Soothing Brute

The stoic Singaporean is valued by the State. That strong, suffering Singaporean who looks at injustice and lives through it, abiding by his own principles of self-determination, of personal perseverance. He looks askance at the complexities of the environment in front of him. He forges through the environment. That stoic Singaporean. Even when he fails, he picks himself up, complains to none, and presses forward. Never questioning the without. Only believing that his failings are from within. It is his fault. That stoic Singaporean.

Unlike the sayers of sooth, the stoic Singaporean never foretells the sooths of the future. He deals only with the sooths of now. It is more practical, more realistic to focus on your immediate needs. Let those who can vision worry about the future. The stoic Singaporean never complains. He accepts the environment as it is. He seeks solutions from the available options as presented in front of him. There is no need to hope for, to wish for something when it is not there. The stoic Singaporean does not waste energies there. He sees changes in the environment and he adjusts to them. He asks for nothing from no one. He seeks no favours. He is self sufficient. That stoic Singaporean.

He does not foretell. That stoic Singaporean. But he knows things. He knows for example, that after the GE, prices for everything will go up. He knows too that the State will never lift its hand to take a dominant role in the provision of welfare to its citizens. He knows that the 2% GST increase, ostensibly to help the needy, is a sham. Simply because three days previous, the State just reiterated that the failed approach to helping the needy will not change even though it is failed. He knows things. He can see sooth. But he utters nothing. That stoic Singaporean. Because he accepts his place. In society. He looks only at what is in front of him. If it is too expensive to take a feeder bus, he walks. If it is too expensive to eat in a restaurant, he eats in a coffeeshop. If it is too expensive to buy smokes, he rolls his own cigarette. If it is too expensive to buy foodstuffs, he does not marry. If married, do not have children. If it is too expensive to live, than die. That stoic Singaporean.

From cradle to grave, that stoic Singaporean takes what is given and gives back what he can give. He asks no questions. He reacts according to what the environment presents to him. Life is life. It is neither good nor bad. There are good times and there are bad. That stoic Singaporean. He takes it all. All the cards that are dealt him. He asks for nothing and utters not. Ridiculed by the children of those he put in power. Betrayed by those he put in power. He accepts these stabs without wavering. He works on and on. That stoic Singaporean. He is educated than he works than he retires and then, he dies. He lives his life and he adjusts to changes. He asks not for changes. He reacts. If there are foreigners, he competes. If he fails, he fails. If he is asked to re-train, he retrains.

That stoic Singaporean. He performs his role. He sees not the vision. He sees not his place in the cogwheel of the great Singapore Masterplan, the Singapore Dream. But he does not want to see that vision. Because he sees only what is ahead of him. He works so to be able to live. Driven only to live and not to dream. That stoic Singaporean. So valuable to the State. The priceless citizen. The great Singaporean Worker.

That stoic Singaporean. His life cut constantly, cut infinimestially. Just enough to breathe, just enough to live. Bleeding but never dried. Breaking but never broken. That priceless stoic Singaporean. Living to live and dying without a dream.

Quotes of the Day --

""O Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be." -- Epictetus

"No, not by silence, but by being softer than a feather. Nore fragile than an egg ... This will be a different kind of war. Long and arduous. And for weapons we will use stubborn patience and infinite weakness. They will not be able to bear it." -- David Grossman, The Smile of the Lamb