The Singapore Fantasy

Singapore was colonised by the British and then the Japanese and then the British took it back. What it meant was that Singapore was just a loot of the empires. They fought and used force to occupy this little island and claimed it as their very own, just like they claimed Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the Falklands, and many islands and lands in Africa and Latin America, not to forget Japan and South Korea. It was forced occupation by guns, and many natives died as a result.  The colonial empires made this act of violence and crime against humanity as an act of glory. In those days, the killings and lootings were for their kings and queens.

Many natives then were still tribal societies and did not understand the meaning of nationhood, disorganised, poorly armed, were no match to the savages from Europe. And yes, I know you see the point, the white savages called the natives savages and brutally massacred and genocided them. There were many great examples in North and South America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. Not sure if the survivors of the massacres and genocides could call themselves lucky for being alive as their forefathers were practically wiped off from the surface of mother earth.

In the case of Singapore, the story was slightly different. There were few inhabitants then.  The village chiefs were castrated by the white savages who then brought in more foreigners, today they would be called foreign talents, to populate the island and turn the natives into a minority and no longer meaningful anymore. Looks like history is being repeated by a new kind of savages. Would the Chinese be turned into the new minority?

The migrant Chinese, Indians and Indonesians did not really have much ill feelings for the British as they were foreigners and were grateful for the manual labour jobs that could give them 3 meals a day, much better than their impoverish motherland that were fully colonised by the white savages. The only colonial masters that they hated were the barbaric and cruel Japanese. OK, not all the migrants suffered the same fate under the Japanese and some even worked for and prospered under the Japanese by spying and squealing on their neighbours.

To cut the story short, the fantasy of the migrants was to have a job in the HMS, His/Her Majesty's Service, a clerk, cook or driver in the service of the Empire. The white savages were the Tuans, the Sahibs of the day. The fantasy was to be able to live like the white savages, dressed in white, smoke a pipe and carry an umbrella everywhere.

This fantasy continued even after independence. Even till recently, the fantasized life of Singaporeans is an Angmoh with a Chinese wife and a big house. You can see this message in Channel 5 and many of the advertisements about good living and lifestyle. Maybe it was because the producers of such programmes and advertising material were mostly Angmohs or bananas. Oh, the bananas, male and female, still think this is the fantasy to live for.

Lately, things have changed somewhat. The new fantasy is an Indian man with a Chinese wife. Even in some of the new programmes, you could see how Chinese women are paired with Indian men as couples or boy friends. Perhaps they have found out that the Angmohs were not that rich after all. Not easy to own a house or a car in Singapore for many Angmohs. Fair Indians, especially those from Northern India, are the new catch for Chinese women.

So Indians are the new fantasy. Dunno when this started or who started it. Must be the Indian fever. This is the new message even in advertisements. And now with the new witch hunt, the Singapore Inquisition, the status of Indian men would be protected, elevated and enhanced. 

I am waiting for a few TV serials to promote how Chinese Singaporean women found success in India and become the wives of new Maharajahs in India and returning to Singapore to live happily thereafter...or to live happily thereafter in India.

Welcome to the new Singapore Fantasy.