The Age of Wonder

Imagine if on that night, through some strange intervention of fate, Singaporeans voted differently. Not much differently. Just perhaps that 10% in Aljunied. If on that night, a PAP GRC had fallen, would Singapore be so rosy today? The economy has burst into full flower, employment appears to have disappeared, growth rates are beyond expectations, bonuses are aplenty, prices can go up, Ministerial pay can be increased. Everything is rosy. So positive. Because we have able captains helming the ship. Directing the battle. An elaborate manufacture of consent which most have anticipated but none can speak of.

But what if, fate intervened on that night? Would Singapore be more gloomy? Would there be cut-backs? Would the people have to be reminded the importance of having a political party in totalistic control of Singapore? Or would there be a case even of change? That the ruling regime will re-think its approach to governance? To become more caring? More fair to Singaporeans? More symmetric to the heart of the people?

The question is : if on that night, the unexpected had happened, how would consent be manufactured?

Would the GST hike and welfare for the poor be juxtaposed so blithely? Would raising Ministerial salaries even be heard in the public domain in so cavalier a manner?

These are the possibilities which slipped us after that night. These possibilities of change, possibilities of disjunctures in the relentless linearity of the Singapore political meta-narrative. Think back to that night, when you felt alone. When you did not know that you stood on the cusp of change. When History had congealed itself into a monad of multiple possibilities, a juncture where change was possible.

I like to think that it was that knowledge-less while we stood on the brink to decide change which allows the Singapore political meta-narrative to resume normal service. A knowledge-less created by the stifled structure of Singapore's information and communication pathways, a knowledge-less created by the variegated and compartmentalized social strata of Singapore which alienates the political community and champions the loyal employee.

But there is a sadder side to the story which is not about the structures of Singapore political society. It is about us as Singaporeans who know we are on the brink and who shy away from change. It is about Singaporeans who cannot see beyond the present because they cannot or do not want to look beyond. It is about Singaporeans who live to live. it is not wrong but it is sad.

Or perhaps, we are only still at the Age of Wonder. After moving through the age of struggle of regimentation to achieve economic success, we are now languishing in the Age of Wonder. The politics have changed surely since MM Lee relinquished his Prime Minister's office. A kinder gentler Government under SM Goh. A open and more creative regime under PM Lee. And we remain in the Age of Wonder. Reveling in the limited freedoms, but nonetheless still freedoms, now accorded us. Learning to speak out, to speak up. Speaking only to speak. Learning to listen. Listening to listen. Still enjoying these freedoms which only really came about in the 1990s, abetted definitely by the revolution of the Internet.

Beyond the Age of Wonder is the Age of Action. That period in time when presented by the moment of congealed History, the Singaporean is in full knowledge that his choice really matters. That he stands at the juncture of history. To disjuncture the Singapore political meta-narrative. And his choice rests on courage. On embracing a political meta-narrative that is unscripted. Unknown even. Because the other option is a mapped and charted meta-narrative. Of PAP Singapore. How it will hub this and hub that, wire this and wire that. A meta-narrative that lives your life for you. You just need to follow its path. Your life is mapped from cradle to grave. Some promises will be broken but it will not kill you so long as you work hard and abide by the rules of the map. Faced with this clear, shining and right path, would Singaporeans go for the unlit, the unknown? As others before had chosen when they make their choice to leave for the unknown? This is the Age of Action. And if during this time, the majority opts for the known then so it shall be. There will be no age of schisms in Singapore in today's world; the world is too global for that. It will become instead the Age of Leaving.

There is a movie "Battle of Wits", which Loy from SingaporeAngle has done a good commentary on. Toward the end of the movie, the two protagonists engage in a discussion amidst the backdrop of a fierce battle in the city. The Mohist strategist asks the opposing General why he chooses not to retreat to keep his life. The General replies that even if he lives, it becomes a life devoid of meaning. The Mohist strategist is defeated for the only time in the movie in that one scene, I think. The strategist chooses to live because he has found meaning. Except that the meaning that keeps him alive has a tragic end unbeknownst to him. The movie has a sad ending ultimately. Political power always triumphs. The meta-narrative is retained.

Quote of the Day --

"In the highest sphere they blasphemed against Heaven, in the middle sphere they blasphemed against the spirits, and in the sphere below they oppressed the people. Thereupon the will of Heaven proclaimed: "From those whom I love these turn away and hate, and those whom I want to benefit they oppress. Their hate of men is without limit and their oppression of men the most severe." And, so, they were not permitted to finish out their lives, or to survive a single generation. And people condemn them unto this day, calling them wicked kings." -- Mozi, The Ethical and Political Works of Mozi, Book VII, Chapter XXVI, "Will of Heaven (I)"