(Apologies for the quite low-quality capture of the iconic Merlion.)
In most political forums (most especially those advocating for a shift to a parliamentary form of government), you’ll see how the Philippines is being compared to Singapore, from internet speeds, implementation of laws, how disciplined the people are, how modern the infrastructure is (road, rail, airport, etc.), the effective public transport system, to its political system. Many have also noticed the comments of the late iconic statesman and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew about the flaws of our system.
Along with these comparisons, many have also turned to nostalgia, reminiscing about “better times” during the 1960s and 1970s, and the never-ending debate on the legacies of former presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino (please get over it, now!) on which direction the Philippines is heading or should have had headed (as they say, there’s no point if we just keep on fingerpointing and blamegaming and just stick to the present and future).
Can we apply their system in the Philippines? Or perhaps take inspirations from Singapore and we just have to tweak them to fit in our setting? Culture settles in, so we have to adjust them according to our needs.
After an extensive observation on how they do things, we can conclude that we can do better.
We have more resources, more people. And despite affluence, Singaporeans don’t seem to be happy. We are a happy people, in good times or bad, which makes it exceptional.
It’s also just a matter of strong political will, and, of course, it will stil rest on the people so we can achieve our desired results.
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