Installing a soul into a soulless nation

Talking about soul searching, a Sinkie soul? Do we have a soul in the first place when everything is about money and profitability? Sinkies will sell father and mother and country just for money, or when they think it is a profitable thing to do.

Some were reminding the Sinkies about our immigrant past, about how our forebears came to this little island to make a home and a country. Reflecting and remembering the past, knowing the history, are good. At least they tell you where you came from, where it started and how it started. Knowing history is one thing, learning from the valuable lessons of history is another. And the dangerous part is learning the wrong thing from history is unforgiveable.

When the wise men reminded the Sinkies of their immigrant roots, they are telling the conventional wisdom of welcoming the new immigrants like welcoming their forebears, to justify the influx of immigrants. What they have forgotten were the conditions when our forebears arrived and how our forebears fought to own this piece of rock that we now call home, our country. Maybe there was too little struggle, too little bloodshed, that there was not enough pain to treasure the ownership of this piece of rock. It was given on a silver platter.

But don’t be deceived by the ease of independence and becoming owners and masters of our own land. It could turn the other way and taken away from us. And our forebears could have been abandoned or cast into the sea as refugees. Do not take for granted our independence and ownership of this island.

And don’t be silly to think that we own a continent to be shared with everyone and anyone. We don’t have enough to round. We cannot accommodate the world and neither would the world want to accommodate us. We can be generous to being foolish. To give away something so precious and dear to us and ended being flotsams one day when we are not careful and be cast away, and become refugees with no homes. No country will open their legs willingly to be screwed by foreigners. Try applying to Timbuktu and see if you are welcomed?

A people without a soul would not appreciate what is the meaning of a country, and being citizens of a country. We sell everything for quick profits. We give our citizenships freely thinking that it is good, in the short term, without looking further than the tip of our nose. There is a time to be selective, to be selfish, to protect ourself, our own people, instead of prostituting ourselves thinking that that is the only way of survival. We are not a continent like America or Australia that we can accommodate everyone when the reality is that not many people would want to share their home and land and prosperity with us.

Now, what soul are we talking about? A generous soul of sharing everything we have with everyone? Big hearts huh? Can we afford to do that? Many cannot afford to own cars, no space to build bicycle lanes, not enough land to build flats that don’t cost a hand or a leg. Not enough water, energy, no land for farming and producing food. And we want more and more people to share and squeeze with us in this piece of rock.

A major world crisis in energy, in food, drought or flood, recession etc will plunge us into the abyss in no time if we have too big a population to feed. We are not self sufficient in anything. Our money will not be much use in a real crisis when money becomes just a piece of paper.

Put up Sentosa for sale. After all with 2m foreigners in a 5.4m population here, it is as good as they buying up 2/5 of the island, in a way. Easy come easy go. We got this island easy and can give it away easy as well.