Mourn first, anger later?
I think not, this anger can wait no longer.
I’m not sure if any of you have been reading some of the
filth going around on the internet but trust me when I say that those
posts/articles will only leave one enraged, frustrated, indignant and very much
in despair (at the thought of such individuals being part of what we call
‘Singapore’s future’, a bleak one by the looks of things). There is a time to
grieve, to mourn and that is now. And then, there is also a time to relook his
legacy, to question his achievements and to have a balanced debate about Singapore’s
history and the contributions of our pioneer leaders – which is anytime but now. Does this necessarily mean a
lack of freedom of expression, the death of democracy, the oppression of the
people and the end of Singapore (since this funny bunch enjoys the
dramatization of issues so much, why not play along)? Duh, of course not – it
doesn’t even take a genius to figure out the answer to that question. All we’re
asking is for the people to show the very bare minimum of respect for a great
man who has since left the world – I’m not even appealing for people to mourn
his passing – at least have the most basic type of respect you would show any
other being in this world, living or not. (don’t mind the occasional colloquial
terms peppered throughout this post – the very Singaporean, very Singlish self
of mine slips out in the italicised personal thoughts from time to time – they
could possibly undermine the credibility of the points I’m arguing for because
they reveal my pretty emotional state but naw, if you’re looking for more
eloquently written articles on why you should be pro/anti-Mr. Lee, there are tonnes of articles out there – which is
a fantastic thing(!) and I've enjoyed reading many of those – for you to read.)
If you’re unwilling to mourn his passing, have it your way!
No one is even forcing you to be sad and pay tribute to him! If you detest him,
so be it, suit yourself! Go ahead and hate him all you want but during this
very sensitive period (someone’s brother, father, uncle and grandfather just
passed away for goodness’ sake), can’t you guys (aka the funny bunch) just keep
your mouths shut for once? (don’t talk,
will die is it?) You don’t have to respect him but to show your disrespect
in such spiteful, cruel and disgusting ways right after his passing (some guy
uploaded a picture of a Huat Kueh that very night, celebrating Mr. Lee’s death)
is just distasteful and revolting. I suppose you’re also the kind of wretched
person who will skip to a neighbour’s house after an elderly neighbour’s
passing and yell that you’re darn happy to see the man gone because now, his
incessant coughing will bother you no longer. The type who will pop balloons at
funerals and wakes and the type who will openly mock those who are silently
grieving in the hospital walkways? What a vile human being. Unless Mr. Lee was
directly responsible for exterminating your entire clan or had wronged you
personally, no one, I repeat, no one
should ever wish death upon him and treat him with such disrespect. Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you. Imagine how you feel
if someone else did the same to you, your family or your friends? Well, that is
precisely how Mr. Lee’s family (and much of this nation) feels right now in
response to your irresponsible antics. (but
if you want people to wish you and your family dead, then okay lor – I don’t
scold you. I clap for you instead okay?)
There is not a shred of human decency in this bunch.. To
wish death upon a person and celebrate it thereafter, are they even fellow
human beings? I would think some animals to be even more compassionate, more
feeling, and ironically, more human creatures. Basic courtesy, manners,
sensitivity, empathy – these guys just don’t have it in them. Just full of hatred and vitriol.
In short, I despise you, I’ll have you know that. I pity you
for having to live that kind of sorry existence, stuck with that screwed up
mind of yours – I sincerely hope natural selection does a fine job this time.
At the same time, I’m amazed at how thoughtless these people
can be as well as how oblivious they are to the consequences of their online
speech and conduct. They really have no idea – zilch! - how badly their words
and actions reflect on their characters, don’t they? If they’re regretting it
now, I’m sorry to say (not even in the
slightest bit sorry man, losers) that it’s too late. You guys clearly
haven’t been keeping up with news, have you? What you post online can
get you fired, expelled, alienated and be at the receiving end of all sorts of
social sanctions (yay!). It only
takes slightly more than a second to upload the garbage from that trashy mind
of yours but... what goes up on the net stays up forever. Memories of your
posts/articles may fade but your masterpiece (!) never truly disappears – it’s
floating somewhere in cyberspace and may/will come back to haunt you anytime. Labels stick.
