Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has recently voiced his criticism of “Western Woke Culture,” arguing that it undermines societal solidarity. In an interview with Channel News Asia, Lee expressed his concerns about the growing trend of hypersensitivity and extreme attitudes emerging from this movement.
“In the West they’ve got a movement called Wokeness where you are super sensitive about other people’s issues… It leads to very extreme attitudes and social norms particularly in some academic institutions, universities,” said Lee during the interview.
He highlighted various concepts associated with this phenomenon, including creating safe environments, respecting pronouns and providing warnings before potentially offensive remarks (trigger warnings). Lee expressed that such practices could lead to individuals becoming hypersensitive and overly reactive to perceived insults.
“I do not think we want to go in that direction,” declared Lee.
Ola CEO Controversy
Lee’s remarks come amidst a recent controversy involving Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, who criticized LinkedIn and Microsoft for their “woke” policies. Aggarwal expressed his intention to develop an Indian tech platform and move Ola’s operations away from Microsoft’s Azure cloud service following a dispute over cultural values.
Aggarwal’s specific point of contention was LinkedIn’s introduction of pronoun options in user profiles, which he viewed as an example of Western ideology overriding Indian cultural values. His sentiments were echoed by Zoho chief Sridhar Vembu, who emphasized the need for India to resist what he termed as “woke imperialism” from the West.
On @Linkedin, @Microsoft and their wokeness.
As an Indian institution, Ola is for genuine actions on diversity. We run one of the largest women only automotive plants. Not 1 out of 10 lines, or a small section, but the whole plant! Almost 5000 women now and will grow to tens of…
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) May 11, 2024
It is worth noting that pronouns are a part of speech – a grammatical concept – that act as substitutes for nouns, allowing streamlined sentences that avoid repetition. While they are typically used to refer back to previously mentioned people, places, things or ideas, they can be used to introduce new ones without needing a full noun phrase as well.
Indian Workforce in Singapore
Lee has recently emphasized the importance of attracting foreign talent to Singapore, particularly highlighting the quality of alumni from India’s prestigious IITs and IIMs who contribute to Singapore’s workforce and economy.
“If I can get such a pool, come here and work here, it is a tremendous plus for us,” said Lee.
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