Ang Wei Neng, MP for Jurong GRC, suggested that the Ministry of Education should send Singaporeans on compulsory trips to poor communities in neighbouring countries in order to show them how lucky they are to live in Singapore.
Mr Ang explained that this could help to shape the values of students here and make them more appreciative rather than having a sense of entitlement.
“After going through the relatively tough field trip, the students will hopefully appreciate the infrastructure in Singapore better,” he said
He also suggested that such a mandatory trip could help students build interpersonal skills, something he believes is lacking in this age of online communication.
Mr Ang believes that such a trip, although it may be expensive, would be “money well spent” because it will generate “a wind of gratitude”.
It seems that Mr Ang is suggesting that instead of working harder to improve Singapore further, we should just force Singaporeans to appreciate everything the PAP has done to build Singapore.
He has also failed to consider the burden that such a trip may put on students from poorer families who may not be able to afford expensive overseas trips with their schools.