A conversation with a politically apathetic Singaporean

Having a conversation with a politically apathetic Singaporean can get very frustrating. I have been trying to show a friend the reasons why i disagree with the CAS and what i get in response is that i am stupid and what's the reason for disagreeing with everything when you know there is nothing you can do when the government has made its decision and it is so "bo liao" to oppose when you can spend your time doing something that has more utility. If you are not happy with it, get out, emigrate to another country where you can oppose the government. I would like to highlight that "i am stupid" is not me, and the name is wrong, it is "i must be stupid" who is my friend here.

I would like to clarify that the reason for opposition is for discussion on topics that affects the life of everyone. If everyone is to just nod along with everything that comes along, there will be no check and balance and the ones on top can decide to do whatever they want to do.

It is not stupid to do some thinking of how a policy works and this time spent are not wasted. Actually, i find that it does the opposite. It encourages one to think more and i would say that it helps to develop your skills in critical thinking and opens up your mind.

I have to agree that there is nothing much you can do when the government has decided on its policy but should things be done this way? Wouldn't it be better if there are avenues for discussion and these are taken into consideration before making a decision?

To the point of "If you are so unhappy, why not you emigrate?", i would like to quote from our beloved Mr "TAR" Wang, "Every now and then, when I criticise some policy or new development in Singapore, I get some un-intelligent reader commenting, "Oh, if you are so unhappy with Singapore, why don't you emigrate then." How inane. I'm quite happy here, thank you very much. With a little good luck here and there, I've figured out ways to live my life it roughly along the lines of what I'd like it to be." And i find it high unintelligent of a comment to say that i have to emigrate to another place just to fight the government. The mere thought of it is laughable as that would mean that people are opposing for the sake of opposing. Their hobby is to oppose whatever the government comes out with. So if you cannot oppose this government, you emigrate and oppose the government there.

Sigh.