Daily Lessons from Life 22 September 2012 - Chinese Public Opinion Feedback Session

Attend my FIRST Chinese language public feedback session with the government ministers organized by the Singapore Chinese newspaper in conjunction with the REACH, government feedback unit, this morning.

It was an eye openers as people lined up to speak of issues that concerned them though the theme of the session is to focus on the people's take on what PM Lee's National Rally speech on: 'Having a Home with Hope and Heart'.

What struck me most was the number of Mainland Chinese that spoke up in this session. About 6 out of 23 who spoke, including yours truly. Except for one who has mistaken the session to be an 'appeal for great injustice or miscarriage of laws' on a certain individual, the rest spoke of relevant issues like the standard of Chinese language in Singapore, recent flood of immigration with questionable background and qualification, high public housing prices for the younger generation, and the 'decline of moral standard and characters building'.

Minister Gan Kim Yong spoke very good Mandarin and I was impressed. Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing spoke fairly good Mandarin as well. They seemed to be taking in the issues and feedback shared well and provide separate succinct summaries well.

Indeed, the biggest challenge is for Singapore to re-build the moral standard and characters building of the next generation and the generation just before them as some correctly pointed out that some parents are themselves NOT good models in this area.

Building moral values and characters will take a longer and definitely sustained effort for it to be successful. It cannot be flavor of the month or the year but for a decade or two! Work on the current batch of parents and those who are getting marry and become parents. Moral values and characters building are BEST developed at home when the babies are very young. The schools will reinforce and where necessary 'correct' some of those who did not behave with the 'common right values' that Singapore believes to be the norm and hold dear.