A walk along the dusty side

Ho Chi Minh City. A city very unlike Singapore. You would go as much as to say that it is Singapore in the 70s, and you cannot be too wrong about it, judging from the less than modern and world-class infrastructure. Pavements not properly cemented, pollution brought about by the sheer numbers of motorcycles cruising through the narrow streets, just to name a few grouses a typical Singaporean would utter. Little wonder, especially when we are being constantly fed with a diet of state-sanctioned proclaimations that everything has to be "world-class" and "first-world".

Yet, there is something admirable about this people -their ability to survive the harsh conditions and against the odds (don't forget they fought two superpowers in the last century and drove them away). If that is something to be proud of, they are not wearing that emotion on their sleeves (there again, maybe not, for decades of war has caused widespread poverty in many parts of the country, with an average GDP per capita of US$1,024 as of year 2008.)

Before we find ourselves feeling a swell of pride that in terms of GDP per capita we are far ahead, let's take a moment and reflect: besides GDP figures and many other indicators that will give credence to the view that Singapore is a "little paradise", what would indicators that measure family values, national pride, feelings of well-being and HAPPINESS tell us? I suspect it will be an ugly reflection, if these are the mirror images that show us for who we are.

"Hardworking", "uncomplaining", "adaptable" are some of the adjectives I can garner to describe them (should I include subservient?) I wonder if we can say that of the large majority of Singaporeans, perhaps with the exception of the rather unflattering adjective at the tail end? Again, we can only be what we have been socially engineered to become.