"When it is good to 'forget' race, religion, government - The Sunday Times 27 Dec 2015
Forget the Government. Forget whether I worship a god. Forget my race.
Sometimes, life is better if certain important things recede into the background, when that means no one is picking a fight over them, when no news means good news.
As 2015 draws to a close, I remember what I would rather have forgotten about through the year.
I like it when I forget about the Government.
The September General Election, along with the good political sparring and the bad of grandstanding and bloviating, gave us the chance to choose our leaders, gave us a punch of excitement.
Looking back this year, I am thankful for whatever governmental business is humming in the background - work that I have selfishly forgotten about because a lot of hard-working people carry out the job of governing the nation smoothly without fanfare.
But when incidents like the hepatitis C outbreak in the Singapore General Hospital hit the headlines, I can't forget about the Government.
The crisis affected 25 patients, eight of whom died. The Independent Review Committee identified poor infection-control practices at the hospital. The infection was a "likely contributory factor to the death of seven cases".
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong apologised to the patients and family members affected by the crisis.
I like it when I forget about whether I am religious.
This peace drifts over me when no one is making other people shut up and sit down in the name of who knows what, when no one is waving his or her secularity or god like it makes him or her superior. But this peace comes in fits and starts as terror attacks explode from Paris to Beirut to San Bernardino. In the United States, a global firestorm erupted this month over Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump's call to bar Muslims from entering the country.
I like it when I forget about the colour of my skin.
We try to be careful about racial harmony here. But if we had a penny for every time we heard a bit of casual racism and accepted it, we would be financially rich but emotionally bankrupt.
Haven't we heard people begin with, "I'm not a racist, but..." only to end the sentence blazing with abuse? They say they speak the truth, but I am not sure that being right about specific cases gives them the right to bash away at entire races.
Let me forget my race when it means we are free to be as richly Chinese, Malay, Indian and every other race as we want to be.
Let me forget if I have a god when it means we are left in peace to worship or not in the new year."
A humorous take on 'What to forget so that the world will become better?'!
Lessons for me are:
1. to forget about government is the easiest to do if one is a pragmatist as long as THINGS work, nobody will remember the government! When THINGS DON'T work fairly and squarely, remembering the government that is the root cause for all these unfairness and injustice will just be a painful reminder. This is made worst when YOU have NO RIGHT to vote or your vote was rigged in a non-democratic or a crooked democracy!;
2. to forget about your religion will be a bit tricky as Religion is an emotional thingy. When someone say something BAD about your religion, you will be naturally respond with strong emotion to the bad mouthing or attacks or insults, no matter how tactful and factual the rebuttals may be in! It is just the nature of the beast!! So, forgetting about YOUR RELIGION is easy to do WHEN NO ONE is making disparaging comments about YOUR RELIGION. Hence, the proper code of ethical conducts when discussing religious matters is: praise your religion for ALL YOUR LIFE, hopefully factual, BUT you can NEVER BE ALLOWED to bad mouthed or discredit someone's religion. Pure and simple. An inviolable law and code!!;
3. to forget about one's race will be a pipedream IF we allow OTHERs to make unkind, unpleasant and insulting remarks. Again, race is much like religion. The beast is essentially an emotional thingy! No logic and rationality will, can, prevail when someone's heard bad things about his/her race! Even what are said have solid numbers to proof them!;
4. so, maybe when we COULD NOT forget about our race and religion and NEED TO HAVE a dialogue about them, we should bring in the 'we want to forget government', as GOVERNMENT, one that is fair and just and open CAN conduct dialogue about race and religion with CREDIBILITY and authenticity. Facts can be shared about the race and religion on certain parameters like: education, jobs, health, housing, level of social assistance received, etc. Because a Government is NOT a race nor a religion, it SIMPLY has a better chance of succeeding in holding conversation about Race and Religion! OK, throw in the Language if you must!!
Peace and Joy to the World! Again!!
Forget the Government. Forget whether I worship a god. Forget my race.
Sometimes, life is better if certain important things recede into the background, when that means no one is picking a fight over them, when no news means good news.
As 2015 draws to a close, I remember what I would rather have forgotten about through the year.
I like it when I forget about the Government.
The September General Election, along with the good political sparring and the bad of grandstanding and bloviating, gave us the chance to choose our leaders, gave us a punch of excitement.
Looking back this year, I am thankful for whatever governmental business is humming in the background - work that I have selfishly forgotten about because a lot of hard-working people carry out the job of governing the nation smoothly without fanfare.
But when incidents like the hepatitis C outbreak in the Singapore General Hospital hit the headlines, I can't forget about the Government.
The crisis affected 25 patients, eight of whom died. The Independent Review Committee identified poor infection-control practices at the hospital. The infection was a "likely contributory factor to the death of seven cases".
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong apologised to the patients and family members affected by the crisis.
I like it when I forget about whether I am religious.
This peace drifts over me when no one is making other people shut up and sit down in the name of who knows what, when no one is waving his or her secularity or god like it makes him or her superior. But this peace comes in fits and starts as terror attacks explode from Paris to Beirut to San Bernardino. In the United States, a global firestorm erupted this month over Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump's call to bar Muslims from entering the country.
I like it when I forget about the colour of my skin.
We try to be careful about racial harmony here. But if we had a penny for every time we heard a bit of casual racism and accepted it, we would be financially rich but emotionally bankrupt.
Haven't we heard people begin with, "I'm not a racist, but..." only to end the sentence blazing with abuse? They say they speak the truth, but I am not sure that being right about specific cases gives them the right to bash away at entire races.
Let me forget my race when it means we are free to be as richly Chinese, Malay, Indian and every other race as we want to be.
Let me forget if I have a god when it means we are left in peace to worship or not in the new year."
A humorous take on 'What to forget so that the world will become better?'!
Lessons for me are:
1. to forget about government is the easiest to do if one is a pragmatist as long as THINGS work, nobody will remember the government! When THINGS DON'T work fairly and squarely, remembering the government that is the root cause for all these unfairness and injustice will just be a painful reminder. This is made worst when YOU have NO RIGHT to vote or your vote was rigged in a non-democratic or a crooked democracy!;
2. to forget about your religion will be a bit tricky as Religion is an emotional thingy. When someone say something BAD about your religion, you will be naturally respond with strong emotion to the bad mouthing or attacks or insults, no matter how tactful and factual the rebuttals may be in! It is just the nature of the beast!! So, forgetting about YOUR RELIGION is easy to do WHEN NO ONE is making disparaging comments about YOUR RELIGION. Hence, the proper code of ethical conducts when discussing religious matters is: praise your religion for ALL YOUR LIFE, hopefully factual, BUT you can NEVER BE ALLOWED to bad mouthed or discredit someone's religion. Pure and simple. An inviolable law and code!!;
3. to forget about one's race will be a pipedream IF we allow OTHERs to make unkind, unpleasant and insulting remarks. Again, race is much like religion. The beast is essentially an emotional thingy! No logic and rationality will, can, prevail when someone's heard bad things about his/her race! Even what are said have solid numbers to proof them!;
4. so, maybe when we COULD NOT forget about our race and religion and NEED TO HAVE a dialogue about them, we should bring in the 'we want to forget government', as GOVERNMENT, one that is fair and just and open CAN conduct dialogue about race and religion with CREDIBILITY and authenticity. Facts can be shared about the race and religion on certain parameters like: education, jobs, health, housing, level of social assistance received, etc. Because a Government is NOT a race nor a religion, it SIMPLY has a better chance of succeeding in holding conversation about Race and Religion! OK, throw in the Language if you must!!
Peace and Joy to the World! Again!!
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