We are Singapore…16.02 to 2016

16 Feb was not the best day to hold a rally. It was still in the midst of CNY festivities and people would be too caught up with visiting friends and relatives and having parties and feasting. And to ask them to go down to Hong Lim Park in black was not exactly a good idea when the in colour was red. Though this would not affect the other communities, it was still a drawback in terms of getting as many people as possible to the ground.

Then the organisers were quite cheap skate too. No packet chicken rice and no free coaches to bring the supporters to the site. And no goodie bags too. I am sure by throwing some money up front the attendance would definitely improve. How many Sinkies would take the trouble to be there when getting there also cost money as public transport is not cheap any more. Then there was the risk of being caught in a train disruption and not even getting there.

And of all things, the sky was threatening. It was raining and could pour dogs and cats. Many would choose the comfort of staying at home, high and dry and continue with their CNY celebration.

And many did not even know that such an event was being held. There was not an inkling of news in the main media that there was a protest rally at Hong Lim. Only the internet savvy Sinkies were privy to this event. And they could do just so much to get it across to their close friends and people close to them. The dissemination of this event was slip shod at best and restricted by having no access to the main media, the newspapers, radio and TV. No neglect on the part of the organisers of course. They did their very best.

But they came, the Ah Gongs and Ah Mahs, the mums and pas with their children, toddlers and babies despite the inclement weather. The young adults were there too. I have never seen so many Sinkies in one place for a long time. At least 5000 were there, or more. And there were many familiar faces. Bumped into several old friends and acquaintances, and practically everyone present a Sinkie. You knew, you could feel it, you felt comfortable, felt like you were back to a time when nearly everyone was a Sinkie.

Where have you Sinkies been all these years and only to show your face in Hong Lim, to be together as one people, one country and one Singapore? We have lost that feeling. We have lost that sense of belonging, that this is our country. Our daily encounters, every one other person is a stranger, a foreigner. And the media and the Govt were talking non stop about these foreigners and how good they were and how indispensable they were to our good lives. We are now a poor and pathetic lot that could not help ourselves and are dependent on these foreigners for our welfare and well being.

When will this country become a Sinkie country once again? At Hong Lim, you could sense that the people were one, together as one people, and wanted to have their country back. They knew something was missing and they had to act to get it right again. Would they have the good fortune to recovering their country and be owners once more, or it is a lost cause. They are now nearly a minority in their own country. By 2030, they will be the absolute minority and may be herded into some reservations for their own protection and their own good, so that they would not become extinct, like the Red Indians. Johore, Batam and Bintang are good sites for reservations for Sinkies by then.

It was a wet day and it was umbrellas everywhere.