Take this example – I
chanced upon a screenshot of this youth’s Instagram posts (I believe she
graduated from foundation studies in Australia this year so that puts her
around 18-20) – we’ll call her Ms. K, Dopey – who went on a posting spree about
how Mr. Lee would be “rotting in hell”, how he had withheld the right to
freedom of speech from us and that people who criticised her (for her lack of
sensitivity and tactlessness) should just lock themselves at home. Amusingly,
she even tagged her mother’s account (I
was like, wait- what?! Daebak!) in her comment, in response to the
commentator’s allusion to her poor upbringing. She even had the nerve to taunt
the commentator for changing her privacy settings, “as if that’s going to give you
any protection”. (Quite the contrary, it’s
online bullies like you who rob decent people of the right to freedom of speech)
Give me a minute while I laugh first. Giving the commentator protection – aww,
you really don’t get it, do you! You
are the one who’s going to need protection soon. Much to my delight/amusement,
Ms. Dopey later changed her own account’s privacy settings and now, (HAHA) her
username’s different, her picture’s gone and I suspect her Facebook account’s
down too. Too late, little girl, to scamper and hide. Screengrabs are already
splashed across various social media sites (with your name and mugshot intact!)
and there’s nothing you can do to get it off the net.
Sure, I agree that Singapore could do so much better with
the right to freedom of expression and speech (not that bad to the extent that we sit at 150th, only above
The Democratic Republic of The Congo though, 2014 RWB), that our defamation
laws may be overly strict and public demonstration rules could be relaxed
further but if such freedom of speech includes useless rants like these (aka
mindless hating), then uh, maybe we can do without it. Freedom of speech and
expression is often valued because of the potential good that can come out of
it (eg. valuable ideas, sparks for social change, innovation) – it’s largely
really constructive expression/speech that is valued and protected. To have the
funny bunch hide their vicious, destructive comments behind the shield of
freedom of expression is such an insult to the latter. Society can very well do
without (even prosper, maybe) those thoughtless comments which adds absolutely
nothing to society. Just hate and feelings of ill-will (which if you don’t mind, you could just let them fester within yourself).
Oh, and in case you’re unaware, freedom of speech and expression doesn’t
translate into absolute unfettered freedom to say/write anything you want. It
entails some notion of responsible and
accountability as well, which explains why there are laws against hate
speech in countries worldwide. Hate speech laws in force around the world
predominantly protect racial/ethnic groups but there have been legislative
efforts on many fronts to expand the scope of protection to other minority
groups such as homosexuals and the disabled. In my opinion, the trash being
uploaded this week isn’t too different from the hate-fuelled comments
(prohibited elsewhere) so don’t always feel like you’re entitled to such
behaviour (morally or not) or that freedom of speech can be brandished in such a careless manner.
[Update] You can express your different opinions but if you choose the wrong way to present it (like a particular Mr. Ass-O-E), don't go crying if people flame you. By manipulating statistics, drawing false analogies, making poor comparisons and (the worst part) imposing your shallow views on others, what makes you so different from the terrible man you make Mr. Lee out to be? However, will we wish death upon you? No, and that marks the difference between us.
.jpg)
“Not all who oppose the PAP are communists; some are communists, some reactionaries, some opportunists and some merely confused.” 1961, The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew
I get that people may have different standards by which they
assess the effectiveness/ desirability/ greatness etc. of a leader (eg. tangible results like GDP/capita or intangibles like the quality of life) – I’m not
robbing you of that right – but it’s one thing to criticise and another to insult
or imprecate another. And you know what, it’s not even a fine line between
them.
Then there was also this 95-liner who expressed his hate for
Mr. Lee on Twitter. My reading of his tweets informed me that he hates Mr. Lee
because of mandatory military conscription (which said boy obviously detests)
and as a result, he was extremely unhappy that the army required him to watch
the TV telecast of the procession as Mr. Lee was transported to the Parliament
House. He said he hated Mr. Lee as much as he hated the fact that he was being
forced to mourn for a man he could hardly care less about. To be honest, he’s
free to say whatever he wants but I just think that a 20-year old boy like him should
know better than to utter words like these (yesyes,
this judgement of mine evidences the imposition of social norms on people – the
norm that we dislike hearing awful things right after a precious one’s demise –
but if the norm is useful and beneficial, I’m all for keeping the norm).
