TR EMERITUS

The Era of Colonialism might have brought prosperity to many colonial regime but the basic tenets of it is plunder and exploitation of resources. Yes, it might have been the start of global trade but ancient trade has always been in place between different civilizations via trade routes or silk routes. Colonialism has killed and enslaved millions over the centuries. We should not pretend that these were not the results of pure greed. In North and South America alone, millions of indigenous people were killed by the colonists either through force or simply the flu virus brought over. Of course, the slave trade of Africans to America would have been considered the worse breach of human rights in modern standards. The Western Media has successfully whitewashed all these past deeds over the last century. When I was young I used to watch cowboy shows and really thought those Red Indians were really the bad guys! And those Mexican rebels are bad guys as well! But the Reality is totally different. The irony is, after US has successfully gained independence by winning the bloody war, the new Independent Republic was totally under control by the white ex-Europeans while Slave trade continued! It was through subsequent civil wars whereby African slaves were liberated. However, on the other hand, US became a colonial master itself by taking over Philippines from Spain! US has a few more colonies beside Philippines, they are Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii, Wake. Only Philippines gained independence from US while the others are still considered as colonies of US up till this date! When the Japanese started the war against US, they hit not only Pearl Habour but other colonies of US as well. Let's not kid ourselves that US are still holding these colonies to bring prosperity to the people there. The main reason is to hold on to these colonies for strategic purposes! Oh, they no longer call these "colonies" but "territories which are unorganized and unincorporated belonging to, but not a part of, the United States". Of course the nature of such continual occupation and colonialization has changed over the years, with no more slave trade and exploitation. The greatest strength of Western Culture is its ability of self critiques and make amends to past wrongs in history which I considered as cultural conscience. However to attempt to whitewash the dark ages of past Colonialism by giving some over glorified reasons that we "benefited" from such colonialism and the result of our current prosperity is the result of such colonialism is a total insult to the millions of people who had been exploited, killed and enslaved by colonial rule! Please bear in mind that not every past colonies have prospered after colonial rule. African countries are fine examples. Singapore's current prosperity is due to our strategic geographical location as well as our people. Malacca and Penang were British Crown Colonies but did they prosper like us? Singapore continued to prosper because we are the Hub of Southeast Asia and our geographical strategic position in the midst of sea trade between Asia and Europe. Due to this strategic location, Singapore was already a bustling trading port before Raffles colonialized it! (Yeah, not just some small fishing village). We might have inherited certain infrastructure advantage from the British but I see it as gross exaggeration of glorification of British Colonial rule while ignoring the fundamental nature of greed and fundamental motive of Colonialism.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →

In the past one week, the Queen’s passing has somehow reignited debate about the relevance of the crown in our own heritage’s narrative and the legacy of colonialsim. While the Queen is a person with a likable personality, where her status as the head of a monarchy a platform for her public display of fondness, it is the symbol of the crown itself that became the lining for a truth reconciliation debate. It was not helped by the fact that former colonial countries such as Singapore observed her passing with state flag at half mast and a one minute silence in parliament. This performance directed by the dominant ruling party who has a history of white washing historial narrative, seemed to have suspiciously reveal the country’s adoration of colonial heritage further exacerbated by the fact that other figures even among the opposition party rank, paid tribute to colonialsm as having benefited Singapore. It’s clearly an act of moral transgression given how colonial ventures have dispossessed indigenous and native heritage, the adoption to the term inherit rather than incorporate, in reference to political and judiciary systems, at one go discount the historical realities where nations before colonialism have thrived with their own set of systems. We seemed to have been submerge fully with the falsification of history, such as the fishing village scenario, which was a rather successful incantation by colonial powers that contributed to the dispossession of native narratives and heritage, so powerful that it became a fully adopted mantra even after the country’s independence. The fact that the best elite school is named after the butcher of Batavia with his statue remaining as a synonymous icon of Singapore is quite unveiling of the country’s troubled inability to detach itself from “inherited” propaganda materials. Clearly, Singapore needs to have a stronger education culture where narratives and ideas are constantly challenged, in ensuring no single entity dominantly controls what is told. The continuing infatuation with colonial legacy shown by politicians from both spectrum in particular, is a testament that the imperialist mind remained seated in our mentality even after decades of independence. While we incorporated systems from colonial origins, we rather use the term inherit and manifest deliberately in our thoughts, the absence of working systems that had already existed in the land before colonialism. When we attribute historical journeys, we elevate colonial narratives, adopting the distorted fishing village scenario and ignored the already thriving sociopolitical environment that existed before people of plundering intent came and whitewash our heritage. Worse of all, the romanticism of colonialised experience is utterly disrespectful to indigenous and native people of that colonialised land, be it in Singapore or elsewhere. It shows the lack of mannerism in us when we discount indigenous experience against the backdrop of colonialism. In fact, it shows how we are still breathing neo-colonialist narratives as the union jack remains strongly perched in our inner brains. While Australia is now taking a truth-telling journey with a bigger aim at reconciling indigenous experience, we desire to hold celebrations of a “colonial founding”. It is commonly said, societies who fail to acknowledge its own history and heritage are bound to fail. If we ever need to question the dry and dead society that we are, we are more than welcome to slowly detach colonialist narratives and experience a refreshing lens.   Nazryn Azhar Samat * Article first appeared on Journal from the valley.      Read More →

I read with concerns about the commentary, “A greater care culture among ways to better tackle the suicide issue, especially among youth” (TODAY, Sep 9). It is reported that suicide is a serious issue in Singapore - a highly competitive commercialised and industrial cosmopolitan city. There is an upwards trend in recent years, with the rate of suicide for all demographics. It is especially the leading cause of death for those aged between 10 and 29 years old. There are various causes which resulted to our youths committing suicide. Stiff academic competitions among peers in schools and acute pressures and expectations from parents are perceived one of the common causes. Next, traditional social norm which labels scoring and attaining excellent academic qualifications is the only secured route towards ensuring job security and better future. This wrongful misconception has deeply rooted in the mindsets of many parents, and subsequently in the course of their children. In general, the entry academic requirements and salary scales for any types of jobs in our government agencies are mainly basing upon a candidate’s paper qualification besides the necessary rounds of interviews. This has further strengthened the emphasis and importance of paper qualification. Of course, this methodology of assessing potential candidates is outdated and need to be changed. Anyway, our modern society needs to create a greater care culture and a fundamental shift of perception, perspectives and mindset towards assessing a job applicant’s real capabilities which are not merely based upon the criteria of paper qualification. Hopefully, all employers should assess and recruit their potential employees basing upon broader criteria, such as skills, experience and traits (EQ, attitude, drive, integrity, resilience and tenacity, etc) instead of merely academic qualification. Parents and teachers should not exert unnecessary pressure on our young age children. Rather, they should inculcate right, meaningful life values and moral ethics into their learning and life journey. I believe, applying these inspirational life tactics will definitely help our youths to relieve their unnecessary mental stress in facing/encountering the dynamic challenges of learning and life.   Teo Kueh Liang (Mr)      Read More →