The number of Singaporean Ah Qs growing

For those who are unfamiliar with this Ah Q character in Lu Xun’s political satire, Ah Q is the epitome of poverty but in a state of denial and trying to justify every failure and misfortune in his life as something good, to comfort himself and to minimize the pain. What is happening today in Sin City is that more and more Ah Qs are appearing and trying to make the best out of a bad situation by comforting themselves that it is good, or it will be good in the long run.

The media have been making many complementary statements about how good life is and how good cycling is. ‘Bold moves for car lite Singapore in the offing’ wow great stuff!  ‘Cycling as a viable commuting choice lauded’, another great stuff as if the people really love cycling and are throwing the burden of their cursed cars away.  Everyone is so happy about having more cycling lanes to make cycling more convenient and to throw away their dreams of car ownership. Car lite cities make for a better quality of life. Boon Wan was quoted saying, ‘There is a growing consensus among developed cities that few cars mean less traffic, congestion, less air and noise pollution and more land for public spaces and amenities.’ Or more land to build more flats to bring in more migrants?

Let me recall a statement by a Chinese missile scientist, Qian Xueshen when he tried to convince his good friend, a nuclear scientist, to help to detonate the first nuclear bomb in China. The latter did not want to as nuclear bombs are weapons of mass destruction. Qian told him that having the bomb and not using it was different from not having the bomb altogether. This, in the current context, is like having a car and not wanting to use against not able to own a car and has no choice but to cycle. For the cycling enthusiasts, cycling is a choice and their bicycles can cost several thousands. They cycle for fun, not because they must, not because they could not afford a car. Many would be having a big car in their garages.

While the rich car owners are trying their best to con the daft to abandon their cars, the daft are behaving like Ah Qs, swallowing the lie totally. And now the Ah Qs are even convincing themselves that cycling is a better quality of life. In Lu Xun’s Ah Q, he was a victim of circumstances, and had no choice. Poverty was his life and he had to try to live his dastardly poor life the best he could. He had to convince himself that life was not so miserable to carry on living.

The Singapore Ah Qs could not think and allowed the rich to con them that no car is good. And stupidly they believe so, giving up the dreams and aspirations to want a better life with the comfort of car ownership and cycling for fun on weekends. They could not see the difference between having a car and not using it and not able to own a car and have to cycle everywhere.

Which Ah Q is dafter? In the 60s and 70s, the poor commie country called China was filled with bicycles on the roads.  We used to sneer at their poverty, car less society due to being poor. Today they are all craving to own cars, for a better quality of life. The Singaporean Ah Qs will soon be shouting cars are bad, bicycles are good. Rich commies are bad, poor capitalists are good. Or cars are good, bicycles are betterer.

What about those who need a car for the old, the sick, the young and for the barang barang they must bring along in the course of doing their little businesses? How are they to get by without a car or a car that cost more than a hundred thousand of big Singapore dollars?