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SM Goh to S’poreans: Learn from Japan disaster

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wants Singaporeans to follow Japan’s example in dealing with nationwide catastrophes. (File Photo: AP)
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wants Singaporeans to follow Japan’s example in dealing with nationwide catastrophes. (File Photo: AP)

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has urged Singaporeans to learn from Japan’s example in dealing with nationwide catastrophes.

Speaking to local media at the annual REACH Contributors Forum on Saturday, he encouraged Singaporeans to consider the flash floods that plagued Singapore last year and put them into proper context.

Mr Goh said, “How many of you followed the latest tragic events in Japan with the tsunami… and then put into context our floods in Singapore against that kind of disaster.”

“I am not saying we shouldn’t do anything about the flood. But the amount of noise you made with just sporadic flood compared to the Japanese. I saw them on TV. Very stoic-looking. You don’t see them crying. This has happened, just get on, that’s the kind of spirit you want to have and you call it nation-building.”

His comments have since triggered a flurry of comments from Singaporeans online. Most criticised the Minister for comparing the Japan tsunami, a natural disaster, to Singapore’s flash floods.

Yahoo Fit to Post user yummygd commented, “Tsunami and the flood… it’s two totally different things. Tsunami can’t be prevented. Flooding… I think YES IT CAN BE. I’m not complaining and I’m saddened by Japan’s suffering but how can SM Goh even think of comparing?”

Influential blogger Benjamin Lee, also known as Mr Miyagi, tweeted in reply, “SM Goh sir, they are not ‘stoic’, they are in shock.”

Another FTP user Mark added, “One is something that you can’t control; the forces are too great… the other you can, with good planning and infrastructure”.

Yet another user collin_tn also questioned if Singapore’s leaders would accept responsibility for failures.

He said, ”We will follow them (the Japanese) if… Japanese minister step down if they made blunders… but our ministers never?? How to follow them?”

Some like FTP user y t p said SM Goh’s comments had to be taken in the proper context.

He said, ”I do agree that we should learn from the Japanese and be calm, civilised and carry on with our lives if something so unfortunate should ever happen to compare between the Japan tsunami and Singapore floods.”

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This blog post originally appeared on Fit To Post, the blogs section of Yahoo! Singapore  News . In early 2011, Yahoo! upgraded our News platform across Southeast Asia. As part of this upgrade, we preserved all historical posts on Fit to Post. Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, we were not able to preserve the comments attached to these posts. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.