Amos Yee

[ecureilx]

Do you remember back in the 90s the SDU? Social Development Unit. Unmarried 20-somethings had to report to it, attend government organised match-making events. We'll pay you money to go and make babies with that spotty retard in the corner. Sounds completely 'Nazi' now, but that is how it was..

SDU was for unmarried graduates, there was a counterpart for non graduates

But to be fair, it's not like the government forced unmarried folks to attend. Not sure why you say like it was enforced.

They were encouraged. .. when it didn't work well, they switched to more baby bonus, extra subsidy for first time apartment buyers and so and so ..

Like when you go to Rom they give you a list of suggested free seminars conducted by MCYS, or religious and non religious groups, for strong marriages.

And almost every church, independent of the government, does some form of match making, though they may be called Singles for Christ or whatever.

[JR8]

I remember it (rightly or wrongly) as compulsory. My then GF was forced into it, and described it to me. She absolutely loathed it, a few years later she left SG and married a European [Getting that almost perfect 'SGn rich+3 children' family, just in France, not Singapore].
Do you remember how they mocked the 'Social Development Unit', as the SDU; 'Sad, Desperate and Ugly'? Must join, there's an after-work club that you *will* join, to get HDB ah, esp. if you haven't popped a few patriots out by 25? Thankfully society is not so brutal as it was back then. Almost, but not quite.

A state quango that's a match-maker. 'How about that weirdo in the corner - come on, we'll pay you?'

[ecureilx]

I remember it (rightly or wrongly) as compulsory. My then GF was forced into it, and described it to me.

It wasn't compulsory from what I know and recall from my local colleagues comments.

[JR8]

Did you have a local GF who was an enforced member?

[earthfriendly]

I believe the SDU activities were all based on voluntary participation. They did not have the likes of eharmony or Tinder then

[ecureilx]

Did you have a local GF who was an enforced member?

None ever claimed to have been forced to attend Sdu or the non graduate counterpart.

And I am talking of good friends, males and females, unless the government was secretly enforcing on "fertile" females. And .. those days itself there were more females vs males, statistically, so logically the gov should have enforced the law on males than females.

And those were the days where the citizens didn't know the difference between recommended, strongly recommended and compulsory. and every other citizen wrongly thought walls had ears.

Maybe your girl friend was winning sympathy votes from you and it seems to have worked that's my 2 cents.

EF, but there were some private dating agencies, which were focussed on locals only, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had been receiving money from the Government.

[earthfriendly]

Mandatory ? Like National Service huh ?

[ecureilx]

Mandatory ? Like National Service huh ?

And then points awarded for the number of mating sessions completed, to be redeemed for NTUC vouchers ..

[x9200]

It is a fallacy. To think that you can neutralize and standardize Singaporeans. To think that you can standardize human beings. Try as you might. You are just wasting your energy and resources that could have been redirected to better use.

[...]Still, Chan’s speech makes it all too clear that the state after Lee Kuan Yew is bent on controlling the arts through its funding schemes. It will support the arts as a way of promoting the Singapore brand, and neuter the arts as a means of political and social expression.

http://jeeleong.blogspot.com/

Could you believe that almost exactly the same cultural/artistic strategy has a government of an EU country undoubtedly elected in a fully democratic election from a multi-party political system?

You assume the other people think similar ways as yourself, are similarly bright, educated (know history etc) have similar goals and philosophy of life. You may be very disappointed discovering one day that this is simply not true. That the vast majority of the population you thought you were associated with thinks very differently and that people like you are a minority. That the freedom ideas you thought were essential are actually meaningless, or had different meaning for the majority. In that sense what you mentioned is not really a fallacy.

[earthfriendly]

That the vast majority of the population you thought you were associated with thinks very differently and that people like you are a minority.

I already found that out a looooooooooong time ago. I am in the extremely small minority and it can trip me up in the most miniscuous way such as in everyday kind of interaction. What seems natural and logical to me can be very radical and hard-to-digest for many. T'is the way it is. Life will never be exactly the way I like it. But I am at peace with that lah. 45 years in the journey of life is not for nothing. I have learnt and grown so much. Peace !

[x9200]

No necessarily even radical. Radical means they think like you but they are on a different place of some spectra you both share. But majority of people are IMO on a different abstraction level. It's like having a very different culture. They have different life focus and different everyday goals.
Singapore is in a very difficult position in that sense, because the generations got accustomed to be micromanaged and if they try to get a bit broader image they often fail. What I am trying to say, if Singapore would turn all the sudden into more Western type of democracy, it may not solve any of the problems, but almost certainly it would create many new.

[x9200]

You are loathing at the Singapore attempts to increase fertility. You may want to read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_tax

[earthfriendly]

A bachelor tax . That may be it ! To help SG solve its population problem. Hit them where it will hurt.

Joke aside, mother earth has already been stretched for its resources. Not such a bad idea to have a smaller human population lah.

[x9200]

For more modern part of the history it was introduced to boost the populations for the WW2 or more commonly rebuild it after WW2. Some nations lost a lot of its citizens during the WW2.

[earthfriendly]

You do not censor art and human expressions. When you censor art, you censor humanity.

https://www.facebook.com/FromtheTopFans ... =3&theater