1994 and 2014 – A Clockwork Orange ?
For a Cold War era kid, I am mortified at the audacity of those 5 teenagers who were arrested on vandalism charges because it is not just vandalism they attempted – it is Treason (tongue in cheek), is it not ?
Well, they were all born after 1994 (2014 – 17 = 1997), the year people of my generation would remember as the infamous Michael Fay caning which brought Singapore some unsavory global limelight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay
Teen-Ager Caned in Singapore Tells of the Blood and the Scars : NY Times
I am not sure if 17, their ages, is too young for caning because I remember it was one of the moot arguments for the defense in Michael Fay’s case. But it is 20 years later now and 30 over years away from scary brainwashing movies such as George Orwell’s 1984, The Manchurian Candidate, A Clockwork Orange and all those social dystopian films I was brought up with, that have been replaced by The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game and Divergent for this generation.
I am truly glad I am not following this latest round of discussions on the education system, yet what I am hearing from friends is that some of these children deserve a sharp kick in the butt – referring to the elite school kids. And most people I know who from elite schools agree with me on that one.
My first assumption is that these boys are not from elite schools. And I would suppose that these 5 boys who have been arrested have the same peeve for there can be no other gripe they have with society at large given that most of their lives so far would probably have been consumed in the education system.
Like I pointed out last month, Nobody Wants To Be A Servant (https://tradehaven.net/market/part-two-enders-game-nobody-wants-to-be-a-servant/).
If only they would give the SME Talent Scheme a chance, as I mentioned in another post, 800 MILLION DOLLARS AND A SMILE FOR SINGAPOREANS (https://tradehaven.net/market/part-one-800-million-dollars-and-a-smile-for-singaporeans/). The government is paying up to $8,000 bonus directly to youngsters who sign up, besides subsidising their wages with the SMEs and their school fees too.
It is a global problem that We Are Breeding a Generation of Angry Young People (https://tradehaven.net/views_commentaries/breeding-a-generation-of-angry-young-people/) because the 16,000 odd rejected applicants for the Goldman internship programme would not be too happy. And the Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury are stepping up on their rhetoric against global inequality (https://tradehaven.net/market/the-archbishop-and-the-pope-speaks-wealth-redistribution-ahead/).
And it is not just the young people, there is anger everywhere (https://tradehaven.net/market/anger-anger-everywhere-nor-any-drop-to-drink/).
Social media is quite abuzz these days on the plutonomy or inequality story and Thomas Picketty, whom I have mentioned several times, is seen as the new age hero of the masses in his crusade against the widening global income gap.
It looks like we are in dire need of a quick fix, like some thought reformative techniques out of Clockwork Orange or 1984, chilling but necessary to combat the Hunger Games mindset. We are in the 21st century now and definitely not the time to bring the guillotine back.
Afterword
17 is, hopefully, under the age for corporal punishment but please don’t ask me to sign any petition.