At risk of simplification, this static thinking about our social welfare can be roughly summed up in a few statements: Singapore is not a welfare state and should never be, because the Western welfare state is doomed to fail and social welfare is fundamentally un-Asian. As a small country with no natural resources, we have no choice but to define our own style of social welfare, which by and large has worked over the years. So why fix it if it ain’t broke?
Underlying these statements are four powerful ideas about social welfare and Singapore society. In the spirit of critical reflection, let us now examine the truth in each of them. [Ng Kok Hoe].
Read his article here.
Underlying these statements are four powerful ideas about social welfare and Singapore society. In the spirit of critical reflection, let us now examine the truth in each of them. [Ng Kok Hoe].
Read his article here.
4 comments:
Let's keep it short & simple:
"Keep Voting Wisely Until Your Life Gets Better"
Our Singapore money hard at work in investments in foreign banks.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daniel-gross/wall-street-pinches-pennies-effort-avoid-bonus-cuts-181420581.html
That's right.
Let's save money by maintaining the current 40 students to 1 teacher ratio in our primary schools.
Those who scorn at social welfare normally are those who think they are invincible. They have not gone through the worst in life and never feel helpless.
life is so unpredictable, just one mishap or wrong move would push a normal person or happy family to the brink of disaster.
Welfare system allows people to seek help with dignity and provide opportunity for a person or family to reorganise and to move forwrd.
Do take a look at the 2nd last comment "posted by Hoon Loon Goh" on Ng Kok Hoe's article (the linked article above) for a Swedish perspective on the welfare state.
An extraction:
"The welfare state has created a dependent people utterly incapable of finding value in life; instead, they find themselves incapable of typical human feelings such as pride, honor, and empathy. These feelings, along with the means to create meaning to life, have been taken over by the welfare state."
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