The critic, the victim

I read the previous post by Cheng Tju and looked at the comments. And it was interesting as this Indonesian artist points out a mistake in Cheng Tju's knowledge. And Cheng Tju graciously accepts it. I hope he does.

A lot (a lot does not mean most) of Singaporeans are not open to criticism and opposing views. They can say,"I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion." But what these narrow-minded Singaporeans really should say is,"I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion, as long as they do not disagree with each other or are not negative." Like, WTF!

Narrow minded people can come from any part of the world. And they can be very irritating to talk to because you are expected to agree with them, or shut up. And that comes back down to me writing criticism. When you write an opinion on a blog, you risk being labelled as being "full of yourself". What gives me the confidence to write is the fact that I did my homework. That is to say, I spent time doing research and analysis to ensure as objective an opinion as possible. I can make mistakes. I am open to opposing views, but only from people who did their homework as well. A person who talks without doing his/her homework is plain ignorant, don't you think?

But this local society we have here, encourages ignorance in a way. If you have an opposing or negative view, you suck. Therefore, to be friends with everyone, you need to have agreeable views, even if the views hold no truth. And you are expected to try and be friends with everyone, even though it is unrealistic. Never mind if the opinion is a lie and might lead to harm and death. Positive opinions matter more than facts. In fact, for some people, they don't even know what is fact. They know the definition, but understanding what that definition means is out of their reach.

I'll give a hypothetical example to illustrate another point. What if Singaporeans generally love the movie Sucker Punch and don't find it sexist? But in the western world, people are calling it sexist and crappy. So if I agree with the billions of Europeans and Americans, that might put me in the eye of some Singaporeans, a bad guy or having no taste in movies. Some might even say I am snobbish about films, simply because I choose to agree with the billions of people outside rather than a few millions in Singapore. Like, WTF! (Note: This scenario is strictly hypothetical. It is not meant to reflect reality in anyway.This note is for people who are unable to understand what a hypothetical example is and thus take it too seriously. The writer apologizes for your inability to understand complex statements and takes responsibility because you only know how to blame others for your failure. If you wish to ïnsult me for "being stupid", you are welcome to do so.)

I support PAP. I think they are the best government Singapore has, even though they have been making mistakes here and there. So, are there any anti-PAP citizens who would like to label me as a mindless drone-like, short-sighted, elitist-sympathizing PAP dog?

PS: This criticism does not state that the majority of Singaporeans are narrow minded. There are many Singaporeans who are kind and open to ideas, as well as being pro-PAP. However, those who do find this article offending are probably guilty of being narrow minded. If you are one, just shut up and agree with me. And stop being so ignorant!