Karma is a Hindu/Buddhist concept. The simplest way of understanding karma is to think of it as cause and effect. Essentially, every action produces an effect and in turn, the effect becomes the cause to produce another effect. It’s an endless cycle that perpetuates itself.

I see the law of karma operating in Singapore. Recently, some MPs brought up the issue of Singaporeans complaining too much and doing too little. Well, I believe that the MPs who brought up the issues probably have seen enough to make a case. However, that’s an observation. I think we need to dig deeper into the causes.

The government has been very good at taking care of Singaporeans. From birth to education to marriage to retirement, there are so many schemes in place to take care of the Singaporean. With such a sheltered lifestyle, who can blame Singaporeans for complaning about the government? The Singaporean has been brought up with the idea that the government is responsible for making the decision for him. How do you expect him to know how to stand up and do things himself if he has been spoon fed his entire life? So what can the Singaporean do? Complain lor.

Next, the government is also very good at making examples out of people who step out of the line that’s set by the government. Catharine Lim got a rebuke, Mr Brown got his Today newspaper column removed after a rebuke, FEER gets sued for publishing stories about an opposition figure, opposition figures get sued for defamation and young bloggers get charged for sedition. Not all of my examples are the result of direct action of the government but because of the conflation between a political party and the government, there is an association with the government even when action is taken by political figures in their personal capacity. Since the line is not clearly demarcated, who dares to stand up? Those that stood up became poster boys illustrating what happens when the line is crossed. So what can the Singaporean do? Complain lor.

Our education system churns out students who are very good at giving model answers and scoring As. They don’t question the answers; they just know how to answer a question with the perfect answer. As long as the A grade appears on the results, nothing else matters. Since Singaporeans have been educated in such rote learning and rigid fashion, how can we expect them to think out of the box and come up with brilliant ideas to overcome problems that they face? So what can the Singaporean do? Complain lor.

Then, when the Singaporean read in the States Straits Times that their MPs are complaining that they are complaining, what will the Singaporean do? They go to the office, market or coffeeshop and tell another Singaporean that it is unfair to blame them for complaining because the government always does the work for us and even if we want to stand up, we don’t know where is the line so better play safe (aka kiasee) abit. Then the other Singaporean, being educated in the way that he only know how to answer question and not know how to question the answer will just agree. Then he will go tell his other Singaporean friends. Then a year or two down the road, the MPs will complain again that Singaporeans are still complaining.

The law of karma works perfectly.