Lzydata posted an interesting talk to be held at SAFTI Library, would have loved to attend but whaddya know, work calls.
Daryl posted a followup on one Wing commander Tan Kay Hai that piqued my interest and a little digging prompted by some helpful nudges from his post got me here, there, everywhere and back.
Well geez Louise, we got us a genuine combat vet here, not some poor sod with a shotgun from Dalforce facing the battle hardened vets of the 5th or 18th Infantry Divisions or one of the Malay Regiment lads who died on Pasir Panjang Ridge when all around them the white men were falling over themselves falling back and looting. Here we got somewhere we can be not pai seh to put on a pedestal cos he didn't suffer a fate as ignominious as his brothers in arms in Dalforce or Pasir Panjang Ridge. To be sure, I take nothing away from Force 136, Elizabeth Choy and company, their experiences are more than worthy of just a passing mention but this man was different.
He had been around the block, seen the elephant, smelt the cordite. He wasn't running around in the darkness doing hit and runs, he was part of the Allied war machine. I mean come on, when was the last time you read about a chinese guy in the RAF in WWII? Wing Commander to boot, not some wet-behind-the-ears FO. AND they awarded him a DFC some more. This kind of thing they dun anyhow give one, it's not like you can get one if you queue overnight for it.
Orchard Shopping Centre, Paragon, Wisma Atria, these shopping centres had mid-life facelifts, sheet man, if these damn things could be given facelifts, why the hell was the National Library at Stamford demolished? Has anyone seen the monstrosity that is coming up between Bras Basah Complex and Bugis Junction? I don't care if it's internet ready, packed to the gills with fancy crap and can leap tall buildings in a single bound, it's ugly, period.
The new National Library
The old National Library
This country of ours is 40 years old this year, that's about as old as EJ when you compare it with others, yet our economy is matured and counted among the First World. We've come so far in terms of material wealth yet we're still learning how to crawl when it comes to having a national identity.
The destruction of heritage buildings doesn't help us one bit, all around us the skyline keeps change every year. How does one stay rooted in a country that changes every year? Can you remember what the neighbourhood you grew up in looked like when you were a kid? 5, 10, 15, 20 years back? Things change so rapidly that there is no such thing as a familiar sight in Singapore anymore. I don't get that sense of revisiting a familiar old friend when I go back to my old neighbourhood, my primary school still exists but the building it occupies doesn't look anything like the old one, ditto for my secondary school. I'm lucky, some schools don't exist anywhere but in memories now.
Space is limited, that I can accept but there must be a way where the old can integrate with the new. Fewer friggin golf courses would be nice start, the ratio of land used vs number of users is atrocious, but then again, money talks pretty loudly here. Hawker centres become food courts, SERS. Heck, even Parliament House is brand new. The Supreme Courtnext change. How to anchor oneself when everything around you disappears after awhile?
There must be physical remainders like red-brick buildings and statues of Wing Commander Tan (somewhere on the grounds of SAFTI MI perhaps?) to remind us of where we come from, roots do not simply appear overnight, they have to have something to latch onto. The increasing globalization of the world we live in makes for very mobile citizens of the world. All cities tend to look alike if you live in them long enough. What incentive is there for Singaporeans to call Singapore home if we can't even recognise it?
Oh and in case you're reading this. Happy Birthday once again, words can't describe the place you have in my heart.
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