Nas is clearly a fan of Singapore.

He's made a lot of videos about us.

However his latest video proclaiming Singapore to be almost perfect was met with some ridicule.

To be fair to Nas, he did acknowledge some of the problems Singapore has, but at the same time he also praised our willingness to solve them.

This, however, did not stop the narrative of Nas "not being able to tell what's wrong with Singapore because he doesn't live here".

Here's one that was posted on a Facebook page called The Alternative View.

"Nuseir Yassin professes to be an authority on S’pore after spending only a few days here.

Now since he is so effusive in his praise of the country and Lee Hsien Loong, we invite him to walk the talk and take up citizenship.

But wait, don’t stay in a posh condo in town. Be like the majority of us:

1. Buy a resale HDB flat but with half the lease left.

2. Serve the full 2.5 years of National Service (not 2 years please) and no clerical jobs too.

3. Contribute the full 37% of his salary to CPF.

4. Visit only polyclinics and government hospitals (C class wards only please - provided he can wait up to 5-7 hours).

5. Take the MRT train every morning and evening during peak hours."

Which is quite indistinguishable from other such posts decrying the state of Singapore, without perhaps proper context.

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This was a bit different though, because Nas himself replied.

Nasty Nas

Here is his reply.

In case you can't read it, here's his thesis on perspective.

"I have a better idea:

Why doesn't everyone here try to live in the Middle East for a little bit?

Maybe live in Israel as an Arab Muslim like me and see how it's like to be a second class citizen your entire life.

Try sleeping one night with rockets falling near your village and you can't sleep because of sirens

Try living in a state of war every few years with all your neighbors.

Try having your options in your country limited simply because of how you are born (non Jew)

Try living at a place with 40% less of your current GDP Per Capita

That's what I had to live. I'll happily take your air conditioned public transportation over living in the Middle East.

One thing my travels have taught me is that a lot of people lack PERSPECTIVE. And in Singapore, too many people lack it.

I flew to Singapore from Papua New Guinea, on my own dime to promote my own beliefs. Now I'm in China making the same videos. I'll happily take you along the ride and see how life is like outside of your bubble.

But to be honest, I would never hire you. I don't work well with crybabies."

Oh my.

And everyone felt that burn.

Ouch.

Image from Nas Daily