Under The Angsana Tree: Ho Ching on Facebook: Stop the Bitching

Update 19 Feb 2022: Ho Ching calls out ‘entitled’ customers, calling them worse than a ‘Yaya Papaya’

Prolific Facebook commentator Ho Ching offers her views on the wave of people exhibiting unjustified superiority and self-entitlement, as described in a New York Times Magazine article by contributing writer Maggie Jones. The article headlined “See (the Worst People in) the World” retells the stories of how Covid-era passengers have turned the job of flight attendant into “a total nightmare”.

The well-travelled Madam Ho condemns these passengers from Hell as being worse than a Yaya Papaya, a Singlish slang term describing people who are arrogant gloating braggarts. Well, you get the picture. And here’s the point. One would think that Madam Ho, being the wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and a corporate bigwig in her own right, would feel, well, entitled to feel entitled. But her sympathies are definitely with the downtrodden.

Madam Ho makes quite plain her sentiments towards people insisting on “more” rights, and how their sense of entitlement affects other people who are just doing their job. She says:

“Somehow, if we veer towards demanding more and more ‘rights’ for ourselves, we become an ungracious society that does not respect the rights of others and become abusive of others.
“Being abusive to nurses who look after us or our families in hospitals, or being aggressively demanding on-air stewardesses who serve us on board flights, reflect poorly on ourselves.
“Perhaps people do this to show their “superiority”, but it shows them up to be inferior people who drag society down the path of anarchy, distrust, and abuse.
“It’s one thing to be a yaya papaya.
“It is quite another to tell lies, abuse our position of trust, and then wrapping ourselves up in the cloak of victimhood to excuse our bad behaviour.”

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HO Ching Yesterday at 9:54 AM

Somehow, if we veer towards demanding more and more “rights” for ourselves, we become an ungracious society that does not respect the rights of others, and become abusive of others.

Being abusive to nurses who look after us or our families in hospitals, or being aggressively demanding on air stewardesses who serve us on board flights, reflect poorly on ourselves.

Perhaps people do this to show their “superiority”, but it shows them up to be inferior people who drag society down the path of anarchy, distrust, and abuse.

It’s one thing to be a yaya papaya.

It is quite another to tell lies, abuse our position of trust, and then wrapping ourselves up in the cloak of victimhood to excuse our bad behaviour.

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Ho Ching: Stop bitching, let's do our best to help

Stop the bitching, said Ho Ching on Facebook on Wednesday (Oct 27)

The former CEO of Temasek Holdings was addressing the unhappiness raised by many after the report that Bloomberg New Economy Forum delegates coming here next month will be permitted to dine in groups of up to five, while household members are not permitted to do so under the existing restrictions.

Ms Ho was expressing how stretched healthcare workers are in Singapore and around the world.

"So folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups, whether as a family or as friends, just stop it!" Ms Ho wrote.

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HO Ching 26 October at 16:51

When we delay elective surgery or treatment, we will increase the risk of more serious troubles later.

The USA is beginning to see this happening, as they have had their hospitals overwhelmed by Covid patients and had been postponing the electives and the care for other non-Covid patients.

This is why we are so focused on making sure we tamp down the infection rate of flow into our hospitals.

So folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups, whether as family or as friends, just stop it!

We still can go out to parks for walk, we can still cook at home or order dine in if we wish.

We can as a family find ways to bond and celebrate family time, without insisting that we must have steamboat at a restaurant for “full experience”.

That’s just BS bellyaching.

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Ho Ching tells people to stop bitching about COVID-19 restrictions, says “just stop it!”

“So folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups, whether as family or as friends, just stop it!” — Ho Ching

Ho Ching, the former CEO of Temasek Holdings, took to Facebook to chastise Singaporeans complaining about Covid-19 restrictions.

Many Singaporeans expressed unhappiness online over the weekend when it was revealed that Bloomberg forum delegates coming here can dine in groups of five at designated restaurants.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 27), Mdm Ho wrote: “When we delay elective surgery or treatment, we will increase the risk of more serious troubles later. The USA is beginning to see this happening, as they have had their hospitals overwhelmed by Covid patients and had been postponing the electives and the care for other non-Covid patients. This is why we are so focused on making sure we tamp down the infection rate of flow into our hospitals”.

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Ho Ching: Stop bitching, restrictions may not be relaxed until mid-2022

Many Singaporeans expressed unhappiness online over the weekend when it was revealed that Bloomberg forum delegates coming here can dine in groups of five at designated restaurants. Currently, local Covid-19 restrictions have been extended for another four weeks until Nov. 21, and social gatherings and dine-in group sizes are still capped at two.

Ho Ching, the former CEO of Temasek Holdings, then took to Facebook where she had some choice words to address the situation. On Oct. 27, Ho said the goal of the current restrictions is to "tamp down the infection rate of flow into our hospitals". She said those who are complaining should hold back.

Ho wrote: "So folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups, whether as family or as friends, just stop it!"

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Cease throwing tantrums and bitching

On Oct. 27, Ho stated the aim of the present restrictions is to “tamp down the an infection fee of circulation into our hospitals”. She stated those that are complaining ought to maintain again.

Ho wrote: “So of us who bitch about their freedom to dine in larger teams, whether or not as household or as associates, simply cease it!”

She added that residents nonetheless have the liberty to stroll in parks, cook dinner at house, or dine in, and households can discover methods to bond except for having steamboat in a restaurant.

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While Ho Ching is right to say that we should all “do our best to help”, she may have misunderstood why people are unhappy

A recent posting of hers has attracted the ire of many netizens. In the offending post, Madam Ho Ching has berated “folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups” and told them to “just stop it”. She went on to point out that “we still can go out to parks for walk, we can still cook at home or order dine in if we wish. We can as a family find ways to bond and celebrate family time, without insisting that we must have steamboat at a restaurant for full experience”. She even brandished complaints as “BS bellyaching.”

I have absolute sympathy for anyone in charge of trying to combat this global pandemic. No matter what decision you make, someone will not be happy about it. That said, I do wonder if the wife of the PM lecturing the common man from her position of privilege is ill-advised? Added to that, Madam Ho may also have missed the point of the so-called “BS bellyaching”.

Many Singaporeans are not upset about the restrictions per se. What they are upset about is the seeming unfairness of it. While Singaporeans are not allowed to dine out in more than groups of two, it would seem that different rules apply for those that the state has deemed more important. For example, at the Singapore Sustainable Investing and Financing Conference 2021, there were definitely groups of between three to five sitting together. There’s also the Bloomberg New Economy Forum (NEF), whereby groups of up to five would be allowed to dine together. For people to respect rules, rules have to apply fairly. To call out unfairness should not be dismissed as “bitching” or “tantrums” as Madam Ho seems to be saying.

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