Expectations II

Today's ST reported that China is having more frequent Meet-the-People sessions. City officials have to meet the people once a quarter and county officials once a month. These sessions will allow citizens to raise their grievances with the local authorities first before they take the more drastic step of going to Beijing to petition to higher ranking authorities like the President or the Premier. It is hoped that these sessions will solve some of the people's problems and reduce the frustrations of the people. In other words, calming the tensions provoking social instability.

In Singapore, we've got more Meet-the-People sessions as compared to the once a month/once a quarter ones in China. Singapore is nowhere compared to the size of China yet we've more regular Meet-the-People sessions, maybe because Singaporeans are better at complaining. I can meet my MP every Tuesday except the fifth Tuesday of the month and public holiday. I've never had the need to meet my MP because I've been quite comfortable living in Singapore plus I'm not particularly fussy. Another reason which many Singaporeans can identify with me is that it seems that the government doesn't listen to us since it's an authoritarian government and has the final say. In that case, there's no point talking to them. However, that's not to say that I totally agree with everything that's being done here. The last time I spoke out on an issue, I didn't go to the Meet-the-People because the MP can't do anything to change the entire system. You've to petition to the higher authorities, the ministries/statutory boards, the ministers, the prime minister to change flaws in a system. My experience with this tells me that the government adopts the stance of "Sure you can petition but I have the final say. I may not adopt your proposal."

The China government is quite clever in having the Meet-the-People sessions once a month/once a quarter. The frequency of such sessions in China will definitely not be enough given the size of China. However, it goes to meeting some expectations of the people, hopefully enough such that social stability is maintained. The same logic can also be applied to the Singapore government. To meet the expectations of Singaporeans who are great at complaining, we've got a chance to complain once a week to the MP. We can complain all we want at the Meet-the-People sessions so that we give vent to our frustrations. But not all our complaints/proposals/suggestions will be taken to by the government. But we at least have a chance to complain once a week to the MP and social stability is still maintained.