Give us the good stuff and we will embrace you like a friend, companion and comrade.
First, he was seen hanging out at a cafe with Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. Then, days later, he went on a stroll with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Gardens by the Bay.
All because Nuseir Yassin, creator of the video series, Nas Daily, has been effusive in his praise of Singapore. He has not disappointed the Singapore government with his latest video which features a cameo appearance by PM Lee, saying “Hi, I’m the Prime Minister. This is what we have been building in Singapore for 53 years and will be building it for many more years to come.”
As can be expected, the mainstream media was rapturous.
The gushing headline in TODAY: “Singapore an ‘almost perfect country,’ says travel vlogger Nas Daily.”
While The Straits Times bellowed: “Nas Daily vlogger on Singapore: If they can solve so many problems in 53 years, then why can’t we?”
Really, really good stuff, as far as the government is concerned.
The question is, where else do you find politicians taking precious time off solving the country’s problems to hobnob with the vlogger of a travel series?
We know what happened to scores of foreign journalists whose reporting on Singapore were less than positive. No politician, it is safe to say, ever invited them for tea.
The message clearly is: we only want to hear the good stuff, we only want to hear what we want to hear!
It smacks of the story about the emperor’s new clothes. The emperor thinks he’s being feted – and fitted – with special, fabulous clothes that cannot be seen by people who are unfit and incompetent. But the emperor is actually only in his underwear. Everyone disbelieves what they are seeing, afraid to be seen as stupid and unfit, until a child innocently cries out: “The emperor has no clothes!” And suddenly, everyone realises that it’s just not them who are unfit and stupid.
[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]Watch Nas’ video on Singapore being the almost perfect country below
