A thief shouting "thief, thief!" – The latest blame show of AIM gate

{It takes so many years for the PAP to finally acknowledge and agree with “paper qualifications alone are not a ticket to success.”  The hard truth and verdict of current AIM gate can also be discovered later, the sooner the better in 2016.}       

There is a Chinese saying “贼喊捉贼” (Zéi hǎn zhuō zéi) perhaps can best describe the AIM dilemma that PAP is facing.  A thief is shouting and crying for attention for others to catch a thief.  With the pro-government main stream media, “A thief shouting “thief, thief!” has received good coverage in Singapore.   However, this is only one side of the story from the PAP.

But a “thief” is a “thief”. Nevertheless, for the interest of all, the thief should not stop behaving like a “police”.  It is playing with fire and the consequence is beyond everyone’s imagination. 

From the release of MND Town Council Review Report, to the parliament debates, ministerial statement, up to the latest Dr Teo Ho Pin’s “serious questions”, have Singaporeans learnt anything from the AIM gate?  Do we have a clearer picture of what is going on? It seems we are all trapped in solving a PSLE math paper – a simple, straight forward but difficult and unwilling to answer question.

The blame show

Let’s move away from the “thief, thief!” crying of Zei Han Zhuo Zei.  A more meaningful translation of it can be “cover up one's misdeeds by shifting the blame on to others.” (tw.websaru.com)

To stop the “thief” behaviour and to stop the shifting of blame, the Workers’ Party has no choice but to issue the following statement:   

"If the Minister, Dr Teo or the Ministry believe there was any wrongdoing in WP's management of the Town Council, we invite them to make a report to the CPIB or other relevant agencies to investigate the matter, rather than to make these suggestions and insinuations”.    

WP is telling everyone if there is a thief please report to the proper authority.  Shouting and crying “thief, thief!” will not solve the problem.  There are proper authorities that can discharge and investigate the reported wrong doings if there are any.

Higher moral standard

I think WP is making history in Singapore by calling for a CPIB investigation. And in Singapore politics, this is unusual and strange.  The normal practice is the CPIB or other government authorities will initiate the investigations, as small as postal fees.

Yes, if you are not a thief, what is the fear?  WP has stood very firm on this issue and it seems they have higher moral and ethical standard than the PAP.

The new AIM show makes the PAP looks weak and perhaps a little bit of “賊頭賊腦 (zéi tóu zéi nǎo)” - to behave like a thief. (tw.websaru.com). The beauty of Chinese language and literature is that with one word, you are able to link to other meaningful phrases. From a single word “賊zei”, we can derive many related meanings and expressions.  “賊頭賊腦 (zéi tóu zéi nǎo)” shows the ugly side of the PAP and it does not mean the PAP is really a “thief”.

It is bad to say people are behaving “賊頭賊腦 (zéi tóu zéi nǎo)”. But we have to distinguish that it is different from accusing someone is a thief.  It just tells the bad intention of the person initiated the move. 

After reminding the PAP not to behave like a thief, they should further self-control their ‘hearts’. “賊心不死 (zéi xīn bù sǐ) is “bent on evil-doing” (tw.websaru.com). If the PAP continues practising with a thief’s heart, bent on evil-doing, a worst case scenario performance can be expected in the next general election.   

MSM may project the positive side of the PAP, continue the blame show, and print a “no conflict interest” image in the AIM gate.  However, the more they attack WP and FMSS, the more Singaporeans will look for more details and want to find out the truth – the hard truth of town council management.

So, “贼别急着喊捉贼” the thief should not rush to cry for “thief, thief!”  The more they cry, the more Singaporeans will try to find out the hard truth of political connections in TC management.  

And so who is the one with the last laugh? The PAP, WP, oppositions, voters or foreigners.  Please don’t make the AIM gate another great joke of Singapore as we have already obtained the very low ranking in press freedom in the world.