Happy Activist Angry Hour

So I've been to a few local activist events - Workers Made Possible, and another two I can't remember.

And what I understand from the events is this -

1) A few well-meaning local left-leaning activists get together with the odd confused opposition figure (*ahem* Leon Perera)

2) They do research, consult academics, do public engagement, burn many weekends and non-working hours collaborating and pooling their thoughts into a 50 page manifesto that no one reads

3) Or at least, no one that matters reads it. 

Oh maybe there are some outreach efforts. Maybe you tried to have a dialogue session with members of the public (who will immediately abandon that rare moment of lucidity and reembrace their own treasured conservative values once they return to social media and their own social circle, because your one-off interaction is no match for their echo chamber). But it's ok, you did something! You felt good!

Maybe Jommedia or Ricemedia or the Independent/Vulcan Post (when they aren't busy spinning full-blown narratives out of isolated anecdotes or pushing to meet their SEO KPIs) will cough out a few supportive articles in that insufferable overacademic GP style. Maybe it'll get a week, maybe two weeks of traction. Then that's it.

But is ok guys, we have to try! We have to keep trying! Can't give up the good fight!

I'm not saying we should give up. In fact, the reason 377A was repelled was partially because the government heard you. Of course, the timing is interesting, given that well, they could have repelled it at any time. It wasn't like they were forced to do it because you were all marching in the streets. In fact, you could have spent another decade shouting on social media and the government could have conveniently ignored you. After all, they didn't go around arresting you, did they? They allowed you to "make yourselves heard" on social media, at pink dot, at gay bars, at events like these.

What happened is that there was a pretty mundane consultative process where they had some focus groups with conservative and religious people, told them what to think, and this repulsion is the cumulation of that process. There were a few submissions and a few presentation slides at MCCY and MinLAW, drafted by a few executives and managers, vetted by a few directors and signed off by the CEOs, permanent secretaries, and ministers. None of you expected it, then they did it. That was it. The banality of evil.

So if the government could have done it anytime they wanted to, and they just went and did it without consulting any of you, without any of you knowing anything about it, did it really felt like you won? Yes, we have to celebrate our wins, no matter how small, but really, the nature of the victory does leave a rather bitter aftertaste doesn't it?

But I digress.

I'm saying that I disagree with the approach. What is the point of having a 50 page manifesto with 50 "demands" when the vast majority of the public doesn't know it exists? When your target audience is that small group of shouty lefties with colorful hair and multiple tats and piercings that turn up at your events? When the government can just conveniently ignore it for as long as they want? Oh, really transparent collaborative process where they gauge public opinion. None of you know what's happening behind the scenes short of hearsay. No leaked whatsapp messages, no documented evidence, no whistleblowing by disgruntled civil servants, no brilliant exposes by investigative journalists.

First, you need to be focused. Don't have a 50 page manifesto full of "demands" for every aspect of society. Oh, what are we doing for the foreign workers? The poorest and most vulnerable members of society? The trans people? The gays and lesbians? You can't cover that all - it dilutes the impact. Stick to one group. Five demands on one page. Even better, just one demand. That's it. Let It's Raining Raincoats or TWC2 handle the foreign workers. Let other groups handle the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. Stay on point. The more focused you are, the more difficult it is for you to be ignored.

Second, you are a minority and will never gain broader acceptance unless you do something about it. How do you gain broader acceptance? The mass media. Straits Times is hardly going to run a full page editorial the next day championing trans rights. Ru Paul's drag race or Queer Eye is hardly going to be shown on Ch 5 the next day. But lots of people still watch Channel 8. And that should be your starting point. Not Mothership (joke) or Mustsharenews or Goodyfeed or Vulcanpost or The Independent or all these so-called independent media outlets that people can scroll through and flick away and forget about. People need sustained exposure.

This could be your one demand - more positive examples of gay people (let's start small) in Mediacorp Channel 8 dramas. And I mean Captain Holt level. Just some person who you couldn't tell is gay who *gasp*, actually is! And no more Dennis Chew or Chua En Lais please.

So maybe you can keep shouting for another ten or twenty years. Maybe some of you will eventually give up the good fight, grow up (god forbid) and buy BTOs and get plugged into the system and become staunch ruling party supporters (I've heard of a few). The government is happy to drag this on for as long as they like. In fact, they seem to like co-opting aspects of youth culture while ignoring the issues affecting youths today. Oh look! Another shiny NTUC ad with Gen Z K-Pop wannabes jumping around! The government isn't out of touch after all!

