Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally Speech 2006: The Blogosphere Replies

Commentary from Singapore Angle, Mr Wang, Gayle Goh, Rambo Tan, Mr Brown, Dr Huang, Molly Meek, and more.
You can find a transcript of the entire speech here. Special Thanks to BL and HC of SGE and SA for helping this effort. All images courtesy of Sei-ji Rakugaki @ My Sketchbook, reproduced here with permission.

Contents:
1. Pre Speech Commentary
2. Post Speech Commentary

• A. The Economy
• B. The Region
• C. Our Population
• D. The Digital Age
• E. Singapore Heartware

…Read it

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Let’s welcome foreign talent, but…

“On the whole, I feel that the Government’s immigration policies welcoming foreign talent are important for Singapore to stay competitive. PM Lee has taken a progressive step by encouraging all Singaporeans to accept these immigrants with open arms and recognise them for their contributions to our economy and our society.” …more (Singapore Patriot)

Do Singaporeans Believe in Free Markets (for Lawyers)?

“I agree with the view that the government’s micromanagement of the market for lawyers is doomed to fail. There will always be unforeseeable events that will make any government prediction inaccurate, particularly since it takes several years to train a new lawyer. However, I think that this line of argument is misplaced. The problem is not poor forecasting skill, it is the interference in the market in the first place.” …more (Singapore Economist)

Taxi problem is not a taxi problem

“Long waits for taxis have been the subject of quite a few news articles and letters to the editor recently. Many are convinced that the number of taxis in Singapore is insufficient.” …more (Yawning Bread)

The voting conundrum

“The right not to vote is the fundamental voting freedom – small wonder voting is compulsory in Singapore

Here’s Benjamin Ho. In between lengthy posts about his God, he is, like this blogger, a smalltime pundit and in one post he explains why statistics don’t matter. What a way to denigrate what might turn out to be the most important branch of mathematics in 21st century science.” …more (Two Steps from Twilight)

The Location of a Name

“Ong Soh Chin (Straits Times, Review, 19/8/06, p. S10) has written a thought-provoking review of the recently staged play National Language Class inspired by the painting of the same name by Chua Mia Tee (above). For Ong, the interplay of Malay and Chinese languages and personas in the play-painting produces poignant questions of national identity. The questions scribbled on the chalkboard in the play-painting, ‘siapa nama kamu?’ (what is your name?) and ‘di-mana awak tinggal?’ (where do you leave?), exemplify the questions that need to be asked of Singaporeans today, forty-one years after independence.” …more (Singapore Angle)

PM’s Rally Speech – The Digital Age

This part of PM Lee’s rally speech is probably the most relevant to the blogosphere. The entire speech can be found here

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The Digital Age – reaping the benefits, managing risks

Besides the population issue, another thing which is happening to us right now and is going to have a big impact on us is the digital age. The new technologies, the Internet, handphones, PDAs, all kinds of things which beep, which vibrate, which communicate, which connect us to cyberspace, not in heaven but somewhere on earth. It’s a completely different world. We haven’t talked about it but you just think back one generation how things have changed.

When I was in university, away three years, came back once. I telephoned home three times, once a year to report results. Very big event, very difficult to set up, cost a lot of money. You speak for three minutes, you put down the phone. Now, families communicate across the world as if they were side by side. I met one mother who told me, “My daughter is in London, teenager, every night she gets home she will SMS me to tell me she has got home safely.” I met another father, this one a grassroots leader in West Coast with Iswaran, his son is in Florida, grown up, married, but every day he will talk to his son video camera, MSN, Microsoft Networks, almost free. It’s instantly. If he’s on the other side of the world, you will call him. If he is two tables away from you, you will also telephone call him.

So we’ve changed. How we think and concentrate has changed.