Sunday, January 16, 2005

Mission Statement

Every organization or institution has a mission statement. This would entail a list of objectives and a passage that describes the core philosophy. This blog likewise carries with itself a mission statement. Its prime objective begins with the author's observation that Singapore is a country that can be modelled to the paradigm of a police state. This insight translates to the ongoing social processes that regulate the country's community, economic policies and social engineering programs. Singapore is idiosyncractic in its approach to social control mechanisms, all of which can best be fit into a "police" paradigm. Surveillance, monitoring, crisis management, policing, law enforcement and punishment are all the key elements that subscribe to the core social engineering mechanisms.

In postulating this view, the author does not assert his own judgement on the correctness of such a paradigm. The reader is free to decide if the country's administration (or population) is right or wrong in pursuing social policies of this nature. The author only merely seeks to juxatapose the hierarchial and repressive structure that a police paradigm imposes on the population. The author regards this paradigm as essential and perhaps necessary to modulating and building on the collective consciousness of the population. Many features or properties of the Singaporean mindset can easily be founded on this paradigm, based on the philosophy of the poice state.

There is another crucial element to this model. Singapore has also been described as "Singapore Inc." due to its corporate business-minded approach to social policies. The author agrees with this contention and argues that either the police paradigm works efficiently with it or that these make up the subcomponents of an overall modernistic paradigm. In either case, a well-regulated state would be complimented with a corporate model generously, which may generate enormous economic benefits.

Before embarking on this journey where we will discover the heart and psyche of Singapore, a few pointers to make. This blog is not intended to be an academic treatise, as such, most of the language employed here is suitable for the general layperson. In addition, the crucial agenda for the entries is to engender discussion and provoke new thought into the conception of a new modern state. Singapore easily encapsulates a new found dimension into the world of political structures.