LIFT Vlog episode 6: National Day at Hong Lim Park

This was actually recorded back in Singapore on National Day but as I didn't have wifi at my parents' house, I had to wait till I got back to London before I could upload it so here it is: better late than never. I attended the Transitioning event at Hong Lim Park and was sorely disappointed. Their first two events there were far better attended and I counted approximately 150 people there at best, but people were coming and going and didn't stay for the whole event. Even I couldn't stay for the whole event as it was so badly organized it was painful to endure. I'm sorry but as much as I supported the ethos of the event, the poor organisation and really bad speakers (like I can't stress just how bloody awful the speakers were) - pardon me for being this blunt.

I'm very sorry guys, but if you want the PAP to sit up and take notice of you, you've got to get yourselves organized, get your act together and present a far more well-organized united front. Right now, all I heard were a bunch of people with their own agendas getting on stage delivering some really long-winded speeches which failed to tie the whole event together as a whole. If I were a young Singaporean sitting in the audience, I would lose all hope in this bunch of people trying to change things in Singapore and just move away from Singapore instead. The event failed to inspire any confidence or hope - I just sat there in the audience thinking, "this is painful, I hate the PAP too but damnit why am I subjecting myself to these horrible speeches? Why?!" 

This reminds me of a church I attended many years ago - the pastor was a really bad preacher. He wasn't interesting, he often rambled on for far too long and he didn't make any attempt to connect with the congregation. Instead, he would accuse those who didn't understand his sermons of being unfaithful, of doubting god or not listening hard enough. He simply assumed that those who were pious Christians should listen to his badly delivered sermons without questioning the content or his performance. I get the feeling that Transitioning are like that as well - sure they are full of good intentions, but like the pastor who refused to question the quality of his sermons, I'm afraid you have got to try a lot harder than that to get your message across to us. 

100, 150 people attended at most that day