You don’t want to mourn, then don’t mourn la! Did your Platoon Sergeant or
leader point a rifle to your head and threaten that if you don’t cry during the
broadcast, he would shoot you or make you run 50 laps? No right!! If you don’t
want to mourn or watch, then just spend the half hour or so staring at the
television frame or zone out and daydream la! Who’s forcing you or the more
important question is, who can force you to grieve?! Sure, army sucks, life is
tough but I doubt that really justifies the extent of senseless hate being
involved here. (facepalms)
And then there’s the very elitist guy, Mr. O, Cocky, who
claims that his father’s success (as a lawyer/banker) was a product of solely
his efforts. “He worked hard and earned everything by HIMSELF.” By extension,
Mr. CO is probably self-praisin- I mean, referring to himself as well, that his
top 1% income earner position is a result of his hard work and nothing else.
Hah. This one deserves a 10-minute laughing break. Yourself, yourself, yourself
– how more self-centred can you possibly be? I am so sure the father was able to become successful practising law all
on his own – nope, he didn’t need clients, nope he didn’t require a decent
legal education (or any education institutions for that matter), nope he didn’t
require a working judicial system (that is not corrupt but rather, effective
and efficient), nope he didn’t have the privilege of working in a relatively
safe and stable society, nope he didn’t have the luxury of living in a country
experiencing rapid economic development – he made it all on his own. I don’t
even need to study sociology to know how implausible and laughable that sounds
(but since I did, your logic (or the lack thereof) is baffling to say the
least). I admit that it’s not easy for young people to recognise what the
pioneering generation has done for the nation because so many things are taken
for granted these days and it’s admittedly difficult to pinpoint their exact
contributions (who would give a second thought about the culture of efficiency
that permeates all levels of society and the low level of corruption and bother
to give thanks for them) but to completely deny their achievements and claim
that you’re a self-made man whose success is completely divorced from the larger
social, political and economic context you live in? Perhaps you need a trip
back to school! This alarming inability to show appreciation and gratitude is
really hard to fathom. (this in no way
questions the father’s ability, it’s the son’s unreasonable statement that I
have a bone to pick with)
As mentioned repeatedly, it’s perfectly fine to disagree with
his policies – I mean, go ahead! Write an anti-Mr. Lee book, scold him all you
want, complain about him all over cyberspace (they are the experts already) –
just later! Right now, due respect should be paid to the family and
those who are grieving over the loss of the nation’s father, no? Is it so
difficult?! There are also the ridiculous ones who lamented the death of free
speech because the Speakers’ Corner is not available during the weeklong
mourning period… you’re right… only if the moment you open your mouth at the
neighbourhood coffeeshop to exclaim, “Chicken rice sucks, rojak sucks, the
Singapore food culture has gone down the drain,” policeman in full riot gear
jump on you, gag your mouth and bundle you off to no man’s land. As for those
who compared Singapore to North Korea, pleasepleaseplease-givemeyourcreditcardnumberandsecuritycode,
I’ll kindly help you book a tour to North Korea with that and do bear in mind
the last (and most important) thing on your itinerary to do before your flight
– it reads, “wave the US flag or do something stupid that will earn you
permanent residency in North Korea”. Perhaps then, people will learn to use
analogies better or to think before they start babbling!
Lastly, there are the ones who are crying bloody murde-
oops, I meant making a huge fuss out of:
(because I’m tired and I have work waiting for me, I’ll keep
this short)
(a) people posting only the good stuff about Mr. Lee; (fears
of glamorising and romanticising Mr. Lee’s life and contributions)
- Think the good stuff is all fluff, try asking the pioneer generation that or anyone from the 1920s to 1980s – those who have lived through huge changes in Singapore – I hope that earns you a tight slap on your cheek. Don’t believe the incessant stories/propaganda on television and radio (it can annoy people, I understand that) – there’s always the museum which houses archival and historical documents of historical events (doubt even their authenticity – wow, what little faith you have, have you considered immigrating elsewhere?) and transcripts of interviews with leaders of other countries, local and foreign newspaper clippings, first-hand stories from civilians etc. If it’s real, it’s real. It’s undeniable that without Lee Kuan Yew and his remarkable leadership and out of this world foresight, Singapore wouldn’t be where she is today. If he didn’t accomplish as much as he is currently lauded for, would the leaders of countries worldwide lavish such praises on him? Are you the one who worked with him and witnessed his achievements or did Henry Kissinger and the Sultan of Brunei do so? If you want details of his contributions, switch on the television or do a quick internet search. There are utterly marvellous articles on Mr. Lee’s significant contributions (written by reporters, friends, opposition parties) being written right now so I’ll save myself the trouble of rehashing those points.
