Been thinking about the way people argue offline and online….
How to silence critics
a. Do you have a better idea? A solution? No? Then shaddup and sit down!
b. Do you agree that we should help the poor? Yes. So good, we agree. Now can you please shaddup and sit down?
c. What right have you to talk about poor people when you live in a bungalow in Bukit Timah?
d. You not a doctor, lawyer, teacher are you? So don’t tell me what you think about the medical profession, the law or the education system.
e. You are gay right? Enuff said!
f. How many people did you talk to when you say you represent what people think? 1,000? 100,000? No?
g. You are a member of a vocal minority. Shaddup and sit down.
h. You think cleverer than all the experts we have? No? Shaddup and sit down.
i. You don’t understand anything because you don’t have the full facts. And I’m not giving you the facts because you won’t understand them anyway. So shaddup and sit down.
j. I don’t talk to people who have agendas, even if I not sure what the agenda is.
k. You have a position on the issue? Or are you just wasting my time nit-picking?
l. You usually drive right? Please don’t talk to me about bus fares and stalled trains. No locus standi.
m. You don’t take public transport all the time right? How frequent a user are you to talk about bus fares and stalled trains? No locus standi.
n. You are a property investor and developer right? That’s why you want cooling measures to stop? Vested interests!
o. You haven’t lived through war and riots right? Don’t talk to me about public order
p. You are too young to have accumulated any life experience, and therefore too young to have any views worth hearing.
q. You agree with the G? No wonder you support whatever they say. No place here for you. You’re predictable.
r You don’t agree with the G? No wonder you attack whatever they say. No place here for you. You’re predictable.
s. You shouldn’t just talk, must take action also. In fact, just DO. Don’t talk. So shaddup and sit down.
t. You are going off-topic. Stick to business at hand or shaddup and sit down.
u. You can’t see the big picture, that’s why you are so small-minded.
v. You don’t think long-term, that’s why you are so short-sighted.
FINALLY, with overwhelming force, say: SHADDUP AND SIT DOWN.