Paris Hilton is not a unique phenomenon

Seems to me that some of those born with a silver spoon are not only detached from reality, they also show a distinct lack of humility and empathy for fellow human beings.

Take Wee Shu Min for example. The 18-year-old RJC student, daughter of Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Wee Siew Kim, caused a furore when she put out a scathing personal attack against a certain Derek Wee, who put up a blog post due to his frustration of not being able to air his views in the Straits Times forum page. Ms Wee has since shut down her blog, but the entry she posted has been reproduced in a number of forums and blogs.

Here is what she said:
mom’s friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the pool of foreign “talent” (dismissively chucked between inverted commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he didn’t say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the reason why no one wants kids is that they’re a liability in this world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save us from inevitable doom but they aren’t because they are stick-shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works, yadayadayadayada.

i am inclined – too much, perhaps – to dismiss such people as crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often singaporeans – both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned socialites – kid themselves into believing that our society, like most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.

sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.

derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?

if you’re not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that’s just how things go. there’s no point in lambasting the government for making our society one that is, i quote, “far too survival of fittest”. it’s the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other people over you, it’s because they’re better. it’s so sad when people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if uncertainty of success offends you so much – you will certainly be poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully, which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.

then again, it’s easy for me to say. my future isn’t certain but i guess right now it’s a lot brighter than most people’s. derek will read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it’s only sad when people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?

i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner’s, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it’s not even about being a road sweeper. these shitbags don’t want anything without “manager” and a name card.

please, get out of my elite uncaring face.

Indeed, when we are dishing out criticism, we probably should have thought it out, researched it, or spelled it out better. But woe be to you and me if we are found lacking in our presentation of fact or opinion, never mind what our actual opinion might be. Such elitism only fosters the attitude of “my way or the highway”. Elitists like Ms Wee fail to understand that a diversity of ideas, political views, socio-economic standing, religion, professional background, geographic upbringing, nationality, etc., are just as important as the skewed, one-dimensional version of life they perceived and tried to imposed on others.

Like a typical academic elitist, Ms Wee is out of touch with the common man because she has had things handed to her in life. She thinks an academic environment is the same as real life and that the world can be understood by getting a good degree. She looks on with indifference at the struggles of the little people who don’t have her resources, much less her lifestyle.

But hiding behind the hypocrisy of urging “self-improvement and self-determination” as an excuse for her rantings doesn’t help her case. The true meaning of self-actualisation will remain forever obscure to someone who’s insulated by her well-to-do parents and frog-in-a-well circle of friends from the realities of raising a family in a society among real people.

Sadly, Ms Wee’s outburst is a reflection of the values of the people who brought her up. If you think this is just a faux pas of a misguided youth, wait till you check out what the adults in her league are saying.

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