The Host

Was reading the papers today when i came across this article that said that the Worldbank and the IMF have criticised Singapore’s policy on not letting people take part in outdoor demonstrations here.  According to the article, they felt that it was a “bad decision” on Singapore’s part to not let people who were against the policies of the organisations onto our shores because the WB & IMF enjoy “engaging” these parties on their differences.

Come on now.  U mean to say that before u chaps decided on using Singapore as the venue of the meeting, u guys didn’t know how strict we were on public order & security?

Personally, i feel that the comments sound rather ungrateful.  Here we are, doing up our city gardens, tightening security all round, mobilising the entire freaking police force – both active servicemen as well as reservist personnel, inconveniencing Singaporeans who happen to be working at offices near your meeting place, and all we get is a “bad decision”, and a subtle threat that due to our tight security measures, you guys will take that into account when u decide on your next IMF meeting venue?  What the heck do you guys want?  Should we just let some terrorists bomb u guys to death?  Perhaps u’ll enjoy that excitement a little more?

As it is, there has been much criticism in the local media that the government is going over the top in welcoming these foreign delegates.  I wasn’t too bothered about it ‘cos i felt that being as tiny as we are, being able to “customise” and decorate the city for this sort of international event, made Singapore unique, and set us apart from other countries.  Never mind that we’ll never see the bright floral blooms in Orchard Road after this event, or how silly it seems to have a campaign to tell Singaporeans to smile for our foreign delegates.  The only thing i ask for is this – whatever you do, keep Singapore safe.  Don’t let our lives or property be threatened in any way because of this event.

Which is why i think the IMF & the WB are such ingrates.  We have done much to accomodate you, so don’t try to impose your values on us.  Your lives may be cheap and not worth much, but our lives are valuable.  Just because we have given an inch in welcoming u, doesn’t mean you can demand a yard in having our security threatened.

Speaking of The Host.  It’s a good movie… i’m not big on the social-political commentary that some have read into the movie.  I just like the story of how a family went all out to save a member.  That was the bottomline that mattered to me – whatever the situation, a family member (or a Singaporean), comes first.

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My, my.  Just realised how apt that my post was published on Sep 11.

1 Response to “The Host”


  1. 1 Iceman

    Very, very apt. I can’t agree with you more. These so called people on economic policy-making sometimes really have this holier-than-thou attitude. This know-it-all attitude really pisses me off sometimes. Their policies and steps during the Asian financial crisis really just killed off/stunted the growth in this region. Now they go around preaching their capitalist ideas which only seems to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

    This disparity that they are creating only serves to marginalise all these so called third world countries leading to pockets of discontentment and I would go as far as saying creating terrorist cells.

    Not to start a “jihad” here but I have to say that on this point Spore has done a great job, in fact I think its really bending its back over to accomodate the “farangs” at the expense of inconvenience to the public.

    Kudos to the organisers for doing their utmost in ensuring the security of the meetings and the public in general.

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