In his final interview as Prime Minister, Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong has slammed the so-called "woke culture" of the West, branding it as a “burdensome” thing for the next generation.
According to Mr. Lee the woke culture or wokeness is a "terrible ideology" which “sacrifices the resilience of our youth”—a belief which he describes that has a capacity to tear down but cannot build. The son of modern Singapore’s founding father Lee Kwan Yew didn’t hesitate to air his views against the toxic culture that is spreading like a virus across the western hemisphere, especially among the younger age groups.
Mr. Lee was straightforward in mocking the terrible ideology and even cautioned the audience that the said culture only tends to lead to “very extreme attitudes and social norms.”
There were moments in history when wokeness became a badge of honor among younger generations, especially the so-called "Millennials" and "Gen-Z" in particular, especially in raising awareness on racism, equality, and other social issues but it seems that the belief had already evolved into a toxic ideology—an ideology of entitlement—and complicated even the simplest things around.
This was noticed by the Cambridge-educated Mr. Lee himself, saying that the sense of entitlement subliminally enshrined in the woke culture “leads to very extreme attitudes and social norms.” He even mocked the movement for being “super sensitive about other people's issues, and you become hypersensitive when other people somehow or other say things or mention things or refer to you, without the respect which you or your super subgroup feel you are entitled to.”
For Mr. Lee the woke culture tends its followers to overreact even on just a small incident, adding that “it is not really the wisest way to handle it.”
“You have to see it in perspective, if it is wrong, I condemn it. Do not do it again. Let us move on. Sometimes you can do that, sometimes you cannot. You have to go further, but you have to judge it and you cannot have maximum response every time,” said Mr. Lee.
In the United States, companies have embraced the woke culture over fears that their respective establishments may be canceled out and may later lead to bankruptcy.
Instead of merely focusing on raising awareness on racism, equality, diversity, and various social norms, other initiatives have become later the pseudo-forefront of the woke culture such as the so-called "cancel culture," defunding the police, and even decriminalizing many kinds of crime. The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis straightly described it as a “form of cultural Marxism.”
In an editorial published by the Washington Times last December entitled “America’s cities are dying from ‘woke’ and ‘sanctuary’ baggage,” it said that 'the wages of woke’ must be the death of America’s cities.” The article noted that great American cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and even the US capitol Washington D.C. have reached the extreme boiling point and became crime epicenters—from carjacking, shooting, and mostly infested by gangs—kudos to the woke culture.
In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the American-imported “woke culture” during an interview with Elle Magazine, explaining that it is “racializing” France and creating more division among minorities.
Here in the Philippines, a study last year by Agile Data Solutions showed that 64 percent of the 600 respondents are engaging in “woke” discussions primarily “to ignite conversations and awareness about social issues”—in which 43 percent of them areengaging in “cancel culture” content “to hold individuals or organizations accountable for their actions or statements.”
But the funny thing now is that this woke generation can’t accept simple defeats. This trait was very visible during the last three elections. Sadly, this woke culture is slowly teaching the next generation to become ungrateful citizens by making simple things complicated, thus leading towards deterioration.
Borrowing a famous line from the great Margaret Thatcher, “Socialist have always spent much of their time seeking new titles for their beliefs, because the old versions so quickly become outdated and discredited”—in this present case, the woke culture as the “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Citing Mr. Lee’s closing remarks during his last interview as Singapore’s chief executive, that “life becomes very burdensome” due to the deteriorating effects brought by the woke culture—it does not make us a more resilient, cohesive society with a strong sense of solidarity.
American author G. Michael Hopf once said, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” As Mr. Less has stated in his final words, he said “We must be more robust.”
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