Tanjong Pagar - The Best Ranking GRC - by watermark?
Posted: June 17, 2010 by fievel in Labels: politics, SingaporeRecently the Ministry of National Development, Singapore, released an appraisal report [read this] and the result was..no prizes once again for guessing..
"The best-scoring town councils appear to be Tanjong Pagar, where Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is an MP, and Ang Mo Kio, the Prime Minister’s constituency."
As if the heavens heard the outcries, once again a "freak" flash flood had to occur in nowhere else but Orchard Road, Tanjong Pagar GRC. I'm impressed by this particular 'act-of-god'.
I find it rather amusing actually.
Champaign-Urbana (where I did my Phd) suffered flash floods a few days before Singapore did. The big concern there was damage-mitigation and dealing with the dangers posed by flooded basements and electrical systems. Staff were sent to survey the potential for danger and to keep people informed. There have been (so far) no complaints about city management. Why? Well, flash floods are rare but expected over there. The weather service attempts to predict such events and there exists a well-known web site issuing warnings about possible flash floods so people can try to be prepared for it.
In Singapore, I guess the 2-edged sword has finally swung around at a government that has taken the perverse joy of claiming credit for everything good that happens, unaware(?) that this builds up an expectation (from citizens) that the government must also then take responsibility for everything. Yes, it was a freak event. A freak event that cannot be stopped, but there are things a good government can do for its people - warn, mitigate and rehabilitate. As far as I know, the Singapore government has already failed the first two. Let us see if they would fail the third.