- Articles which are nit-picky about who credit should actually go to – eg. LKY’s team, foreign advisors who drafted economic policies, pre-LKY leaders or in some absurd articles, basically everyone but LKY himself. If you want to examine who-did-what, by the same logic, whenever a movie is successful, all the credit should go to the scriptwriter alone. The director, producer, lighting technicians, actors, film crew – all redundant! Accessory and for show only. You think foreign advisors parachuted themselves into Singapore, eager to help us develop, is it? You think things can get done without LKY’s leadership and his ability to form the best team (then), to come up with developmental plans and policies, to forge diplomatic ties, to lay down the best possible foundation for Singapore’s future? He’s obviously not a saint or a god (and you think we can’t judge objectively) and can’t be the one to get everything done by himself – everyone then deserves a share of the credit – to try and deny him the acknowledgement and recognition he deserves now simply looks like a very petty move to me. He may not have done everything on his own (you think governing a country is playing scissors-paper-stone ah?) – and it’s awful how some things are getting misreported – but for all the things which he have actually done, you are not to deny him that. The SG team back then was amazing, but so was Mr. Lee. He couldn’t have done it alone (no one asserts such an audacious claim) but he made things work, and pretty damn well they did. Meanwhile, if you do think it’s fair to share the goodies among all the pioneering leaders, then please spread the blame (for failed policies and government cock-ups) too, thanks! Mr. Lee has been described as an autocratic man and Singapore, a soft authoritarian state but make no mistake, we run on a democratic model. There is a Parliament, in which sits representatives of the people. There are elections, during which the people’s voice is given effect to. If success is meant to be shared among everyone (sound like a good idea to have people feel grateful to the pioneering batch as a whole), please attribute failure to the masses too. Blame it on the other ministers for okaying the idea, blame it on those who failed to speak up when they could have, blame it on the people for voting the party into power, blame it on the people who have kept them in power – mm this way, although Mr. Lee wouldn’t be raved about as much, he wouldn’t be vilified too.
- Balance, my friends! Lee Kuan Yew is not a perfect man (who is!). His policies were not perfect – for every majority that benefited, there is a minority that gets left out and forgotten (but isn’t this a common phenomenon with governance worldwide – why use this against Mr. Lee?) and he had indeed made mistakes. Some people have suffered from his decisions, but don’t’ forget that many others have benefitted at the same time!
- On another occasion, I heard that a fellow schoolmate called out a friend for posting a seemingly biased description of Mr. Lee. In response to that, firstly, why so hypocritical? Aren’t you also posting one-sided articles which purport to show how LKY wasn’t as great as the media has made him out to be? For the very same reason that causes your annoyance at one-sided pro-LKY posts, I refuse to read the one-sided articles you post. I have to highlight that this unwillingness doesn’t mean I’m unaware of Mr. Lee’s very-human flaws, I am merely protesting against this hypocrisy I observe. Secondly, was it really the best time to bring up these issues, as a dying man laid on his deathbed (it happened before his passing) or now, as his family and nation mourns? As emphasized time and again, TIMING, people. Delaying debate doesn’t necessarily translate into the rejection of such conversations – it just means later, deng yi xia, cho-tto-ma-te, na-jung-eh. Later, not never!!!! Be honest with yourself, do you see people talking about how so-and-so stole his classmate’s money when he was 13 or how he tripped his elderly neighbour when he was 6, in eulogies? Or when a sickly person lays on his/her deathbed, trying desperately to cling on to his/her last breath, to hold on to the lives that he/she had fervently fought for? The answer is a plain, simple “no”. Simply because this isn’t the way we do things or the way we treat people. A eulogy is intended to praise, to celebrate; it’s not an occasion to criticise and demean – why? Because this is the meaning society has ascribed to eulogies. We don’t laugh or jeer when a fellow being is dying – simply because this is how social norms of inter-personal behaviour have evolved – so why should it be any different just because it’s Mr. Lee Kuan Yew? Consistency! Otherwise, I hope people bring up how you’ve been such a prick when Lee Kuan Yew passed away in your eulogy (I see the need to point out that this is not a curse lest people jump on this quote and accuse that I’m no different from those who cursed Mr. Lee) and well, all your other shortcomings and things you’ve done wrong. Since… you think such behaviour is perfectly fine and acceptable before/after a person’s eternal departure (shrugs). Additionally, I’m suspicious of your intentions whenever you post such comments/articles – are you doing so with the genuine intention to inform people/raise awareness or are you furthering your own agenda? If the latter is true (and I think so), don’t hide behind the whole people-need-to-know-better-and-it-is-my-obligation-to-help-them façade. At the very least, be honest. And of course, stop trying to shove your political views down our throats, on the presumption that you are always right. Don’t impose your opinions on us – we are all entitled to make our own judgments on the state of local politics and there may not even be a clear divide between what is right and wrong (so don’t go all preachy on us). (note: we are also not obliged to inform people of the situation)
- To start with, by whose/what standards are you measuring these people’s knowledge of Mr. Lee against? Who is to decide whether one has enough knowledge of Mr. Lee’s contributions before one is entitled to decide to respect and pay tribute to him? Yours (fat hope)? Isn’t this against the freedom of thought, expression and speech that the funny bunch so passionately champions – who are you to stop them from deciding that Mr. Lee is a respectable leader meant to be honoured by the nation for time and infinity?
