Alan Shadrake is, in my opinion, an idiot. John Locke would’ve described him as a rational madman, a person who follows sound, logical steps- from false premises. (This also applies to Chee Soon Juan.) I think his ideas and perspectives are sound, and he’s probably right- but that’s not the point. The point is that he hadn’t properly figured out how to accomplish what (I believe) he was hoping to accomplish. It cost him $75,000 to do what he did- and what did he accomplish out of all that?
You can’t get a couch potato to run a marathon overnight. It’s too much trouble and effort, not enough juice to make the squeeze worth it. You can offer to pay him, and his eyes might light up for a second, but he’s going to flop right back into the couch. If you want to “save” him, you’ll have to get him to start by taking small leisurely strolls, and you have to make him enjoy it for its own sake. (How are we to do this? I will confess that I am not entirely sure.) You’ll have to get his friends involved, maybe. Walking shouldn’t take too much time or energy- it should be easy, accessible, not too much of a hassle.
Singaporeans are like couch potatos. They are not actively dissatisfied with the status quo. Inertia. They complain and gripe, but at the end of the day, they’re not going to side with the crazy guy insulting the establishment- because the establishment has done its job fairly well- arguably better than any other in the region, arguably better than most others in the world. We’re fairly comfortable. Fat guys know they’re fat, smokers know they’re killing themselves, and Singaporeans know that they’re not really thrilled to be Singaporean- but it’s just too much effort to change our ways all of a sudden. There can be no social reform or drastic change in Singapore through protest, defiance, picketing, etc. It just doesn’t work that way. We need a soft approach, not a hard one.
Instead of expecting more from Singaporeans, we ought to try to make it easier for Singaporeans to care. I’d like to use a similar analogy for education- instead of expecting students to pay more attention, I’d consider it a better strategy if we made it easier for them to pay attention in the first place. If we want to “save” Singapore- whatever that means to you, we will have to start by getting people gradually and naturally more interested in each other. Right now, Singaporeans are more apathetic than empathic, and my perspective is that this is, like any other social “ill”, largely a structural problem. It’s not really about incentives, money or baby bonuses- it’s about a sense of belonging and ownership, and this cannot be forced, only nurtured where it can grow. The crowds at the YOG were pathetic- yet I’m willing to bet that most Singaporeans wished it weren’t the case. (More on this at another time.)
Where does belonging and ownership blossom? I won’t pretend I have all the answers- but I’m fairly certain that we have to encourage our arts and sports, for sure. People have to make friends with people in their community- their neighbours, their coffeeshop auntie, the bus uncle. People have to give a damn about local music, local theater, the S-League, Team Singapore, etc. People have to develop active interests in being a part of something larger than themselves- even something like church (I’m an atheist). A lot of us are passionate about something- why? What’s different between us and apathetic Singaporeans? I think it’s largely a matter of opportunity- a lot of us were in the right place at the right time, and were inspired to try.
Before anything else, people have to care. And giving a damn is infectious. All of us have to give a damn about making this place something we can be proud of. It can be done. We can do it. Let’s get started, and let’s make it work.
(I am fully aware that I have said what has probably been said many times before, and that I haven’t been entirely clear about what needs to be done- because I must admit that I am not very sure myself. But I want to know. I want to find out. I want to make progress, and I hope you’re with me on that, even if we disagree on semantics.)
Majulah Singapura!
he is not a reformer or the prime minister. He does what he likes doing – writing books/reporting. If it gets a debate started and couch potatoes off their couch isn’t it a good thing?
Indeed, it is a good thing! I just can’t help but feel that he could’ve done more good at less of a cost.
Michael Fay did what he liked doing, too. If he showed up at the Youth Park 20 years later, his backside would be a lot less sore. There is a time and place for everything, no?
Also, it seems to me that the couch potatoes are still on their couches.
I got pretty angry reading the article, I’m sure other S’poreans did too. I don’t think its fair to compare him to petty criminal like Michael Fay. Shadrake’s aim was to provoke and he did provoke… what is so idiotic about that. So when is the ‘right’ time and place to write an expose of our justice system? when the government is more liberal?
First off, what the hell are we (Singaporeans) being saved from?
‘Where does belonging and ownership blossom? I won’t pretend I have all the answers’
Not all the answers? That’s alright. Let’s hear some of them. At least.
‘- but I’m fairly certain that we have to encourage our arts and sports, for sure’.
Here’s where you sound like an authority with no backing. At all.
