From ‘SDP twisted my words for political gain: Khaw’, 24 April 2011, article by Satish Cheney, Today and ‘Khaw responds to SDPs criticism’, 24 April 2011, article by Salma Khalik, Sunday Times
…On April 21, Mr Khaw had referred to his religion when commenting on SDP’s remark about aged parents and nursing homes in Johor Baru (‘I mean, can you believe a minister would come and tell Singaporeans: Why don’t you send your parents to Johor Baru’: Chee Soon Juan, SDP secretary general) He (Khaw) had said: “In my same religious belief, if you lie, that is also one of the tragic sins. The outcome is also down to hell, so don’t do that.”
…Last Friday, the SDP issued a release saying it took ‘serious issue’ with Mr Khaw for ‘mixing religion with politics’.
…Mr Khaw said the SDP was twisting his words for political gain. He said: “I’m a Buddhist. I think everyone knows that. What’s wrong with that? I’m not saying: ‘Singaporeans please all join and become Buddhists.’ I think that’ll be wrong. Or: ‘Singaporeans all become Christians.’ I think that’ll be wrong. But I’m just stating I’m a Buddhist.
…”Are they shy to talk about their own religion? I’m not one who’ll promote people to dump their parents. I’m a brave man, but I’m not a reckless man. So, when I talk about my religion, I’m saying that, hey, in my religion that’s a very serious sin.”
…’If you don’t look after your parents well, after death you go straight down to hell. No Buddha can help you. No god can help you…So I’m brought up in a very Confucianist family, filial piety is the foundation of my whole life’s principles. So how could Khaw Boon Wan be recommending Singaporeans to dump their parents, whether in nursing homes of nursing homes elsewhere?So you know that obviously is just fabrication.’
…’So that was the observation I made (lower cost of nursing homes in JB), it then became twisted into Khaw Boon Wan asking Singaporeans to dump their parents in Johor Bahru.
What struck me most about Khaw Boon Wan’s retort is not the ferocity of the defense of his religious beliefs and Confuscian ideals, or the fact that no one used the politically incorrect word ‘dump’ other than himself, or how a politician can use 18 levels of fiery Hell as a penalty to opposition parties for ‘twisting his words’. No, what bugs me here is how our Heath Minister speaks in the Third person (How could KHAW BOON WAN be recommending Singaporeans to dump their parents?), not once, but twice. As for the controversy over ‘parent-dumping’ in cheaper nursing homes, the actual euphemism used then was ‘ambulancing’ (More leeway for Medisave, 10 Feb 2009, Today)
The harsh truth is that ‘dumping’ old folks offshore in cheaper, yet accessible facilities is a consideration some ‘unfilial’ children would actually take. And if one could justify that the parents are completely agreeable to the ‘banishment’ in view of the high costs of elder care in Singapore, that children spend more time in the JB nursing home (doesn’t make sense to go all the way there and spend a mere half an hour, does it), or if the elderly think their kids are total bastards and want to get away from them entirely, then there’s nothing morally reprehensible about it that warrants a one way ticket to Hell. Such complex decisions boil down to individual family circumstance and parenting, and not a simple case of ‘My God Says So’. So the question that’s been skirted here, and sensationally blown into a question of ethics and religion, is why so expensive here then? Isn’t promoting filial piety a job for the MCYS instead? The same warning of Hell, all 18 levels of it, for bad children was raised in 2006 regarding ‘retirement villages’ (‘Dumping parents worst sin’, says Khaw. 22 April 2006, Today)
And earlier on in the same article (see below), you’ll notice the same Third Person flourish. Khaw Boon Wan says this, Khaw Boon Wan that. Doesn’t Buddhism preach humility and selflessness too? How about compassion? Compassion to refrain from cursing your opponents and citizens to hell for example. In a multi-religious society like ours, perhaps some restraint and tact would be a more professional response coming from our politicians instead. Maybe some religious groups have an aversion or don’t believe in Hell, or there are cults which have a tradition of casting their elderly away in wooden rafts never to return. To tell people that a deed that certain people may be forced to do is the greatest sin of all isn’t very helpful or productive. Still it’s assuring to note that at least for some politicians, they haven’t lost their ‘moral compass’, though I do wonder what Confucius or Buddha had to say about gambling and which level of Hell Khaw Boon Wan suggests relegating these awful sinners to.
‘Retirement villages’ by the way, are not the charming rural commutes that would naturally spring to mind in most people, where the blacksmith, fishmonger and priest all live along the same block. So it’s ironic how someone could use gentle, rustic alternatives for ‘old folks’ home’, yet use the aggressive ‘dump’ at the same time, while wavering a cursory finger going ‘Orrr, you’re all going to Hell!’. And oh, by the way, Chee Soon Juan is Christian, according to his Facebook profile. Come now, boys, let’s leave Buddha, Jesus, Allah and YanLuo Wang, King of Hell out of this and focus, before this turns into a riot over whose God is bigger, shall we?
Filed under: Politicians, 2000s, Campaigns/Elections, Money, Parenting, Religion, 2011 Tagged: | elderly, Khaw Boon Wan, Politicians, Religion
