Came across this video from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, held last year at the Sydney Opera House (I believe), which I enjoyed greatly, because this sort of event obviously will never happen here. It's like, sure! Bring in Fascist dictators here to benefit from the medical treatment their oppressed citizenry will never receive! We're not that comfortable with flying in a Marxist academic though. We don't know why but we hope you will be satisfied with the bullshit we're answering you with.

With the passing of Dr Toh Chin Chye, we begin another wave of national-level reflection as — I quote from something I read over the weekend — we lose a generation of "ministers who cost less and deliver more." Well, OK, even non-nihilists will agree that we will all meet death alone. But issues such as ministerial pay, while worthwhile debates in our own right, distract us from more fundamental questions. A quick glance at the national papers reveals a worrying mercenariness embedded the psyche of our nation: disproportionately high salaries, clearing green spaces of heritage for "urban development", economic injury being the primary concern of the shrinking population etc. etc.

The fundamental question weighing heavily on my mind is: are we so worried about the economy precisely because that's all we have got as a nation? And as a corollary: were we ever a nation, in its political and sociocultural definitions?

ANYWAY to neutralize this entry, here's a video of a cat getting groomed.