Death Of Accountability |
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 By Augustine Low As parents, we teach our children to own up to mistakes and face the music for our wrongdoings. But when they grow up, they realise that the leaders of our country are doing the opposite – never owning up, never daring to face the music, yet always making somebody else accountable. The blame-others-but-myself culture at SMRT is the culmination of years of non-accountability. You would recall that following the disgraceful incident involving terrorist Mas Selamat's escape from the authorities, zero accountability ensued. Wong Kan Seng exonerated the Director of ISD after a private talk. Lee Hsien Loong in turn exonerated Wong Kan Seng after a private talk. Very comical, right? Except that they told us with a straight face and we realised they were serious about it. The PAP’s notion of accountability is simply this: ownself check ownself. When PM’s siblings hurled grave accusations at him, he convened a Parliament sitting and after several speeches, he himself declared there was no wrongdoing and therefore his name was cleared. Very comical, right? Except that when accountability is compromised time and again, it becomes corrosive and filters down to all levels of society. We will soon study in schools where nobody feels morally inclined to own up to acts of mischief. We will serve in army camps where tai-chi is the order of the day. We will work in offices where everybody blames everybody else. And it all started right from the top, trickling downwards! Our hearts ought to be in anguish because our children will one day realise what we already know: Accountability is long dead and buried in Singapore. RIP accountability. This was reproduced with permission from editors of TR Emeritus. |
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