This, my dear friends and readers, is quite possibly the best piece of writing we will ever see from a Singaporean in our lifetime. I literally stopped breathing two paragraphs into ‘The Experiment’, the short story that Catherine Lim posits in this piece.
Not only has Catherine Lim spelt out the unarticulated fears in my mind in a way that I could only dream of, she has brought them to life in a short story that is not just plausible, but all too real.
I am going to finish my exposition on a shockingly pessimistic note. I have come to believe, with a somewhat heavy heart, that even if the Government wants to do something about the problem, it may be a little too late.
Singaporeans have by now become so dependent on the Government for making decisions for us, for thinking for us, and so used to our comfortable lives, that any major change and adjustment will be viewed with alarm.
I have put the short story on page 3.
Once the article expires on the ST, non-subscribers won’t be able to access that article. That would be a tremendous loss for all of us, so I am copying the entire article onto the next page so that it may be preserved for the public.
10 Comments
Way back in 1993, a scifi author looked at Singapore and came to a similiar conclusion..
“They’re good at this stuff. Really good. But now they propose to become something else as well; a coherent city of information, its architecture planned from the ground up. And they expect that whole highways of data will flow into and through their city. Yet they also seem to expect that this won’t affect them. And that baffles us, and perhaps it baffles the Singaporeans that it does.
Myself, I’m inclined to think that if they prove to be right, what will really be proven will be something very sad; and not about Singapore, but about our species. They will have proven it possible to flourish through the active repression of free expression. They will have proven that information does not necessarily want to be free.
But perhaps I’m overly pessimistic here. I often am; it goes with the territory. (Though what could be more frightening, out here at the deep end of the 20th century, than a genuinely optimistic science fiction writer?) Perhaps Singapore’s destiny will be to become nothing more than a smug, neo-Swiss enclave of order and prosperity, amid a sea of unthinkable…weirdness.
Dear God. What a fate.”
the first poster’s comment reminds me of this famous quote from The Third Man:
Don’t be so gloomy. After all it’s not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.
So I write…
There is not a need to rush
No requirements to think fast
Eager though we may be
Time will let us see
A nation strong and free
Happy belated Martin Luther King Jr. day.
Pwoaaah. Yah! The Experiment damn gd to read! hehe she shd follow up on those characters now and then whenever she writes on Sg society and politics. When we see wheder those characters develop or not in her future writings, it might be a mirror to wat is happening in the real world!
It would appear that most Singaporeans have too much _Faith_ in the government. No matter how warped the politics here become, the citizens will still support the government a full 100%.
Faith (noun)
-Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
Another place where it’s archived: http://www.littlespeck.com/SpecialReport/SpecialRpt-catherine-060120.htm
The last line of the Experiment reminded me somewhat of the concluding lines of Orwell’s 1984: “Everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
Actually, Catherine Lim has written many articles critical of the government, and this is merely the latest one. the last one created quite a stir as well: http://www.singapore21.org.sg/art_disaffection.html#debate1
Thanks for bringing my attention to this article. She is a wonderful writer and i enjoy her political repartee more than her literary works.
It’s also motivated me to put some theories i’ve formulated into writing regarding our lack of societal progress, and i’ve linked this post in the process.
i hope you don’t mind, and you obviously have the right to protest if you feel it has violated you moral rights against negative attribution.
What Catherine Lim has said is true!!! One hasn’t had to look far. Look at the spectacular decline of China in the past. Qin Dynasty to Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty (Periodeof China’s Great Prosperity and Renaissance to …) Weakening Dynasty Song then came the Predators
Beginning from the Huns in the Han Dynasty which was quelled by Han Wu Da Ti (Emperor) but its progeny the Jins and Mongols and Manchus swept and conquered the Han Majority
Revolution, Genetic Variation and Chaos falling into semblance of order and then become turbulent again is to stir things up so spread opportunities around
No matter how Benign the Dictatorship may be (with Dynastic Hereditary System the Epitome) it cannot stave off DECAY Leading to extinction
Predators will always exist and that has always been the plot. Dinosaurs which once dominated the World were wept out because they had been victims of their succcess
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[...] Apart from being an author, Catherine Lim has also been one of the most outspoken critics of the present government in Singapore to be published in the national press. And for that, I salute her. It’s not often you read such eloquent articles, and especially not when one is talking about the government. [...]
[...] Sheer brilliance, I tell you. Catherine’s analysis was spot on. Like the Legal Janitor, I felt she brought to light what I’ve been thinking for a long time. [...]
[...] For instance, Han at The Legal Janitor very much admires Catherine Lim’s latest writings to appear in the ST, Managing political dissent and The experiment (20 Jan 2006). I, on the other hand, am not such a great fan of hers. Maybe I don’t understand why or how she functions as a once-in-10-years’ critic. I suppose Artists like her and Tom Wolfe who have their fingers on the pulse of the Zeitgeist can only sneak out to submit their correspondents’ reports every now and then. [...]
[...] For instance, Han at The Legal Janitor very much admires Catherine Lim’s latest writings to appear in the ST, Managing political dissent and The experiment (20 Jan 2006). I, on the other hand, am not such a great fan of hers. Maybe I don’t understand why or how she functions as a once-in-10-years critic. I suppose Artists like her and Tom Wolfe who have their fingers on the pulse of the Zeitgeist can only sneak out to submit their correspondents’ reports every now and then. [...]
[...] Refer to Shianux’s post on Catherine Lim. [...]