This is like practising Daoism (Taoism) “wu wei”. Many people, especially non Chinese, don’t really understand what Dao Jia is doing and even for ancient Chinese, Daoism people were always classified as “隐士yinshi “ who live away from the society. Some even misunderstand them as religion Daoists (Taoists) and think they are a group of traditional priests practising in the temples or fortune tellers or Ghostbusters.
To have a better understand of Daoism, here are some explanations from Wikipedia:
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Wu wei (simplified Chinese: 无为; traditional Chinese: 無爲; pinyin: wúwéi, variantly written in traditional Chinese: 無為) is an important concept of Taoism (Daoism), that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Another perspective to this is that "Wu Wei" means natural action - as planets revolve around the sun, they "do" this revolving, but without "doing" it; or as trees grow, they "do", but without "doing". Thus knowing when (and how) to act is not knowledge in the sense that one would think "now" is the right time to do "this", but rather just doing it, doing the natural thing.
Wu may be translated as not have or without; Wei may be translated as do, act, serve as, govern or effort. The literal meaning of Wu Wei is "without action" and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei: "action without action" or "effortless doing". The practice of wu wei and the efficacy of wei wu wei are fundamental tenets in Chinese thought and have been mostly emphasized by the Taoist school. The aim of wu wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao, and, as a result, obtain an irresistible form of "soft and invisible" power.
There is another less commonly referenced sense of wu wei; "action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort". In this instance, Wu means "without" and Wei means "effort". The concept of "effortless action" is a part of Taoist Internal martial arts such as T'ai chi ch'uan, Baguazhang and Xing Yi. It follows that Wu wei complies with the main feature and distinguishing characteristic of Taoism, that of being natural. To apply wu wei to any situation is to take natural action.
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However, philosophical Daoism is highly respected in the western world. Some even regard Daoism as a representative of the highest level Chinese philosophy and regard Confucianism to the teaching of moral value only. Hence these highly intelligent people like Laozi and Zhaungzi are not only ordinary scholars. Daoism is perhaps the only other Chinese philosophy that can match and challenge (and co-exist with) the powerful Confucianism in the past and perhaps in the future. It has been proved that this philosophy can survive the long history of China. And today, it is still being appreciated and contributes to Chinese traditional values and cultures. Dao Jia believes “wu wei” is the best way to tackle the current situation (warring state period). In a warring state period, “wu wei” is the most appropriate survival weapon to remain alive and according to Dao De Jing, after the failure or darkness, the success or lightness will come. Just like the coming of the Jasmine revolution and the fall of Berlin wall. The only question is timing. Who has ever predicted it to be so soon?
For many netizens, they are quite puzzle and want to know why? How come WP is so inactive over the net? Are they cowards or moles of the ruling party? Partly because they had bad encounters with the authority and so to avoid getting into the “traps”, they have to maintain low profile. It could be also a strategy of less talk less mistake, as “misfortune comes from the mouth” so to say. In a democratic county, the best way is to get elected and then change the government. If one is not qualified to stand for election, there is no chance to get into the parliament. So, continuing remain silent will still be the strategy for WP prior to the dissolution of Parliament. When you are facing a giant opponent, work in silent and pretend to be doing nothing can serve as an effective strategy. Let be patient towards Dao Jia!
A brief history of WP looks also inline with Daoism. When it was formed in 1957 by David Marshall, it was not an aggressive major political force in Singapore even though David Marshall was once the chief minister of Singapore. He resigned from the post after a failed negotiation in London for a better Singapore. Resignation voluntarily as he could not meet his promise to Singaporeans. Sound likes Japanese. May be only in Daoism politics, one will happily make this decision and not wanting to hold on power forever. When the time comes for withdrawal, David Marshall did the gentleman way and obliged to his promise. Powered with this tradition, WP continues to last until now. And you may want to ask why WP can survive after 5 decades and still remain a recognised political force in Singapore.
