Yes Sir, Yes Sir
13th July 2005
another post again. i'm not bored. i juz like to write. so indulge me.
So anyway, there's this Students Of Sustainibility (SOS) campaign going on at my campus. Right in my own backyard, there are over 30 tents propped up in the field. for almost a week now, students have been living in those very tents in the wet and frigid weather of Melbourne to make a point. They protest against tree-cutting, plastics, waste, industrialization, pollution, the use of motor vehicles etc etc to assert that humans can survive on our mother earth without reaping its resources barren.
Why am i saying all this? well simply put, I admire them.
Watching them huddle around a bonfire, in their thickest attire, laughing and simply dwelling in the experience was really great. i could just bet at night, someone would play the guitar and they would all sing of freedom and rejoice in free love.
Plus i juz love the way they dress. its so hippie. I LOVE. i confess again (seems i have been doing a lot of this lately), i always like the hippie look. it started in sec school, those days where everyone was searching for their own identity, i wanted to be a gypsy/hippie. i searched high and low for earthy looking and ethnic looking clothes, but to my consternation, there were none in Singapore. i even contemplated sewing my own clothes.
now its not too bad. the ethnic look is back and you can find such clothes now. but its not just the clothes. its the way you put them together. and i admit i'm not a real hippie. and before you say it, i'm not a poser either. i juz love their style that's all.
anyway i have digressed. i guess when i look at them, i wish for something more for myself. these students have real passion. some may think they are just wasting their time because it wouldn't change a thing, but lest we forget the purpose of fighting for a cause, i shall point it out.
it doesnt matter if they did not succeed. the point is they feel an injustice has been done and thus should speak out for the voiceless. and so what if the voiceless happen to be an inanimate tree? so what if the govt doesn't listen? by refusing to conform, they are proving to society that it is possible and those who watch by like me, for a few moments, would at least ask ourselves the critical question "does it have to be like this?".
i was told by a friend, that singaporeans can't protest in aus because our visa does not allow it. in other words our dear much beloved mr lee wants us to be model citizens and go "yes sir, yes sir".
so sue me. i do not see it as such. surely allow me, my freedom of speech here in Australia, a basic human right, that i have been deprived of in spore.
my friend also told me these issues have nothing to do with us (singaporeans) so why bother? well i'm not just gg to run screaming out injustice abt everything.
how much does it take for one to stand up and go " this is not right!". little kids born in detention centres having never seen the real world at all. the desecration of the Quran at Guantanamo. London terror bombings and so many more. perhaps we need more injustice than that?
one doesnt have to take up arms and fight. one need only to speak out. one voice added to a thousand can make a difference. idealist? maybe.
self-righteous? i think not. just realising that its time i grow up and start with myself to make a difference. and this post is my start.
A true story i read that left a mark on me:
There was a young boy who was born in a detention centre in Australia. Having never seen the outside of the barb wire, he only knew his world to be the people (other refugees/detainees) around him and the compounds of his grey walls. one day, the staff at the centre played a video. the little boy, who was watching, suddenly ran to the TV and started stroking it. On the screen, was another kid just as young as him. The little boy had never seen any other children before and marvelled at the sudden revelation. it was that day he found out there were others just like him. the staff and the other detainees watched with tears in their eyes.
well that's it from me at least for today. ta.
"If you can tremble with indignation every time an injustice is committed in the world, we are comrades." - Che
Comments
Living in Australia for the past 2 years, I have realised that people in Singapore, esp. the youths, are CONSTANTLY sheltered from the true reality of what is going on in the world. Singaporean youths are passive to say the least. But the very reason why they are the way they are is coz they are living out the good life compared to other youths that have to struggle to survive. i'm not saying that i am better than the average singaporean youth, but the fact IS that i am enlightened. and i am aware. singapore doesnt have issues regarding detention centres. and i bet, even if we did, we wouldn't have any protests to make our concerns known. however, i would place the cause of that on the fact that the laws in singapore prevent such protests from occurring. why am i getting so political in my thoughts? i have no idea! one of the realisations that hit u out of no-where. i just think that the singapore government is suffocating in it's approach. i mean, COME ON! where else do u have the government coming up wit programmes to make their society more creative??? geezzz... if they had let freedom of expression roam free, i dun think they would have this 'problem' now. but then again... the policies have shaped the way teh country is today, and hey! singapore definitely has its plus points... it just have to fine tune other aspects.
