What we need to feed the bananas?

The issue of ethnic and religious practices is getting more annoying to some Sinkies. The huge population and crammed up environment, living so closely with each other, undoubtedly, have added pressure to mutual tolerance. When there were lesser of us, when there were more living space, when such practices were relatively less frequent as the number of people were smaller, things were much manageable.

Now the crazy thought of 6m, without thinking how the sardine packed environment is going to turn every average tolerant Sinkies into a monster in an instant is not funny. People who lived in 30,000 sq ft houses, who are being chauffeured around in comfort, can NEVER understand what it is like to be cooked in such a pressurised environment and would merrily go around spouting nonsense that 6m or 10m is no issue. We have the technology to build more houses and be creative in space management. To me they are just asses that only use their own comfortable lifestyle as a reference point. The masses can be squeezed and moulded to any shape and size for all matters. It does not affect them.

What has bananas got to do with multi racial religious and cultural activities? Bananas’ lifestyle is highly dependent on the media hype. The media says go and jump into the Singapore River in your evening dress at 12 midnight and they will do it. Go and scream at Block 108 at 3am in the morning, they will go and think it is fun. Go to the next field or park and bang the dustbins for an hour to create a record in the Guinness Book, they will do it. It is hip, fun, cool and spectacular.

Ethnic celebrations and ceremonies? Yak, so uncool, so backward, so noisy, dirty, smelly. Bananas cannot appreciate their own cultures or anything Asian except something that I don’t think much about, a bastardised culture called Peranakan. This is the only hip thing that they adored and craved about.

But there is hope. All the govt needs to do is to invite a few westerners to say a few good things about our ethnic diversities, cultural practices and ceremonies. Film the angmohs having a good time at a void deck wedding, at a seventh moon ghost festival, at a Thaipusam procession, and let them comment how excited and exciting these events were. I bet the bananas would turn up in droves, with the reporters, to report on these events as something new and fantastic that they never know were so interesting, something so cool and they want to be a part of them. A little PR using the media, and using the westerners, and the western lenses will do the trick.

Then all our ancient and antiquated cultural and religious practices would be in vogue, cool. Otherwise they will be viewed as disgusting, tasteless, offensive and waste of time and money.

The govt, Tourism Board, Media Corp, can do their part. And yes, you need to spend money using angmoh PR firms and angmoh models if you want it to be successful, to change the taste of bananas. Don’t use MPs or ministers.