You may call them opportunists. But for Daoism, the most important thing is to survive and live in harmony with the nature. When the situation and timing are right, you can re-appear and serve the people. It is why WP is quite difference from Barisan Sosialis (BS) in the past or SDP of today. Even though BS merged with WP in 1980s, it has not changed the “wu wei” principle of WP, especially after JBJ leaving WP.
However, they continue to work the ground as you can see from WP website, their members visit here and there from time to time. Some members have their own blogs and even books publication, but all are under their individual names. So, if individual gets into troubles, the main body is still there intact. Kaisuism you may call it, however this is politics of Singapore.
From “wu wei” to “Only those who work hard can succeed” as an unofficial anthem is a surprise! Are WP telling Singaporeans the right timing, right position and right harmony are coming soon?
More on Hundred Schools of Thought can be seen below or other websites.
Hundred Schools of Thought
In the turbulent Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) and Warring States Period (475-221BC), many schools of thought were flourishing. The four most influential schools of thought that evolved during this period were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. There were also other schools like Yin & Yang, Eclectics, Logicians, Coalition persuaders and Militarism. The hundred schools of thought showed the fierce political and class struggles for survival among regional wars between the rising landed class and slaveholder class. The flouring thoughts intensified activities and debates in the intellectual and ideology system in ancient China and exerted great influence on Chinese culture.
Confucianism
Confucius was the founder of Confucianism. He advocated a set of moral code on basis of five merits: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. Among them, benevolence was considered as the cornerstone, which stands for faithfulness, filial piety, tolerance and kindness. He also requested people to keep in good harmony with each other and establish a community ruled by standard manners and behavior.
Mencius (372-289BC) was a Confucian in the Warring States Period (475-221BC). He repeatedly tried to convince rulers that the ruler should cultivate moral perfection in order to set a good example to the people and the ruler who governed benevolently would earn the respect of the people. He held the view that human nature was fundamentally good as everyone is born with the ability to recognize what is right and act upon it. He also believed that people were more important than rulers.
Xunzi (about 313-238BC), also a Confucian of the state of Chu, advocated the policy making a country rich and building up its military power, and sang high praise of the state of Qin.
Mohism
The Mohism founded by Mozi flourished in the latter half of the fifth century. It resembles Confucianism in its reverence for humanism. Master Mo called for a universal love encompassing all human beings in equal degree. He suggested a harmonious relationship between people on a reciprocal basis. Thus he was an assertor of unionism who suggested a practice of a political relationship of mutual benefit or dependence between states.
Taoism
The Taoism was founded by Laozi. The most important pre-Han Taoist bible was Laozi, also known as Dao De Jing (Classic of the Way and its Power). Laozi put forward a dialectic view: Good fortune follows upon disaster; Disaster lurks within good fortune. He tried to tell people not to exaggerate the importance of man too much because human life is only a small part of the universal and the only way can human actions make sense is to act in accord with the principles of the nature. It showed an integral concept of Taoism the withdrawal from the worldly affairs and the self-cultivation. Zhuangzi was a Taoist in the Warring States Period. He understood the Tao as the Way of Nature as a whole and the origin of the world. He believed that all things were in constant changes and there was no rule of right and wrong. In his mind, life was but a dream and only destruction could lead to the final peace of the society.
Legalism
The Legalist School sought by every means possible to strengthen the state and increase its military might. It began to take shape late in the fourth century. Earlier legalists were Shang Yang, Li Kui and Wu Qi. Later in the Warring States Period, the most important legalist named Han Fei advocated harsh rules and laws.
He was born in a rich family in the state of Han. In the book Han Fei Zi, he bent on organizing society on a rational basis and finding means to strengthen their states agriculturally and militarily. He also advised elaborate means for controlling people's lives and actions through laws and punishments. In his theories, law was the basis, strategies were the means in political struggle and power was the strength and high position. Only getting command of the three factors can a ruler establish a powerful state of central power. Han Fei's theory was applied by Qin and played an important role in unification of China by Qin Emperor Shihuang.
Source: chinaculture.org
