Community Project in southern Morocco

My friend and classmate at Oxford, Harsh, will be embarking on a community-initiated development project in Morocco. He will be part of team of volunteers working for 3 weeks in the Zagora province of southern Morocco with Oxford Development Abroad. They are currently raising funds to construct a fence around a school and each have a target of £750, all of which goes towards construction materials and hiring local workers. 


I think this is a fantastic initiative and i kindly ask you to consider giving something. Any contribution counts! The link is http://www.justgiving.com/Harsh-Sahni.


cheers,
Jordan

Responsiveness or the lack thereof?

I thought i'd write a short note about something that struck me after reading the Straits Times today on the problem with air-conditioners at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). According to the ST, two shows had to be cancelled and restaurants in the building had to scramble to put in place temporary cooling measures for patrons. What struck me however were the remarks made by the RWS spokesperson:  'These changes should have minimal impact on our normal resort operations.'

This made me think about the Government's response to citizens after the General Elections and how there had been a noticeable push since May 7 to transform and make the PAP more responsive to citizen's needs. Had the PAP adopted the attitude of the RWS management as encapsulated in the remarks above, that would likely have been very costly. It is still early days to make any judgement on how the party has transformed itself since the elections but the signs are there that change is being rolled out at every level of the Government.

Surely, RWS could learn a thing or two from the elections!

Politics and society

I would like to share a few lines from a book i'm currently reading:

As long as things work smoothly the majority of people give them little heed, but, if an additional tax be levied, they are immediately interested in politics.' (taken from 'Practical Politics or The Liberalism of To-Day' by Alfred F. Robbins)

I felt this is relevant for all democracies, young and old alike, and closer to home, it strikes a chord when one looks at the recent elections in Singapore where a record 93% of over 2 million voters turned out to cast their vote on 7 May (Source: Asiaone). There is a mood of political fervour in Singapore today, witnessed not only in coffeeshop small talk, but also on the Internet through the participation of netizens eager to express their views on political developments at home. I think this is indeed an extremely positive development for our country and society and it is heartening also to see youth increasingly talking and showing interest in such issues where they had previously been apathetic.

Nonetheless, it would be a great pity should we slip back into a zone of comfort and indifference and only awake until something serious enough happens before we debate and discuss the future of our country and the issues that affect us. Indeed, the government has and is making a valiant attempt to introspect its approach to engaging with citizens and the policies that affect the livelihood of many Singaporeans. But surely this will not succeed if the citizens themselves are passive and let the politicians run the show only to complain at the next election if the GST goes up or housing prices sky-rocket. Every citizen, regardless of race, language, or religion, has a duty to contribute to the country. Only if we have a two-way engagement between government and society can we then hope for a more meaningful and sustainable partnership and one that gives a sense of ownership to every citizen.

Aftermath of GE 2011

'Take for example, all the criticisms that have been made about us and our system that it stifles the opposition, that the GRCs perpetuate the ruling party. Well, it has been proven wrong, because the system works.' - Prof S. Jayakumar, 9 May