whingeing whingers - a response

I wrote a letter to The Straits Times' forum today, in response to a letter I had read. I'm not sure if they will publish it, but I'm reproducing my letter here.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I refer to Jonathan Quek's letter, "Anti-government grouses on Internet sometimes too much" posted on the online forum.

The immediate reaction from readers who posted comments to his letter certainly proved Mr Quek's point. The vast majority of them were critical, cynical and captious, displaying the typical facileness that complainers are wont to indulge in.

Although in the online world, lone voices like Mr Quek's often appear in danger of being drowned out by the cacophony of malcontent whingeing, I would like to assure him and others of similar sentiment that, in the real world, their voices are part of a chorus that resonate with a much larger segment of our people than often realised. It is perhaps time for this silent majority to become more vocal and join in the singing of our nation's hard-earned praises.

In many ways, our government is a victim of its own success. The very complainers who find reason to decry our leaders for every policy that does not benefit them immediately, individually and directly, would not have the presence of mind to do so had their other needs and living requirements not already been provided for by the very hand they are biting.

To our great fortune, we have a national leadership comprising uncommon men with unconventional wisdom. It is a depth of sagacity that common men possessing conventional wisdom and limited foresight cannot truly appreciate. Thus the perennial whingeing. They would choose the effortless indulgence of destructive rather than constructive criticism. As Oscar Wilde wrote, "A cynic is one who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing."

But for people like Mr Quek and others who appreciate the value of what we Singaporeans have, I am confident they will do their part in collaborating with our leaders to make an already great nation even greater, while leaving behind the rest who choose to be mired in their complaints, stewing in their own resentment.