On the incident where “three student protesters complained of having been manhandled, with one saying that he had been locked up for an hour” at HKU while there was a visit by the vice-premier of PRC, Kristen had this to say:

In the big scheme of things, a student being locked up for an hour isn’t that big a deal. No one died, no one was beaten or tortured. But for the students of HKU, it was a blemish on their proud tradition of freedom, democracy and openness. And they weren’t afraid to stand up and be counted, to speak out and hold those in charge accountable. Because of their outcry, the vice-chancellor of the university, Tsui Lap Chee, had to publish an apology, as well as miss a conference in Shanghai so he could be at their rally. My grandma also told me that the law faculty of HKU has also offered to help the manhandled students sue the police.

It wasn’t a particularly “happening” rally, and apart from the endless stream of 3-minute speeches nothing much happened. But as a Singaporean, I was fascinated.

I very much share the writer’s sentiments and really feel sad for the Singaporean society, for lacking the ability, the courage, and the drive to stand up for what they believe in and for. The “suck thumb” mentality, well indoctrinated in National Service and by the omnipresent and omnipotent state agencies, has really taken much of the fire of passion away from the belly of Singaporeans.

I am really not surprised about what is said to be the favourite pastime of many Singaporeans—complaining loudly. After all, if one is impotent, what more can one do except to whine like a child?

I believe that the nurturing of a civil activist society comes straight from the Universities. If not the universities, nowhere else. In the words of the writer:

A university without politics, a university that does not give all argument[s] an equal chance to be proposed and judged in the marketplace of ideas, is a university without a soul.

And once the universities start losing their soul, you know that the soul of a society will not be far behind.

Exactly.

So really, this political awakening from the GE2011 and PE2011 is just a very small beginning. There’s still a very long way to go, and insurmountable obstacles ahead to be overcome. I very much hope that Singapore will have its own civil society to be proud of, one that will decide for themselves, how to govern themselves, and how to manage themselves.

Do not expect Big Brother to know, and to do, what is best.