AS A young Singaporean, I am disturbed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's remarks that my generation has forgotten the struggles of our past ('MM: Past struggles forgotten by young'; yesterday).
Scarcely a day goes by when I do not hear a positive remark about our city from my foreign friends, and I constantly marvel at what we have achieved as a nation when I compare Singapore to the cities I have visited.
Older Singaporeans are quick to tell me how much we owe our Government, and I do not disagree. MM Lee should rest easy; the younger generation remembers. Government media and education campaigns remind us how far we have come. I know we have the People Action Party's (PAP) old guard to thank for it: They slogged through the hardest times and we, and the third-generation PAP leaders, enjoy the fruits of their labour.
But we do not owe the PAP a living. The party has performed and we are thankful. But the PAP must constantly prove itself worthy of the task.
The PAP is not on auto-pilot and cannot keep doing more of the same and expect our support. It must increase its skills and capabilities, and the party has yet to convince us that it is the only pilot who can see us through a storm. The PAP has failed to make itself fully relevant to my generation.
Its communication is high-handed and old-fashioned; its policies pursue economic growth that was vital in the past, but fail to adequately address today's socio-cultural issues.
The party's rhetoric is staid and uncomfortable and does not speak to the hearts of my peers.
Instead of ushering Singapore into a new era with the stability and strength that only the PAP can provide, the party has chosen to foist its brand of old-world 'stability' and 'strength' upon us. 'From whence we came' is not where we want to go.
Daniel Yap
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