Who can you trust?

Someone asked me.

Mr. Tan. Do you trust people whom you do not know? How long does it take for you to trust them. What are the tests that you do before you trust them.

Here is my answer.

I trust people based on their sincerity and honesty. If they make statements on what they intend to do, I will trust them to carry them out.

But my trust is not absoute. I do not trust them with money, except maybe a small amount that I can afford to give away.

I do not trust them with secrets. Anyway, I have few secrets as I intend to be quite open with my beliefs and views.

For example, I have stated quite openly that I do not like the policies that are put out by PM Lee. This is not a secret.

If someone tells me secrets about other people, I do not believe them absolutely. I do not distrust them either. I just accept is as "maybe it is true, but it may not be true".

I do not gossip about other people.

If someone approaches me and tells me that he or she will help work with me towards the common goal, for example, to break the PAP stranglehold on power, I will accept him on his words. I do not worry or prejudge that he might be a mole.

From my observation, my attitude is quite different from most other people in Singapore. They tend to be judgmental. They tend to be distrustful. They tend to classify people into compartments - can be trusted, cannot be trusted.

What are your views?

Tan Kin Lian