Singapore Peanuts - Why do we serve?

Why do we serve? 

I am 39 years of age, of which I volunteered 25 good years helping my community. I served on various grassroots committees, from the youth to sports. I always prided myself as a Singaporean whenever I travel and communicate with foreigners and friends from overseas. 

While I worked my way up the ladder from earning a mere $800 SGD per month to my current salary, I thought to myself “that must have been quite an accomplishment”. However, when I see a room filled with overpaid civil servants argue about their salary, it suddenly don on me that all my hard work and all my years of unweaving trust in the government is now no more.

Yes, we are a unique nation with fines and without gum, however look what 30 years of hard work has brought us. Singapore has gone a long way from the time the first air-conditioned bus was launched to the existing transportation system we have, from kampongs to skyscrapers.

We have gone a long way, no one can dispute that, however it is extremely disappointing when you see the calibre of some of our existing MPs, Ministers. Why do we serve? Have we lost the true meaning of serving our people? When was the last time any minister had a cup of coffee at a hawker centre, when was the last time our ministers took public transport on a regular basis without trying spread false propaganda?

I do not think that Singaporeans are quick to judge, the government has been given many opportunities to prove to the people that they care. From the Mas Selamat incident , flooding downtown to MRT breakdowns. Do you see Singaporeans protesting outside the parliament, requesting for anyone to step down? Why is hard work only put in when the world is watching? 

Is paying our new ministers a $55k pay cheque a month and 8 months bonus the real issue? I attended a dialogue once at Sengkang CC when the new ERP system was about to be launched, I made a statement “ should our public transportation system be profiteering from Singaporeans? I remembered that a bus trip use to only cost 15 cents.” The reply I got was “were you even around to know that? “ Unfortunately yes, I was around, I was 10 years old when bus fares were only 15 cents around the neighbourhood and 70 cents for a trip from point to point. The reply I got was extremely disappointing apart from trying to evade answering my question the person whom I don’t care to name, attempted to query the integrity of my question?

So back to my question… Why do we serve? Are the correct people being elected to serve?