Accompanying the State’s Times feature of Goh Chok Tong’s warning against “religious enclaves” is a list of the “Ten challenges ahead for S’pore”. Second on the list is “How to convince Singaporeans their lives will get better?” Anyone find this a little strange? Why is it not “How to make Singaporeans’ lives better?” Why is this ‘challenge’ purely about persuading people of the truth of something that may or may not be true?

Is the government assuming here that Singaporeans’ lives will get better, and that it is a failure of public education that most Singaporeans don’t believe that? But if it is so obvious that their lives will get better, why do most people not believe it?

Or is the government itself unsure if their lives will get better, but it nevertheless wants people to believe they will?