Sunday, September 25, 2011

Rising divisiveness

Seah Chiang Nee, a journalist for The Star, wrote an article on Rising level of divisiveness in Singapore. This follows the report on newly-appointed CEO of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), Isabella Loh, who came under public fire after she abruptly cancelled a Halloween Horrors event at Night Safari, just 2 weeks before the actual commencement. The controversy purported that she made this abrupt decision following a visit from newly-appointed President Tony Tan who commented that the park should have more family-oriented and wholesome activities. "This stirred anger among 1,000 fans who had bought advance tickets, some staff members and 17 polytechnic students, who were taking part in it as a final-year grading exercise. The outcry shows the pace of change here and how strongly young Singaporeans would respond to a top-down policy decision, taken without a rational explanation."

The question asked was if it is a case of being too eager to please a certain political figure, to cancel it just 2 weeks before the event and write off losses of almost a million dollars in preparations, when alternatively she could have let this year's event to go on and cancel all subsequent events? It was reported that staff had advised her otherwise on several issues but she had bulldozed and insisted on her ways, and if this attitude persists, it is likely that the staff will suffer and some will even leave (see also article from The New Paper: Night Safari staff divided over canned event).

The bigger issue behind it is that the ‘Political divide must not become national divide’ as advised by former minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew when addressing undergraduates at the Nanyang Technological University ministerial forum, "as the latter situation will mar the country's performance and growth."

No comments: