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I criticize America so often I feel compelled to criticize my own country (Singapore) to demonstrate that I don’t actually hate any particular grouping or set, but rather human ignorance and stupidity in all its forms. Let’s see, where to begin...
I‘d start with our treatment of our LGBTQ citizens. It’s appalling. Gay sex is still technically illegal in Singapore. There’s this frustrating cat-and-mouse game we play, “oh it’s just a law, we don’t enforce it” while folks often hide behind the law to justify their bigotry
I’ve been trying to understand why we are so backwards on this. Seems like Japan, HK and China are more humane on this front. I suspect it’s regional politics - we don’t want to be the gay capital in a relatively homophobic region? Sad. I know of gay kids who’ve killed themselves
Next... the death penalty. Now... I don’t entirely know if I’m for or against the penalty itself. I have acquaintances who are activists who are strongly against, and have done lots of reading and research. Personally I think there are worse things in life than death. But...
What I have an issue with is the glib, flippant, sanctimonious attitude many Singaporeans have towards the death penalty. There is a moral posturing that happens that’s outright medieval. If someone gets arrested for drugs, we get “hang him!!!” in the comments. What the fuck
In a way, Singaporeans are kind of like mini-Americans on this front: we are relatively wealthier than our neighbours, and many of us think that this somehow makes us *better people*. Some Singaporeans sincerely think themselves civilised in a region of barbaric savages.
What do these barbaric savages do? They build our roads and our homes, they care for our children and our elderly. Singaporeans are notoriously indifferent to the well-being of transient workers. Their lives literally matter less. And we think ourselves civilized https://t.co/qaQgmfQrep
I think broadly, “hang him!!!” and “how can dis B allow??” capture a lot about Singapore. We‘re weirdly gleeful to witness other people suffer &get punished,. We’re the opposite of “I ain’t no snitch” - we love reporting each other to the authorities + the court of public opinion https://t.co/r0R11suJt8
I wouldn’t complain about this to a global audience outside of a context like this (complaining itself is another Singaporean pastime), but it’s true that we are frustratingly hostile, repressive, even contemptuous towards anybody trying to be creative https://t.co/V9ZLNrdMwf
