In today's Straits Times, there are a number of letters in the Forum lauding the decision to build IRs in Singapore. One letter even said "April 18... is the day Singapore became more open minded and mature."
Err... Right. So if you buy your son a car for his 18th birthday, then ask him to get the keys from you everytime he wants to use it so you can check whether he is drunk, are you trusting him to be mature enough to handle the responsibility of owning a car? Similarly, building an IR, and then telling your citizens they have to pay $100 to go in is not "open minded and mature".
Recognise the outcome for what it is. The decision was made on economic grounds, not on whether we as a society are "open minded and mature". When you have a minister saying "But with 35,000 jobs created, I can't say 'no'.", when the the PM tells you that we stand to reap $5 billion in investment, maturity is evidently a non-issue.
This is not about maturity and open mindedness, it's all about the money. Plain and simple.
We are NOT an open minded and mature society simply because we have decided to allow a casino or 2 to be built. There is so much more to being an open minded and mature society than that.
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