The Dartmouth Observer |
|
|
Commentary on politics, history, culture, and literature by two Dartmouth graduates and their buddies
WHO WE ARE Chien Wen Kung graduated from Dartmouth College in 2004 and majored in History and English. He is currently a civil servant in Singapore. Someday, he hopes to pursue a PhD in History. John Stevenson graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005 with a BA in Government and War and Peace Studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He hopes to pursue a career in teaching and research. Kwame A. Holmes did not graduate from Dartmouth. However, after graduating from Florida A+M University in 2003, he began a doctorate in history at the University of Illinois--Urbana Champaign. Having moved to Chicago to write a dissertation on Black-Gay-Urban life in Washington D.C., he attached himself to the leg of John Stevenson and is thrilled to sporadically blog on the Dartmouth Observer. Feel free to email him comments, criticisms, spelling/grammar suggestions. BLOGS/WEBSITES WE READ The American Scene Arts & Letters Daily Agenda Gap Stephen Bainbridge Jack Balkin Becker and Posner Belgravia Dispatch Black Prof The Corner Demosthenes Daniel Drezner Five Rupees Free Dartmouth Galley Slaves Instapundit Mickey Kaus The Little Green Blog Left2Right Joe Malchow Josh Marshall OxBlog Bradford Plumer Political Theory Daily Info Andrew Samwick Right Reason Andrew Seal Andrew Sullivan Supreme Court Blog Tapped Tech Central Station UChicago Law Faculty Blog Volokh Conspiracy Washington Monthly Winds of Change Matthew Yglesias ARCHIVES BOOKS WE'RE READING CW's Books John's Books STUFF Site Feed    |
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Meanwhile, back home... Now this is absolutely hilarious. Money quotes: "I do not believe it is possible to be creative if you do not know how to enjoy yourself" - is that really sexual innuendo by a government official? "We need to reach deep inside ourselves to find out what turns us on" - see above. "...boredom is very corrosive to the human spirit" - oh dear, oh dear...coming from a minister, of all people... "In recent years, officials have taken small steps to spice up the nightlife, such as allowing some explicit language in plays" - egads! Nothing could improve the nightlife more than explicit language! Okay, seriously now. I find it incredibly ironic - but not terribly surprising - that the Minister of State for National Development (read: Minister for State Propaganda) should be telling people to loosen up and enjoy themselves. I find it equally ironic that the government should be trying to foster creativity and artistic expression. The Singaporean government, efficient though it may be, is as dull as dishwater. It's representatives, trained in exciting disciplines such as Biophysimechanical Engineering, have no idea what it means to be creative, and I speak from personal experience here. Even if they do, does anyone really believe that a state-sponsored program to increase creativity will succeed? Especially when the aim of such increased creativity is not increased creativity in itself, but reviving "the country's flagging economy as it faces rising competition from other Asian countries in its staple industry, high-tech manufacturing." As Reagan said, government is not the solution, it's the problem. If the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) is really interested in bringing about a cultural renaissance, Southeast Asian-style, then it needs to stop being the arbiter of taste and the vanguard of the people. It needs to increase personal and political freedoms, and stop censoring the press. In short, it could afford to be more American. |