From Sarcasm to Absurdum
Outwitting Censorship
While Yee Jun Xian's original letter to Today newspaper was a nice work of sarcasm, it was interesting how the newspaper has decided to edit out the sarcastic portions, unintentionally making the letter an awesome work of reductio ad absurdum.
It does put Jun Xian in a less-than-positive light since the edited letter portrayed him as a narrow-minded, dogmatic individual, probably guilty of the God-complex.
But I think Jun Xian has achieved his more than just original objective through the publication of the letter. The almost nut-case, redneck sort of argument 'Writers write. Teachers teach. Opposition MPs oppose. The logic is simple and irrefutable.' drives home the absurdity of People's Association's argument as well as the fundamental paradigm about the role of our opposition that has been perpetuated by the ruling party all these while.
To a large extent, Today editors probably did a good thing. It's just up to readers' intelligence to read between the lines and take in the message.
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September 6th, 2011 - 18:18
” the role of our opposition that has been perpetuated by the ruling party all these while. ”
This is in fact the problem with Singapore politics – the PAP blatantly manipulates how the people should see any issue that is of any importance, whether it be in politics, education, charity, civil society, health etc, you name it.
Whenever it appears to be silent or reticent on an issue, it is not that it had be ‘deaf’ to it. The silence is in fact a tactical of not strategic one. It boils down to the govt would only engage any one or issue ON TERMS THAT IT DECIDES, not on common sense, not on rational approach, not on a level playing field, not on neutral mature grounds, and particularly not on terms of an opposition or any that it deems as disadvantageous to a status quo it wants.
There are scores of such examples, over the 40 odd years of PAP rule. Very often we see them manifested in the thrashing of the political opposition. The length or the level the govt is prepared to stoop to to get its way with things or with you is still happening around us. The latest being PA-GATE.
Mind you the govt would always claim that it is indulging them ‘for the sake of the people/country’. So it is NEVER wrong-even when admitting it was wrong (like how PM Lee promised to ‘engage’ the masses better, just days before & may 2011, polling day. The way, lky is still pontificating from the many staged stages, is like business as usual, like he has never left the cabinet! Likewise, ESM Goh. In other countries, this would be regarded as a terrible joke, played on the electorate , but not in this little dot where anything that the PAP govt does, go. It’s legal, its the law! Not much different, really when compared to the shenanigan of leaders like Gaddafi and many African countries.