The Straits Times
Online Forum Section
June 30, 2009
SADLY, Singapore still has a long way to go before it matures as a society, even if it has done well economically.
Hotel 81 - which is a hotel, not a brothel, by the way - in Tiong Bahru bears this out.
Like the issue of housing dormitories for foreign workers in Serangoon Gardens, some residents are saying 'somewhere else, but not here'.
Presumably, it is okay in Geylang.
It is also okay in Chinatown, and many other locations not considered inordinately prone to 'vice' (for the complainants have not, as far as I know, protested against the very existence of Hotel 81).
'But hey. I came to live in this pleasant neighbourhood. Put it somewhere else.'
Unfortunately, there is no social or government contract when you buy a property or choose to live in a particular location, for you to 'expect' things to be exactly how you want them.
Like the recent online letter by Mrs Bendjenni Udiana Jamalludin about how some men dressed well but lacked social graces ('They were well-dressed but behaved like louts', last Saturday), Singapore can develop economically but fall well behind in social development.
Perhaps more can be done in school to ensure the next generation 'grows up'.
Kevin Kwek
4 comments:
Actually I find it hard to follow his line of reasoning.
He says we still have a long way to go before we mature as a society.
So is raising a real social concern deemed as immaturity?
I thought accepting something blindly seems more like it right?
And we never said H81 is a brothel. It is just a hotel where pimps like to operate in.
Why? The fact that it started off as a low cost hotel with transit rates made it a convenient place for them to operate in.
So are we to pretend that H81 is an innocent organization that is wrongly vilified by the public misconception?
We are often judged by who we hang out with and a hotel is judged by who hangs out there.
Actually, I think he's a bit dalf.
H81 is a hotel indeed but does he reckon a brothel will be allowed to open in Singapore?
Presumably its okay to open a hotel that charges by the hour in Geylang because that is one area which the government has allowed sex trade. Haven't he knew??
Falling behind in social development? Try checking your friends who visit Singapore into H81 in Chinatown then. Or showing them the "sights" in Geylang. Will you even dare allow your wife / girlfriend walk along one of the notorious lanes in Geylang?
Mr Kevin Kwek, you have no right to judge whether we lack social development. Rather, I think your judgment is perhaps impaired by your lack of social empathy.
I think Mr Kevin Kwek really did not grasp the meaning of having per hour rates in a hotel. He is either very ignorant or plain acting stupid.
What did he think people mainly check into hotels with per hour rates for? To watch EPL?
Please do my survey on Tiong Bahru Estate here http://loplovers.com/surveys/index.php?sid=15533
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