Term 3 Independent Post 4

                                       NDP 2011 Penny Low

                Penny Low is the MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. She “rose to fame” when during the NDP National Anthem. Every Singaporean was singing the National Anthem, while she, she on the other hand, was Facebooking. An MP Facebooking during such an important event? This catches everyone by surprise, or at least it caught me by surprise.  She apologises publicly and posted her apology on Facebook. She explains:

“I was so caught up in the wonderful NDP 2011 and felt so proud of being a Singaporean, that i wanted to capture that moment of pride, at the very tail end of the anthem, to share on FB with my residents. If in my enthusiasm i offended anyone, please accept my apologies. NDP is a time to unite not divide. Majulah Singapura!”

            How we find a person depends greatly on what qualities we choose to look at. Most netizens find that Penny Low is disrespectful. However, she was the only one amongst the Cabinet members who actually wanted to share this moment with her residents. However, she still should have waited till the end of the anthem. She is in the wrong, but when we look things from different angles, we have different opinions.

            As for her apology, I don’t find it sincere. She posted this message online, and probably did not take time to type it. All the “I”s except for the one at the front of the first two sentences are not capitalized. I feel that the sentence “NDP is a time to unite not divide. Majulah Singapura!” is actually an indirect way of saying, “Don’t make a fuss. We shouldn’t do such a thing during NDP.” However, some people interpret it as Penny Low lecturing Singaporeans on being united. They feel that she was lecturing other Singaporeans even though she is in the wrong.