BEDA #12

eeep

I almost forgot to do BEDA today. Luckily, or unluckily for you, I didn't forget~~

But I have a legit excuse! I'm editing a video. I'm still editing. Thank god I scripted it, or else I'd be editing until morning. I'm almost done, then while it's rendering I'll go take a shower #cleanliness #associationwithdivinity then I'll upload. Yeah. My life in MINUTE detail.

um. yeah. quick quick one today, I think.

So politics! I don't know. This time around, at the elections, I like to think that I have added interest (even though I still can't vote) because I've found aspects of singapore that mean something to me. I'm, to a certain extent, emotionally invested in this country more now, than in 2006, the time of the last elections. It's mostly because of writer's fest 2009 and the events hereafter; I found that there were talented artists/ art producers in singapore whose opinions I respect. I also got to learn that the National Arts Council (NAC) is really more generous than I perceived it to be. (this is a contentious point!)

There are also more people here I've got to know and care about, and I've realised that I'm not the only one who believes in social enterprise and lasting change in the community. There are people who are working very hard to support the disadvantaged, as well as those working to improve the arts scene, and in education as well. There isn't a lot of money to be made in these fields, so one can tell that they are motivated by passion. They speak very passionately about their cause as well, and feel a large sense of ownership to their community. Basically I got to find out that there were a lot more liberal-minded people here that I originally thought. :P [also I learnt that there is a thriving lgbt community-- pink dot, support groups, etc-- which is hopeful and inspirational and makes me happy inside, but this is not relevant to the argument!]

I think it's easier to care about individual communities when thinking about patriotism and belonging, rather than Singapore as a whole. The abstract concept of Singapore as a whole, as taught in National Education classes, is slightly generalised, and a little hard to relate to. It's something sanitary; stripped of all the trappings of real life. (someone stop me from being overly poetic!) Take total defence, for example, or even the Chinese, Indian, Malay, Others model. The concepts are neatly organised into 5 aspects of total defence, or 3 main races. National Education is made into easily digestible nuggets of information, to the extent that we almost treat the concept of culture in singapore a static idea to be memorized. Even using "Others" as a category to delineate all other races smacks of insensitivity.

It's important in politics to understand the needs of an entire nation, however disparate, rather than the needs of your own demographic. Politicians need to understand of how different we all are, and how we all have unique cultures and family backgrounds. To imagine everyone complexly, if you will. Because we're so small, special interest groups are even smaller. But an understanding of the concerns of these groups will contribute to an understanding of the whole. It's important to grasp the idea that singapore is made up of very different people, and not attempt to classify and unite everybody under arbitrary labels, with archaic generalisations. I think it's because I've met different kinds of people that I begin to understand what singapore means, beyond classifications.

For example-- sometimes you meet one group of old people; say aunties doing taichi and playing mahjong, gossiping; you have the tendency to think all old people are like that. But when you've done hours of line dancing, spoken to vegetarians, talked to the cleaner who was nice to you on your first day of work, sent meals to elderly couples in 1 room flats, observed country club members playing golf-- your stereotypes are gradually dissolved. You realise that there are a lot of different old people living here, and they all have their individual passions. But most of them have similar concerns: they are lonely, they seek a comfortable, stable retirement. They can deal with change, but it requires more effort on their part to adapt to new situations. Politicians should deal with their electorate like this: understand their complexities, but also learn about their common needs and why they might want these needs.

Maybe this learning and realization is just part of growing up. But some politicians seem so out of touch with what is happening that they hardly talk about issues that are not the concern of their gender, age group, or social status.

phew. I think that's it for today.