U-turns

I don't mind the govt making u-turns on policies for that mean they are reviewing and adjusting these policies. However, some reversals do reflect badly on the govt.

In Sep 2004 the govt had denied Chiam See Tong's request to carry out lift upgrading in his ward but now MM Lee has urged Singaporeans to vote for lift upgrading. This change of mind shown that the govt had abused their power - they had rejected Chiam's request solely because he was from the opposition.

In 2001 the govt suddenly decided to let the world know that they had opened up and were ready to accept gays. Since then gays parties were held annually until last Dec when a gay function was denied permit with no reason given. But now Dr Balaji maybe offering a reason. He told parliament that these parties might be the reason for 28 per cent spike in Aids cases last year. While he seemed to be doubting the wisdom of the initial decision, what is more worrying is how thoroughly are issues being discussed and debated upon before their implementations. Were some of the policies implemented as a fire-fighting tactic to meet short term goals rather than long term ones? I only hope that they would be more careful with the casino issue.