p.s. i just read the last paragraph about the small kid, quite sad to hear think of children growing up or even being born in a detention centre. i think australia needs a new immigration minister. what's teh current one's name? amanda vanstone?? i seriously have no idea where her priorities lie.. .. hmm.... i guess that's where all the political mambo jambo started from. hhaa..sorry... i wrote quite a bit. and i felt it's a waste to delete it even tho it might not be in sync wit what u wrote. but what the hey?
Posted by: Zetti July 14, 2005 01:13 PM
appreciate your comments zet! s'pore will always have its great plus points. i can only hope that the government stop becoming so rigid and stiffling in its policies.and then maybe our society can become more mature and worldly. btw you can write all you want babe - freedom of speech! :)
Posted by: Munirah July 14, 2005 06:20 PM
there's a detention centre in s'pore... yishun area. few know that eh?
Posted by: elia July 14, 2005 10:47 PM
wow i didnt know that spore has a detention centre. i wonder how the conditions are there. thanx for the insight elia!
Posted by: Munirah July 15, 2005 12:01 AM
i knew there is a detention centre but i really had no idea where it was. but that illustrates my point exactly.. even us singaporeans DIDNT know there's one! what does that say?? there probably ARE tonnes of issues to be discussed about that DC, but none have ever made headline news in s'pore, or at least, not as far as i know. so does that mean that the conditions in there are perfect, or at least, satisfactory?? *shrugz*... we don't know, do we?
Posted by: Zetti July 15, 2005 12:42 AM
we're not allowed to protest?! DAMN! Baru nak gi buat poster seh!!!...
Posted by: NoN July 15, 2005 11:29 PM
another post again. i'm not bored. i juz like to write. so indulge me.
So anyway, there's this Students Of Sustainibility (SOS) campaign going on at my campus. Right in my own backyard, there are over 30 tents propped up in the field. for almost a week now, students have been living in those very tents in the wet and frigid weather of Melbourne to make a point. They protest against tree-cutting, plastics, waste, industrialization, pollution, the use of motor vehicles etc etc to assert that humans can survive on our mother earth without reaping its resources barren.
Why am i saying all this? well simply put, I admire them.
Watching them huddle around a bonfire, in their thickest attire, laughing and simply dwelling in the experience was really great. i could just bet at night, someone would play the guitar and they would all sing of freedom and rejoice in free love.
Plus i juz love the way they dress. its so hippie. I LOVE. i confess again (seems i have been doing a lot of this lately), i always like the hippie look. it started in sec school, those days where everyone was searching for their own identity, i wanted to be a gypsy/hippie. i searched high and low for earthy looking and ethnic looking clothes, but to my consternation, there were none in Singapore. i even contemplated sewing my own clothes.
now its not too bad. the ethnic look is back and you can find such clothes now. but its not just the clothes. its the way you put them together. and i admit i'm not a real hippie. and before you say it, i'm not a poser either. i juz love their style that's all.
anyway i have digressed. i guess when i look at them, i wish for something more for myself. these students have real passion. some may think they are just wasting their time because it wouldn't change a thing, but lest we forget the purpose of fighting for a cause, i shall point it out.
it doesnt matter if they did not succeed. the point is they feel an injustice has been done and thus should speak out for the voiceless. and so what if the voiceless happen to be an inanimate tree? so what if the govt doesn't listen? by refusing to conform, they are proving to society that it is possible and those who watch by like me, for a few moments, would at least ask ourselves the critical question "does it have to be like this?".
i was told by a friend, that singaporeans can't protest in aus because our visa does not allow it. in other words our dear much beloved mr lee wants us to be model citizens and go "yes sir, yes sir".
