myth 38

'It(Singapore) has created a national mindset of compliance and obedience, giving rise to a generation of "play safe" Singaporeans who lack initiative and enterprise.' by Seah Chiang Nee in Littlespeck I think Mr Brown has just proven that this is a myth, and Seah Chiang nee is wrong. What Mr Brown has written, though in a humorous way, is an expression of disagreement, and not playing safe and lack of initiative as subsequent events have proven so.

constructive debate?

Now Vivian has spoken. Actually there are many points that he raised which are very interesting and deserve for more discussion. But I will just touch on this comment, '...If someone says something we disagree with, we will say so. If someone says something which is unhelpful, we have a right to say it is unhelpful.' And 'He added that what is important for Singaporeans, particularly on serious issues, is to have an honest and constructive debate with no extraneous agendas involved.' Taking both comments into context, there should be constructive debate and a right to reply. The only tricky part is the 'extraneous agendas.' What does it mean? Lets leave this aside first as we will be guessing what all the way. Now, the Brown episode. Mr Brown may have written in a humorous way, he has a good sense of humour which sadly many don't, on a serious issue affecting many Singaporeans. He was serious in what he said. But what was the official response? There was an official reply, alright. But was there a constructive debate? I think everyone will find this part missing. It was a talk down approach. No need further discussion. Mr Brown had touched on something unacceptable, crossed the OB line. Out you go. Where is the engagement and constructive debate to rebut what Mr Brown had said? Couldn't the official postion be one where a point by point rebuttal be more constructive and helped to explain the situation better, that what Mr Brown written were not necessary accurate. Won't it be better to say that 70% of the population are earning more and more and are not affected by the rising cost of living, rising fares and fees? Why wasn't the engagement mode be used to debate on an important issue but instead a disengagement mode be adopted? We are the boss. We do not have to talk to you. You are now history!

Heroes are aplenty

Heroes are aplenty. The victors write the story. And there are many heroes among the victors. There are many success stories to tell about how many enemies, ie natives, that they slaughtered and how much goodies they looted. It was not about murders and robberies, it was about national pride and might, about conquests for the kings and countries, or for God. All the killings and lootings in the name of Kings and countries, or even God are glorified as heroic acts. What were done to the defeated and conquered, were acceptable acts and behaviours. And so the stories go on and on and many heroes and legends were written. And there will also be one or two outcasts from the conquering forces that will be elevated to hero and cult status for having a little conscience and for trying to help the conquered. These will become heroes too, to the desperate and deprived oppressed people who have been robbed of everything. A piece of crumbs will be like a feast when stomach has been empty for days. History is such that there will be many heroes and anti heroes among the victorious. But in contrast, all the most based of human behaviour were exhibited among the defeated, conquered and ruled. Iraq and Guantanamo, and the Palestinians, are the best living examples of what being conquered is like, and what is right and wrong, as interpreted by the victorious. The losers will be losers.

Where are the heroes?

Countries that have been conquered and occupied by foreign forces have a very bad and bitter experience which they will never forget. An occupation robbed the countries of not only their wealth and pride, but the dignity of their people. Proud and upright people were all turned into vicious, unscrupulous and traitorous selfish people, only thinking of their own survivals. Betraying friends and families, and people and nation, became a means to survive. There were no heroes in such countries. Any hero will either be dead or rotting in prison for fighting the intruders. The conquered and oppressed people have very little choices. They need to live, and have families to feed. Joining the nationalist movement and resistance is as good as sure death. Not doing anything and trying to live is to live a dog's life. The other choice is to work for the occupied forces, the new rulers, to serve them and help them to exploit their own people and countries. In other words, become traitors and sell out their countries and friends and families. This has been repeated all over in history. From the days of the Red Indians, the Africans, the Arabs, the Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese and Koreans, and the Jews during the holocaust, their histories are littered with tales of betrayal and selfish people who thrived by serving the occupation forces. That is what many conquered people have experienced. The Koreans and the Chinese, under foreign dominations, Japanese in particular, were forced by the Japanese and circumstances to eke out a living by turning against their own people. This also happend in Malaysia and Singapore. Those were hard times and men were turned to beasts, no morality, no righteousness and honour to talk about. There were no shame in being unscrupulous. The shame only came after the occupation forces were defeated and left. Then the blood letting will come and all the shame will be laid out for all to see. All the pride of a people were no more. The people could not believe that their own tribes could be so disgraceful and selfish to commit dastardly acts against them, to bow and kneel to the conquerors to wipe their arses. The Korean Nationalism and their stubborness to be strong and resilient must be seen in such historical context. And this applies to many of the conquered and colonised nations. History will repeat itself if they are led to believe that all is well. And in their folly and delusion of peace and harmony, and goodwill of 'friendly' nations, they will inadvertently dig their own graves. It is better to be safe than sorry. National survival can only be preserved by the nation's own people.

my flowery dream

I had a dream last night. There was this beautiful garden where the owner planted many beautiful flowers. He had taken very good care of his garden, fertilisers, water, pruning and talking to his flowers, to encourage them to grow. And the flowers listened to him and bloom in all their majestic colours and brilliance. It was an awesome sight to behold, so many flowers, what a riot of colours. Then one morning a van came. And the owner took out his cutter and started pruning. All the lovely flowers came down one by one. One hundred flowers were cut down and taken away in the van. Probably to some fine hotels for display. What a pleasant ending for the flowers. The the owner was happy, waiting for another 100 flowers to bloom.