TR EMERITUS

 This article is rated PG/X and intended for mature readers only. It is often entertaining when the most widely distributed (I have not mentioned “widely read”) newspaper, the Straits Times, publishes outrageous letters once in a while to tickle the belly of the Singaporean population. Syu Ying Kwok, among a handful of regular letter writers to the press, had wrote a hymn of a praise to the establishment. While there is nothing wrong with an individual expressing his or her opinion and views, it is sometimes incomprehensible the frequency at which the Straits Times publishes letters which are deemed to perform the metaphorical acts of fellating, tea-bagging and rimming (as aptly described in one Chinese dialect). While the fellating of the metaphorical penis, the irrumating of the figurative scrotum and the rimming of the imagerial anus of the state and establishment may be self-inspired and consensual, many are often quick to point out that the fellater, irrumator and/or rimmer has bought into the dominant ideology of the establishment. Insensitive comments aside, a person like Syu Ying Kwok is entitled to express his admiration and support for the government and its leadership. What makes some of us cry foul is the fact that letters criticising the government often do not get published, illuminating a stark imbalance of “public opinion” as presented on the famous English daily. There is also a complex, in which exists a perception that should a person praise the establishment and those in power, he or she is seen as a willing fellator, irrumator and rimmer. The government becomes anthropomorphised into a man's appendage – penis, scrotum and anus (with buttocks) and all. Political conservativeness here seems to be regarded as to have intimate oral relations with the lingum of the one-party government. I have glanced through a few online forums, whose entries have associated Syu as a person who metaphorically orally pleases the phantom private parts of the power elite. Our attention should be turned to the media that so indulges in such acts of political fellatio, irrumatio and rimming, almost fetishist and exhibitionist in its support for the government. Here, the media is the lapdog, not a watchdog. Everyone has a right to express his or her views and ideas, and should be able to do so without fear, without facing discrimination and without facing violence. Apart from his views on Tan Lead Shake (again), Syu should not be discriminated against for his support for the government and its leadership. It is very interesting how dominant discourses and forms of soft-soaping, curry-favouring and apple-polishing are often greeted with subversive discourses – in the form of ridicule, criticisms and dismissals. What do we ultimately achieve, from the viewpoint of Hegelian synthesis between the thesis and the antithesis? The synthesis becomes a “new” thesis – what I observe to be the continual usage of sexual metaphors in the critique of political conservativeness. But I am sure androcentrism still lingers on in the repeated usage of male-oriented sexual imagery. Essentially, the acts of fellatio, irrumatio and rimming are commonly associated with sexual submission to the appendage and orifice of the male. In heterocentrism, the admirer and supporter of the establishment is seen as either the submissive “woman” or the genetically and psychologically inferior “male homosexual” whose role is to orally stimulate the sexual organ of the state. The supporter is then seen as a willing sexual servant or slave. The supporter is seen as a “vagina” (since the mouth would be one proxy for the female anatomy), receiving the “penis” of the government. In another subversive reading, we could say he/she is an asshole (literally and metaphorically) that is being (duly) penetrated by the political elite. In criticising a believer, admirer and supporter of the establishment like Syu for example, those who christen him with the title of the fellator, the irrumator and the rimmer, are in fact not only reinforcing dominant gender and sexual norms, but also making suggestions of an imbalanced dichotomy in which the heterosexual male is king. Subversive political discourses, which counter dominant political discourses, still employ and maintain dominant gender and sexuality discourses. This makes society fertile for the continued perpetuation and sustenance of homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Sucking the penis, blowjobs, handjobs, licking the scrotum, carrying the scrotum, kissing the buttocks, licking the anus – these are all literal translations from the various Chinese dialects used to describe people who express their admiration and support for the political higher-ups. However, the same language is not commonly used in other domains, such as in the immediate familial and in socio-religious domains. This is how a society comes to define the areas, boundaries and limitations for dominant and subversive discourses. It is also suspiciously Freudian that the logo of the ruler party, the People's Action Party, is one of a reddish (with excitement) phallic lightning placed majestically over a gaping “vagina” of a circle. The phallus is the figure of power and dominance, ready to make the active decisions and conquer the submissive vagina beneath it. Is the “vagina” the people and the “penis”/lightning the state? We are after all constantly impregnated with the rhetoric and ideology of the ruling elite, and occupy ourselves with materials that distract us from questioning the system which perpetuates this. Taxes, the rising cost of living, the fear of political expression and so on, would be the deposited “semen” that lies dormant in the people, who are not prepared to be “pregnant” and are thus for the time-being too burdened to finding the answers rather than asking the questions. You get the rest of the imagery. Rather androcentric and bordering on misogynist (Freud, what!). But it is always entertaining to appreciate the ironies that exist in our lives and society. You cannot change how people think, but you can observe how their thinking contributes to discourse. I will never see the PAP logo in the same light again.   