A little whisper in the dark

Happy Landings

Earlier this year I'd returned home to Singapore. I was only away for about 7 months yet as the airliner made its final approach to Changi Airport I began seeing familiar sights. I still vividly recall those taxis with advertising boards on their roof moving along the expressway to the airport, even while in the air. The bright sodium-lit streets a marked contrast from the dimmer Australian streets.

My mom, she had covered everything in plastic after I left (to make the cleanup easier) and she is a stickler for cleanliness, made sure that my bedroom was exactly like I left it. Even my computer was uncovered. Just as I'd left it. You know, sometimes you think that parents don't understand, don't care, don't this, don't that, but if you stopped to think about it, they do pay attention. Perhaps it is because we are a family of Asian values (I use the term Asian a lot nowadays since being in Australia) but I would say gestures are used more often than overt shows of affection and love. It is no less sincere and no less meaningful, and it means even more if you recognized it for what it was.

That first night back home, despite coming back to 30 degree heat and near 100% humidity, I had no trouble sleeping. I was back home.

posted by Chung Leong @ 12:00 AM 3 comments

Outside, looking in

And so my overseas experiences continue, and it is often the turbulent and traumatic that create the most indelible impressions - today, an Australian of Vietnamese descent was put to death in a Singapore prison.

Normally, an execution in Singapore takes up little more than a two by three inch wide column in the local daily, tersely phrased, a reminder of the crime that resulted in the punishment, and neutral in emotion.

But in wave of Australian patriotism and solidarity for a fellow countryman (regardless of colour) the media took up the cudgels and the government bowed to pressure from all the TV networks - official, legal and personal pleas were all made for his life. The more effort put in, the more strain there was between the two governments, and now the scorned government allows that relations would be "strained". So much for sovereignity?

Credit where its due, the Australian media covered the human aspect to the nth degree, making up for the typical restraint I am used to reading. No titbit left uncovered, the opposition party representatives were interviewed, protesters given airtime, scenes of tearful people both Singaporeans in Singapore and Australians in Australia. Singapore is really a little red dot - for what it is, it hardly makes news in large countries when large countries have enough news of their own to fill in the 6pm prime time slot. Were it not an Australian that's on death row, it wouldn't even make one newspaper here, let alone doininate headlines for the past week leading up to the execution.

How often do we think we see the entire picture, when we don't realize that we're looking with only one eye?

posted by Chung Leong @ 12:06 AM 0 comments