‘People have to make friends with people in their community- their neighbours, their coffeeshop auntie, the bus uncle.’
What the fuck is this sentimental heartland bullshit? And how is this related to Singapore’s bettering? You stand apart from us normal couchpotato Singaporeans, and then tell us you want to make friends with us. Ok, sure. Thanks.
(cue music and pictures of old people playing with kids and teenagers playing basketball before a good breakfast at the coffeeshop with meepok and teh)
‘People have to give a damn about local music, local theater, the S-League, Team Singapore, etc’.
(Puts on authority voice): “People have to..-‘ no. Fuck. They don’t have to do anything. What they have to do, is sort their lives out in the ways they see fit, not the way YOU see fit. Stop setting up arbitrary hoops for people to jump through. And who gives a fuck about the S-league?
People have to develop active interests in being a part of something larger than themselves- even something like church (I’m an atheist).
(see above) – and: Yeah, I agree, people are too self-centered. They should identify with conceptual divisions in reality, preferably one that is buttressed by an established institution or intellegentsia of whatever stripe, because that’s what the world needs.
Right now, They think the world revolves around their arbitrary standards – oh wait –
‘ A lot of us are passionate about something- why?’
I see. I identify myself with the ‘us’ you are referring to. Passion. I am passionate. Fuck the apatheists.
‘What’s different between us and apathetic Singaporeans?’
Well, we masturbate intellectually. And we actually make the division between us and apathetic Singaporeans.
‘I think it’s largely a matter of opportunity- a lot of us were in the right place at the right time, and were inspired to try.’
Fuck you. Stop talking out of your vagina.
visa, are the first two paragraphs supposed to be linked? it doesn’t make sense to me that way. but then if i were to see each paragraph as separate issues, the “You can’t get a couch potato to run a marathon overnight. ” part comes across quite out of the blue and i have no idea what your point actually was.
can you explain those bits? >< sorry
I am/was operating under the assumption that Shadrake wanted to have some sort of effect on society; that is, to get couch potatoes out of their couches. I should’ve made it more clear. Thanks for asking!
Xavier – how rude! that is no way to do a rebuttal
No Jacq, you don’t understand – this is the only way the rebuttal can be done.
If you can even call it – that – a rebuttal. There is nothing to refute in this post. Nothing. This is but self-indulgence posturing as authority, random feel-good claims made without backing or critical thought.
The problem is, as always, a lack of honesty. Saying shit that other people have to BLEED to earn the right to say.
Why?
Because it allows him to make an identity out of it?
Know that he can only do this with your unspoken consent. So call him out on bullshit. Call his bluff.
You really want to let him get away with thinking he is on the route to being a ‘saviour’ of Singapore, or out to make a great positive change in our country, the world, or anywhere? Without any backing, or evidence? Really? Posturing. Posturing. Dishonesty. Sickens me.
Look. ANYONE can do what Visa does. ANYONE can read some fancy books, rip their ideas off under the pretense of having ‘studied and internalized’ them, and write them out decently and pass off as some authority.
Look. Look deeply. What is he REALLY saying? What is his REAL aim behind this?
He sits, cloaked in scavenged ideas, strung together without coherence, without looking deeply and without real honesty. Self glorification writ large.
Check out his list of influences, or his fucking reading list. See how he name drops. This dude is fucking influenced by Buddha, god damn it. By Buddha. And by Dawkins. Neil Strauss. And – god damn it – Noam Choamsky. He collects names, influences, and books he has read (and mostly which he has yet to read) as medals.
Can’t you see he is making an identity of out this, that this is just wankery? And nothing more?
If you really give a shit about ideas, you’d take a flamethrower and burn this circle jerkery to the ground. And maybe piss on it. I don’t know. If you can still stand the smell, that is.
Thanks, I appreciate it, I sincerely do! 🙂
It would be nice if you actually addressed what I said. That might allow me to think i did you some good in my battery of ridiculous insults laced with honesty.
But in the light of a more saner, less bloodthirsty mood, let me first apologize for being such a dick.
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Nah, I shit you. There will be none.
I still think you’re a douche, though. For whatever it is worth. Which is not very much.
I also want you to know that, for what it is worth, I respect you quite a bit. Ok, I know my insults and shit don’t show that, but I do. I respect that you have a fucking brain for one, and probably know how to use it. I just wish you didn’t give me so many ‘I-am-trying-to-construct-an-identity-in-which-I-am-this-sickening-cunt-who-is- *bleh* vibes.