so sue me. i do not see it as such. surely allow me, my freedom of speech here in Australia, a basic human right, that i have been deprived of in spore.
my friend also told me these issues have nothing to do with us (singaporeans) so why bother? well i'm not just gg to run screaming out injustice abt everything.
how much does it take for one to stand up and go " this is not right!". little kids born in detention centres having never seen the real world at all. the desecration of the Quran at Guantanamo. London terror bombings and so many more. perhaps we need more injustice than that?
one doesnt have to take up arms and fight. one need only to speak out. one voice added to a thousand can make a difference. idealist? maybe.
self-righteous? i think not. just realising that its time i grow up and start with myself to make a difference. and this post is my start.
A true story i read that left a mark on me:
There was a young boy who was born in a detention centre in Australia. Having never seen the outside of the barb wire, he only knew his world to be the people (other refugees/detainees) around him and the compounds of his grey walls. one day, the staff at the centre played a video. the little boy, who was watching, suddenly ran to the TV and started stroking it. On the screen, was another kid just as young as him. The little boy had never seen any other children before and marvelled at the sudden revelation. it was that day he found out there were others just like him. the staff and the other detainees watched with tears in their eyes.
well that's it from me at least for today. ta.
"If you can tremble with indignation every time an injustice is committed in the world, we are comrades." - Che
Comments
Living in Australia for the past 2 years, I have realised that people in Singapore, esp. the youths, are CONSTANTLY sheltered from the true reality of what is going on in the world. Singaporean youths are passive to say the least. But the very reason why they are the way they are is coz they are living out the good life compared to other youths that have to struggle to survive. i'm not saying that i am better than the average singaporean youth, but the fact IS that i am enlightened. and i am aware. singapore doesnt have issues regarding detention centres. and i bet, even if we did, we wouldn't have any protests to make our concerns known. however, i would place the cause of that on the fact that the laws in singapore prevent such protests from occurring. why am i getting so political in my thoughts? i have no idea! one of the realisations that hit u out of no-where. i just think that the singapore government is suffocating in it's approach. i mean, COME ON! where else do u have the government coming up wit programmes to make their society more creative??? geezzz... if they had let freedom of expression roam free, i dun think they would have this 'problem' now. but then again... the policies have shaped the way teh country is today, and hey! singapore definitely has its plus points... it just have to fine tune other aspects.
p.s. i just read the last paragraph about the small kid, quite sad to hear think of children growing up or even being born in a detention centre. i think australia needs a new immigration minister. what's teh current one's name? amanda vanstone?? i seriously have no idea where her priorities lie.. .. hmm.... i guess that's where all the political mambo jambo started from. hhaa..sorry... i wrote quite a bit. and i felt it's a waste to delete it even tho it might not be in sync wit what u wrote. but what the hey?
Posted by: Zetti July 14, 2005 01:13 PM
appreciate your comments zet! s'pore will always have its great plus points. i can only hope that the government stop becoming so rigid and stiffling in its policies.and then maybe our society can become more mature and worldly. btw you can write all you want babe - freedom of speech! :)
Posted by: Munirah July 14, 2005 06:20 PM
there's a detention centre in s'pore... yishun area. few know that eh?
Posted by: elia July 14, 2005 10:47 PM
wow i didnt know that spore has a detention centre. i wonder how the conditions are there. thanx for the insight elia!
Posted by: Munirah July 15, 2005 12:01 AM
i knew there is a detention centre but i really had no idea where it was. but that illustrates my point exactly.. even us singaporeans DIDNT know there's one! what does that say?? there probably ARE tonnes of issues to be discussed about that DC, but none have ever made headline news in s'pore, or at least, not as far as i know. so does that mean that the conditions in there are perfect, or at least, satisfactory?? *shrugz*... we don't know, do we?
Posted by: Zetti July 15, 2005 12:42 AM
we're not allowed to protest?! DAMN! Baru nak gi buat poster seh!!!...
Posted by: NoN July 15, 2005 11:29 PM
Comments