Now, ten, twenty, thirty years. Can you wait that long?

Which brings me to my third point - you need to accelerate the process. You can't let the government dictate the pace. If they aren't ever going to consult you (which admitably is a slap in the face), then turn the other cheek. Reach out to Edwin Tong and ask him the sort of very specific loaded question that will only make him look bad if he tries to weasel his way out of, and he will. For example, you can frame it this way - the rest of the world is culturally moving on while SG is being left behind. Does MCCY have a road map for LGBTQ to gain broader acceptance by society, and can MCCY share this road map with us? We are gravely concerned that a chasm will form in society if the government doesn't take steps to bridge the cultural divide. Bonus points if you somehow manage to weave in the fact that you weren't consulted for 377A, but those religious people were.

He'll naturally give some non-answer like "we must tread carefully and not let our pace be dictated by cultural developments in the US." Extra points if he mentions the right/left divide in the US and Europe, or the Russia/Ukraine war.

So basically a no. He isn't going to share any information with you, nor will he involve you in the decision-making process.

Then you keep driving the message (is there a roadmap?) home any opportunity you get. Sustained pressure. Do this during the election and it will trend. Don't rely on Marine Parade GRC. A vote against the ruling party is a vote against Edwin Tong. Will the landscape turn blue overnight? Nay. But if they lose enough votes, they WILL do something about it.

Now, I don't have ten years of activist experience behind me. In fact, I have zero. All I've done is been to a couple of events and dreamed up a few scenarios in my head. Maybe this is all bollocks. Maybe you'll tell me, it's harder than you think. Oh, look at this smartarse telling us what to do, idiot knows nothing. But I don't profess to be anything other than an outsider looking in. And by sharing this, I was hoping to gain the benefit of your experience. Maybe you could tell me if anything I said made sense, or even better, is actionable upon. And if it isn't, I am willing to change my view.

And no, that LKY quote is not as wholesome as you think. It just means that your sexual orientation or gender has nothing to do with your value as an economic unit. Which means you should just keep your head down, work hard, respect your elders, and contribute to the GDP of the nation. That is all.

Side topic for discussion - if a famous author or playwright or creative sort comes down and attends an event (*ahem* SWF), is that a tacit approval of the stance adopted by our government?

IPPT through rose-tinted lenses

 Went for IPPT yesterday. Here’s what happens – 

The government sends you a SMS. You fret and start to realize the importance of regular exercise. You seek a channel for your new found devotion to keeping fit and staying healthy. The gym across your house looks nice. It’s run by SSC, and full of last minute losers like you. 

You pop up on a Wednesday evening. Girls are doing the treadmill/exercise bike and watching K-drama on their phones (the treadmills/exercise bikes have integrated phone holders). Guys are a mixed bag – some are clearly semi-regular muscle builders dropping by after work to maintain their gains. A few lost souls (not unlike you) have wandered in, maybe propelled by some primordial desire to bulk up in a last ditch attempt to attract the opposite sex (either that or they have fallen prey to sublimal government programming). A few older men look like they’re just there to while away the hours before bedtime. Or death.

Everyone does their thing. This gym isn’t judging – no one cares what it is you do. The home bros rotate between stations, clearing sets and reps as they go (or whatever it is they clear, you never understood the importance of a proper workout regime anyway, even after watching all those YouTube videos – why else are you here now?), debating the virtues of various protein shakes. The old men sit around chatting. The losers (like you) focus on upper body workout, because girls dig big biceps, and because you can barely scrap 10 pushups together to get a single point from IPPT.

Class 95 blares in the background. The TV plays CNA. No one cares.

Then you run out of gas after an hour and leave with a spring in your step. You took action! You did a thing! There’s hope for you yet!

Then you return to the gym a few more times over the coming weeks and lose interest.

Two months before your IPPT, you look at the calendar and go shit, just two months before my IPPT! The impetus strikes you again. You decide to start jogging after work. The government has built a running track near your house to cater to busy working professionals like you, professionals who love to work hard and play hard. It’s crowded, but what can you do? There are a lot of you.

You start jogging. This isn’t too bad, you think. It’s open air, and you can look at birds.

The next day your calf muscles hurt like hell (mostly because you were an idiot and did not consider the importance of a proper stretching routine).

You jog a few more times, with diminishing returns in happiness.

Then the day comes. You show up at camp on time, surrounded by the same gym bros and losers from the gym. You take a deep breath and somehow manage to eke out the requisite number of push up and sit ups (a dubious talent you always knew you had but were loath to admit). You’re completely winded after that. Not sure if there is any fuel left in the tank for 2400 metres of track.

Meanwhile you sit about catching a breather and watching some gym bro smash another of his personal push-up records.

You start the run. By Round 3 your lack of determination is really getting to you and you are tempted to start walking, but you keep running because you don’t know any better (your brain is too starved of oxygen to make any rational judgment). Like some sort of zombie you lurch step by step towards the finish line.

It’s the final 50 metres and you break out into full sprint. Some stranglers are inspired by you and try to match your pace. Your timing – 13 minutes and 36 seconds. Good enough to pass, not good enough for Silver. You collapse. Then you look around and notice that the fitness freaks are about as fast as you are (mas o menos 30 seconds). Turns out they all skipped leg day. Who knew?

You join in the new warm-down session mandated by SAF (because the higher-ups have run out of ways to add value to existing processes), collect your piece of paper, and leave. Another year!

Kampong of the Spirits

Part of the reason the so-called Kampong Spirit has died is because many of the functions originally fulfilled by a Kampong have been co-opted by the Government. For example, communal childcare, cooking, dispute resolution, etc. Activities are now organized by the PA on a neighbourhood level rather than block level, and childcare is now Sparkletots. Some of these functions have been co-opted for a good reason. Others, maybe not so much.

Returning these functions to the residents would require the government to relinquish some control. What? Relinquish control? And deprive hundreds of highly-talented scholar-bureaucrats who graduated top of their classes in the LKY School of Public Policy and thousands of uptight control freaks turned PA volunteers a sense of purpose?

Perhaps some loose community structure adhering to some basic guidelines (don’t feed the children too much caffeine after 8pm and the like) with occasional audits could be set up and overseen by the wisest elders in your block. What? Wisest? Have you seen the state of old people these days? Sharing racist memes on WeChat and liking every Facebook post they see?

Or perhaps neighbourhoods could be adorned to reflect their street names. Why aren’t there more prawn drainage covers in Jalan Rajah Udang? Why aren’t there more durian motifs on the flats in Lor Lew Lian? Why aren’t all the building names at Spooner Road Spoonerisms? The scholar-bureaucrats once had this idea, but they never took it far enough, before they went in search of the next big vanity project to adorn their impressive portfolios. Or worse, living in such a place might instill the residents with a sense of local identity! Can’t have “identity politics” here, no sirree! Identity has to remain the homogenous featureless nationalistic blob that it currently is.

But ‘tis fine – these things are meant to die. Peoples’ lifestyles have changed, and they never care as much as they claim to do. Mostly virtue-signaling, is all.

So what has replaced the “Kampong Spirit”? BTO Whatsapp groups set up by private developers (and sometimes residents themselves). Chat groups surrounding the care of communal cats (which the government is trying to regulate, because they can't help themselves). Groups that have sprung up organically or capitalistically with no encouragement from the government. But our scholar-bureaucrats hate this! They either attempt to co-opt these movements into some government initiative (Exhibit A would be all the neighbourhood Telegram chat groups set up by the RCs that serve no purpose other than to spam residents with PSAs), or demand regulation, or both! Because the progenitor of this “Kampong Spirit” must be nobody, nobody but them! Can't relinquish control, no sirree!

Meanwhile the government has to keep up the facade because well, it's what they do. Cue the neverending series of ST editorials “questioning” where our “Kampong Spirit” is. Oh wait, it’s alive in random acts of kindness. Some guy going around helping the elders in his neighbourhood. Some girl helping to water the plants even though no one asked her to.

That’s not a COMMUNITY, for chrissakes. That’s one person being good-hearted. 

Communities have symbols. For example, a third division football team representing the working-class roots of the locals with generational support despite their lack of success. A small town where the townsfolk decided to paint potatoes all over the buildings because a) it's funny and b) it attracts tourists. Rural folk put aside their petty differences and unite under the banner of a common gene pool to defeat big evil American corporation from taking over their land and driving moms and pops out of business. So - what are the symbols here?

And please don't parade out the same tired explanations (Singapore is a small multiracial, multicultural country, blah blah blah). You know full well what I am talking about.

Be intellectually honest, just for once in your life.

My first post

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