You know. Yes. That. Whatever.
Lots of people I know talk shit about you, Visa. So maybe I’m a tad biased. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But fuck, man. Don’t write shit like this anymore. It’s like putting a virgin ass in front of a sex-starved life convict.
But fuck, you can write. So write. You have a decent brain, as long as you don’t come up with all those narratives of ‘I used to be gifted and lazy, and now I’m going to work hard because simply being gifted and lazy never seemed to work-‘ yeah ok we know what you’re implying, you genius.
Shit’s tough man, wherever it is we want to go in our personal masturbatory fantasies of improvement. But I am convinced it can be done. And seriously, when I came down so hard, it’s because I wrestle with the same shit myself. Alot of the time. It’s a curse, la.
So, in this incoherent jumble of nonsense. I want to say: Please get your shit together. No hard feelings. Please become the awesome person i know you can be, minus the bullshit. You said you rooted for me before. Well, I’m rooting for you too you asshole. So don’t fuck it up.
And-
I’m still not sorry.
Cheers.
As your friend, Visa, even I have to say that you have just been served a hot plate of pwnage in the form of Xavier. Granted, his barrage of insults might be slightly over the top, but there are some merits to what he has said.
Dust yourself off and try again. Eventually you will get to where you want to be, I am confident of it. Grow out of your sycophantic ways (Brown-nosing with authors that are frankly quite commonplace), avoid making grand suppositions, and harbor some discipline with your assertions. Ground your ideas with facts, logic, coherence and methodology, rather than assuming that you know better than the rest of us plebeians and cultural dopes, simply because you use your library card more than the aunty at the coffee shop.
Delve deeper into the interwoven ideologies of the topics you are concerned with (e.g. cultural imperialism, orientalism, blah blah blah, etc), and then make your dissertations with minimal intellectual regurgitations. With pertinacious commitment to this cause comes the eventuality of originality, and originality is what you should be seeking.
Nevertheless, my faith in you is unwavering. Just tone down on the bullshit and upkeep with the genuine and admirable efforts!
P.S… sans the “Hi, I’m an intellectual, here me type!” persona that might surpass the inhibitions of most, but will not fool those who actually know the shit from the stir-fry.
P.P.S. I say this with true honesty but no ill-intent or malice, as I have always done so over these years. 🙂
And most importantly, do not stigmatize or marginalize the very same group of people you are attempting to ‘liberate’. That is oxymoronic, but mostly moronic. 🙂 Gain a qualitative understanding of WHY they are perceived the way they are, and HOW should self-realization and the willingness to act be achieved, and WHAT has brought about this seeming disinterest of the people. You might wish to approach this either from a Conflict Theory perspective – one which concerns itself with the objective structures which have impinged themselves upon the reflexivity of Singaporeans (i.e. a very Marxist approach, I might add) – or perhaps a Constructivist approach, which would require a more intimate ‘ground level’ engagement with the ‘couch potatoes’ you speak of in order to gain a more thorough understanding of the epistemological realities of their lives.
hi, Levan, sorry, i’m just a random passerby, with no bones in this. I don’t know what went on between you guys b4.
But my personal failing is to not be able to control myself from pointing out Bullshit.
When u wrote “P.S… sans the “Hi, I’m an intellectual, here me type!” persona that might surpass the inhibitions of most, but will not fool those who actually know the shit from the stir-fry. ”
And then you wrote a whole chunk of useless rubbish which is exactly what you described in your quote. Complete with all the academic words which you picked from your Uni textbooks. It seems that you are very eager to construct a kind of Intellectual persona for yourself. Umm don’t kid yourself, because you’re not fooling others.
I say this only to wake u up.
Hi Dan! Thanks a lot for commenting! Me and Levan are really, really good friends, don’t worry about it!
Thanks for taking the trouble! 🙂
Visa
aiyokanina
wtf is “talking out of your vagina” supposed to mean
It’s what you are doing right now, cunt.
Nah, it just means spouting off half baked nuggets of wisdom that is obviously unexamined and full of shit instead of the gold he thinks it contains.
Actually, it means whatever I want it to mean, so fuck yourself.
“The crowds at the YOG were pathetic- yet I’m willing to bet that most Singaporeans wished it weren’t the case.”
Oh? How much are you willing to bet?
What makes you an authority on what “most Singaporeans” think when you go to such great extents to separate “us” (well, mainly “you”) from the rest of “Singaporeans”?
Get over yourself.
ouch.