the Malaysia Cup of the 90′s? Where the whole nation as one stood behind household names like Fandi, Abbas, Malek, Sundram, to slaughter our Malaysia opponents? How the National Stadium was drenched in a sea of red every single match? How these mere soccer players achieved celebrity status and even produced their own music album? The national fervor back then still brings a smile every time I reminisce.

Fast forward to today and the much talked about YOG. It is supposedly a world class event, hosted by yours truly and boasts many young local athletes competing as well. But to say that the support is lukewarm is a total overstatement. Judging from the abysmal attendants (coerced school kids does not count) especially the concert celebration held in conjunction with the event and reading comments among netizens, I sense a lot of discontentment.  The current YOG, it seems, is bearing the brunt for the ruling party’s policy failures of late. Quite a number are hoping that it is an epic failure that serves as a slap in the face to the ruling party who just doesn’t get it.  I think that politics and sports should never be mixed but to me, this YOG might be a turning point in Singapore’s history. It simply personifies the widening disparity between what the ruling party and true blue Singaporeans think. While most of us are struggling to make ends meet, politicians are busy blowing their trumpets to the world. And that is the crux of the problem.

It is very concerning when the government of a country is too obsessed over its own branding. Like a chronic narcissist looking at the mirror and flexing his biceps, I don’t understand how a government can blow its budget by 3 times by splurging millions on an excessive showcase but be oblivious to its issues in their backyard. And worse,  do all that with a straight face. Some  citizens might think what issues? Well, if you bloody care to step out of your material chasing, capitalist world and probe deeper, you’ll understand.

Please do not use the excuse of sportsmanship and embracing the youth spirit to defend one’s policies. That is just merely attempting to use sophistry to divert one’s ulterior motives. It is as though us citizens don’t know our ruling party well enough. It’s all about the money and potential economic benefits isn’t it?  Because if it is not just about the economic benefits then you would understand that national spirit cannot be bought, blatant importing of foreign athletes is detriment to the development of our young  and most of all in sports, winning is not everything.

And before anyone comes and thinks that organizing such events will help boost our economic standing which will further translate into added benefits for citizens, think again. It is already proven statistically that we have one of the lowest wage to GDP ratio among developed countries as well as a widening income gap (measured by the Gini coefficient), thus good economic numbers don’t mean a thing to an average Singaporean until structural changes are being made.

To end off, I want to salute our young sportsmen, volunteers and “volunteers” for the tireless  hours in contributing to the YOG event. Please don’t ostracize your fellow Singaporeans if they sound too negative and slam the games. The intended target is not you because we just want to be heard.   Perhaps it’s also a good time to ask yourselves whether you are a patriotic Singaporean because you fly our flag during such events OR because you question and challenge the way our country is governed for the betterment of society and the majority?