Laziness takes many forms…

So my post a few days ago about the inconsistent/repressive feel of Singapore generated a great many replies, and, in typical fashion, rather than coming up with anything new or original, I’ll post a few of them. A particularly interesting one, especially in the context of laziness, comes form a mystery source. You see, my dear friend and Creativity in Business co-conspirator Paawan Kothari often reprints posts from my blog in her INSEAD blog on Business Week…and usually takes credit for them (no….). One response SHE got to that piece was the following:

“Chris has asked very thought-provoking questions **(hasn’t he though? What a guy!)**. New York, London and Singapore are among the world’s top financial centers and targets of terrorist threats or criminal conspiracy. In a post 9-11 world, it is no wonder that law enforcers are a bit more trigger-happy compared with those in other cities. I believe that administration and law enforcement get really tough on crime as a reaction to the callousness of previous administrators. The price of a heavy-handed approach is the harassment of a few innocents. However, as long as the administrators in a democratic society act quickly to rehabilitate the innocents, most people will not commit crimes against the administration out of hate.”

I hope a) this person is right and b) “rehabilitation of the innocents” is happening much more than I’m aware of. Personally, I find that it is not simply the harassment (or even killing, as in the Diallo case) of a few innocents but in fact systemic discrimination as a matter of departmental strategy, which feeds into the press and the psyches of those who do honestly believe that the law is protecting them (ie: not those getting “harassed”) and that this creates gulfs between different members of society.

Another tack was taken by Nick “Pure Energy” Gray:

“I completely agree with you mate but the thing that I would comment on (far less elegantly than your good self) **(isn’t he sweet? And what taste!)** is that the big difference between here and the US is that the people here generally seem far more happy to be controlled. There seems to me to be an underlying contentedness with the system as it appears to work well for most people living here and very rarely do Singaporeans feel genuinely threatened… what is particularly funny for me is that if you look around there are constantly adverts (on tv and on the street) that warn you of pickpockets/terrorist attacks/car thieves and the such which I feel is the governments clever little way of keeping the peoples minds focused on their need for vigilance and security… and fear! Why so much security is needed in this country is beyond me but it is again a sign (I find) of the underlying fear which the govt likes to keep the people under so that they are subservient… obviously the ex-pats and foreigners are keen to tow the line simply cos they do not want to get publicly flogged or hung!”

These are interesting points. While I can’t claim to have been here long enough to have a finger on the pulse of your average Singaporean (if such a thing exists), what I would say is that, whether or not we see any serious threats to its national security, Singapore cannot afford any vulnerability. Much like Israel's no-tolerance stance on a nuclear-armed Iran, any major terrorist threat (and this is NOT to say that I consider Iran a terrorist threat. In fact, I do not at all. It’s merely an analogy) to Singapore is truly an existential threat, ie: if a large scale attack/natural disaster/what have you occurred here there is no other city to support Singapore (unlike, say post-Katrina New Orleans being able to rely on economic support etc. from the rest of the US). The city IS the country, so if something major happens, Singapore could quite easily cease to exist. While I’m aware of no major event since the Singapore Airlines highjacking in 1991, given the stakes, a certain degree of “prudence” is to be understood. So….buckle up for safety….?