- Don’t be so quick to pounce on the supposed ‘herd mentality’ just because tens of thousands of people are turning up in droves at Parliament House to bid Mr. Lee farewell. These people have minds of their own (not all are as well-informed undoubtedly but don’t be so eager to label us mindless sheep or the victims of groupthink) – and many Singaporeans are notorious for the incorporation of the cost-benefit analysis into their lifestyles (ain’t no Singapore got the time to do anything that doesn’t benefit oneself – generalisation, I know but it’s true to a certain extent) – Singaporeans are more discerning that you think. And if you think that the outpouring of sadness and grief originates from just PAP supporters (which you prolly call the white shirts’ lackeys in your mind), think again. Respect for Mr. Lee and anti-PAP sentiments/dissatisfaction with current administration are not mutually exclusive – some people are just more balanced individuals who are able to accommodate differing views within themselves without well, rushing to conclusions like others. I’m pretty sure a whole bunch of pro-opposition Singaporeans are there to pay their respects as well.
- Even if some ‘worshippers’ are indeed mindless sheep, I don’t see a problem in that so long as there’s an element of truth in the stories about Mr. Lee that earn him that respect from the mindless sheep. Truth is truth, man.
- If you’re set on accusing us of being mindless sheep and that this state of ‘uninformedness’ is so terrible, please be fair and go after the other (funny) bunch of mindless sheep that is wreaking havoc right now. Well, you know, the bunch of jokers who do not even know shi* about Mr. Lee and Singapore’s history and yet, insist on senselessly and mindlessly hating him, his policies, the current government, mainstream culture in general perhaps etc. (it’s especially bewildering to see kids as young as 10-15 hating Mr. Lee as if their lives depended on it – sure, being anti-establishment is the cool and ‘in’ thing but seriously, don’t know heck then keep quiet – so hello friends, please solve this too and don’t try to sidestep the issue!) As important as it is for us to educate sheep worshippers, it’s equally important to dedicate time and effort to educating the sheep sreppihsrow too so we don’t end up with a bunch of extremists (on both ends). In articles with titles like “Myths of Mr. Lee” or “Hard truths about Mr. Lee,” please do dedicate an equally long section to “The Greatness of Mr. Lee” and “Why we should be proud of Mr. Lee” as well so that everyone gets a balanced perspective! World peace! If we can’t have people blindly worshipping Mr. Lee, we can’t let those blindly hating him to keep on hatin’, can we! I gotta warn you that sheep have a tendency to only see/hear what they want to see/hear though and that it’s more difficult to convert antis to neutrals (than the converse) so.. good luck with that.
- Fear of glamorising and romanticising his role in history – people are more discerning than you think them to be (see above); don’t worry, for every pro-LKY article out there, there is an anti-LKY article floating around – people are being exposed to a wide variety of perspectives on the man himself so they can judge for themselves. When people hail him as the founding father, as the human embodiment of Singapore, bear in mind that it’s symbolic. S.y.m.b.o.l.i.c. Figurative! Not literal!
Those who still cannot accept the hard truths or refuse to
acknowledge Mr. Lee’s role at all,
please form a queue in that dark, dusty corner. We’re currently in the midst of
building a time-travel machine which can transport all the upset, discontented
people who are blinded by hatred to a pre-1959 Singapore in a parallel universe,
where they will probably be happier. Let’s see them succeed.
Time for dinner!
.png)
Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. Or give it up. This is not a game of cards. This is your life and mine. I’ve spent a whole lifetime building this and as long as I’m in charge, nobody is going to knock it down.”
- Rally speech at Raffles Place, 1980
Thank you, Mr. Lee for all that you've done for us.
Thank you, Mr. Lee for all that you've done for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment