Don’t Stop Believing

By Chee Siok Chin

But on those days when nobody wants to know you
And all your smiles keep falling on stoney ground
Don’t stop believin’, don’t stop believin’
Don’t stop believin’, you’ll get by
Bad days, bad days will hurry by
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4ihzBP3SEw

This is the chorus to the song “Don’t Stop Believing” by Olivia Newton-John. I was a huge fan of hers back from primary school right up to my early adulthood. When this Grammy- winner diva came to Singapore to perform for the first time in 2007, I was among the first few to get tickets. Even though I was sitting way behind in the Indoor Stadium, watching her perform live (sometimes through my binocs and sometimes on the huge overhead screen) was a blast. Watch this: ONJ and Barry Gibb performing live together this year. It’s great!

But I digress. There is a more sombre point to this posting.

There are those days when you think to yourself “When will the bad days hurry by? When is this all going to be behind me?”. I often think this in terms of the societal and political situation here. When will Lee Kuan Yew be made accountable for his monstrosity in subjecting Singaporeans to his belief in eugenics? When will he be made answerable for his irreversible blunder in his population control policies in the 70s and 80s? When will he be brought to justice for for destroying scores of lives for his political gain?

I recently spoke to someone who had written a book about Lee. The subject of mortality, judgement and accountability came up. We concluded that Singaporeans are too comfortable or even afraid to think analytically and critically about the society that Lee Kuan Yew has literally engineered and the warpedness of it all. So having him account to Singaporeans for his transgressions will not happen in his lifetime.

However, I believe that the time will come when Lee will be brought before the judgement seat, as I will too. Then he will be made to accountable for all that he has done, good and bad. Until that time comes, let’s not stop believing that one day we will live and thrive in a society where compassion, justice, equality and freedom are the pillars and foundations of Singapore.