by Ho Chi Sam * Sam is a graduate student studying transgender theory. He has done research in media representations of LGBT people. Other than being a co-founder of the Singapore Queer-Straight alliance, he also aims to raise awareness on issues related to politics, media regulation and literacy, and social harmony. He is happily married and lives in Workers' Party Hougang. He may be contacted on his blog at http://thinkingbetterthinkingmeta.blogspot.com.  Definition & Meaning felletio:  oral stimulation of the penis irrumatio: The English noun irrumatio or irrumation and verb irrumate come from the Latin irrumare, to force one to perform fellatio rimming: Anal–oral sex, also referred to or described as anal–oral contact or anilingus (from anus + lingus (Latin Lingere: to lick, less commonly spelled analingus), is a form of oral sex involving contact between the anus or perineum of one person and the mouth (lips) or tongue of another.     Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. 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PAP octagenarian strongman and self-proclaimed "forecaster extraordinarie" Lee Kuan Yew, who has the propensity to share his "pearls of wisdom" with other countries has scored another own goal again - this time with the Koreans. Speaking during a dialogue on the future of China, he claimed that standards of Chinese who tried to hone their English in China remained "woefully" low without substantiating them. "If you learn (English) in China, just like the Koreans, you speak to each other in incorrect English, and you won't make much progress," he added. It is not known if there are any Koreans in the audience and they are offended by Lee's remarks. Though Korea may have a lower standard of English than Singapore, it is among the twenty most advanced economies in the world with a GDP several times that of Singapore. Furthermore, the standards of English in Singapore has slipped lately with the relentless influx of foreigners from non-English speaking countries such as China. Only one in three foreigners pass a Service Literacy Test conducted recently, an indication of the appalling standards of staff working in the service industry. A former Prime Minister, Lee continues to wield considerable influence in the Singapore cabinet at 86 years of age. By Lee's own admission, he is not doing much work lately except doing "forecasting" which cost Singapore taxpayers some $3 million dollars annually. Unfortunately, his "forecasts" are almost always wrong.     Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

Nearly a year after it was uploaded to Youtube and circulated widely on the internet, the PAP has decided to ban a video recording of a speech made by former ISD detainee Dr Lim Hock Siew on the murky grounds that it is against "public interest". The speech was made last year November during the launch of the book "The Fajar Generation" by former members of the now defunct University Socialist Club (USC) about their struggles for Singapore's independence during the 1950s. A medical doctor by training, Dr Lim was a USC member who later became one of the founders of the PAP. He joined the opposition Barisan Sosialist in 1961. In 1962, the Internal Security Department (ISD) arrested and detained several members of the opposition for being communists or suspected communist sympathizers of which Dr Lim was one of them. Dr Lim was detained for 19 years without trial and was only released in 1981. He is the second longest-serving political detainee in Singapore, the longest record being held by Chia Thye Poh who was detained for 32 years without trial, even longer than South African President Nelson Mandela. During his speech, Dr Lim described his incarceration under the ISA and berates the PAP for detaining him without any reasonable grounds. He denied being a communist or a threat to the nation. In a terse statement, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica) said the video gives a 'distorted and misleading portrayal' of Dr Lim's detention under the Internal Security Act. 'The Singapore Government will not allow individuals who have posed a security threat to Singapore's interests in the past to use media platforms such as films to make baseless accusations against the authorities, give a false portrayal of their previous activities in order to exculpate their guilt, and undermine public confidence in the Government in the process," it added. If the PAP is really confident about its actions, then it should not be worried about letting Singaporeans hear the other side of the story and allow them to judge the matter for themselves. Unfortunately, the PAP appeared to be "caught off guard" this time (as usual) as the video recording of Dr Lim's speech has already been watched by thousands of Singaporeans.     Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →