Bonding
An astute commentator on Twitter spotted this rather odd question posed by Goh Chok Tong:
How do we bond students going abroad to Singapore, physically if possible, and if not, at least emotionally?
As the astute commentator remarks, there’s something not quite right about the order in which the ‘bonding methods’ are proposed. Before considering how to inculcate in Singaporeans an intrinsic desire to stay in Singapore, Goh considers how to physically confine people to Singapore. What are the possible reasons for this? A few possibilities:
- An assumption that few would want to stay in Singapore of their own free will; that this is an irremediable situation.
- An assumption that physical bonding is easier/cheaper than any attempt to win people’s hearts.
- An authoritarian outlook that sees people primarily as untrustworthy and needing strict control; unwillingness to trust mere psychological incentives.
