The concrete lava to feed our 6.9 or 10 million more human masses

 

Now you can still see these fields......

 

 And soon, you may not. As they may be converted into these…..

these…..





 

and these…….

 

 

The fields are fast-becoming an oasis in this concrete jungle of ours. Fields which I have paid so little attention to in the last decade, almost non-existent like so many other things around me, that immediately spring into meaningful existence the moment I lost them or am going to lose them.

Seconds are ticking. These green spaces which live with us unnoticeably, may very soon succumb to the irresistible monetary yields of property development.

“The fields and copses are in retreat; the concrete is spreading like slow lava.”

An apt observation from Daniel Hannan, a MEP of South East England with reference to the impact of UK’s unchecked immigration on UK’s [Here] physical landscape, could be applied to Singapore’s context with little difference, except for the speed of the spread of the concrete lava. Ours is devouring our once valuable green spaces like a bush fire. In replacement are blocks of concrete building that bring along even more carbon dioxide and heat emission.

We prided ourselves once as the garden city, way before the birth of the new gadget Garden by the Bay. Not so much about the abundance of individual parks and gardens but that the idea of the entire island being the garden itself. Trees form an indispensable part in our living quarters. We have avenues of trees on our roads and estates, which can be a luxury in many urban centres, and there is the availability of green spaces intertwining residential areas.

These days, the number of concrete blocks is seriously set to overtake the number of trees that we have although I would have no statistics to prove this. The green spaces which I used to be indifferent to and as well as this garden city of ours, have to make way for the newly-tinted Singaporeans and foreigners seeking greener pastures over here. At the expense of our very own green pastures which are dwindling at an alarming speed.

Somebody is pawning our green spaces.  

The Rainfall and the Heat

So Vivian, climate change is not the sole culprit for our ponding, flash floods, floods or whatever innovative terms used to describe the situation of large amount of water that obstructs our way of passage for a prolonged period of time. If only you would behold the number of buildings produced in the last decade alone and the imminent ones listed in our “Draft” Master Plan. Simultaneously, new underground MRT lines are constructed, emptying our grounds underneath.

When buildings devour the green space where rain water could drain, we will be in turn devoured by our tropical rainfalls/storms.

It is a cause and effect. Humans are part of the environment. And I am not a scientist nor a doctor.

The reality of disappearing green spaces is compounded by the amount of CO2 produced from the constructions itself and post-construction human activities. We know what CO2 will bring. Inevitably, we contribute towards the increasing temperature with increasing CO2 emissions.

Concrete buildings are also adding weight to our island. We are looking at tons and tons of concrete buildings that we have generated and will eventually generate in a span of two decades.

A Stressed-Out Island

Someone is stretching our little island both overground and underground with excessive constructions of buildings and digging of tunnels.

Our island is sinking literally and gradually with the amount of weight that is piled onto it. The sea level is already rising, with or without our island sinking.

Not only our people are stressed out, our poor island too.

And all pursued under the name of Singapore inc.

There is no master plan as to when this lunacy of unrestrained constructions will slow down, if ever.

So, appreciate our remaining green spaces while the sun shines.

快乐的霸道

追求快乐的确是每个人的权力。

那却不是迫使你身边的人都必须因为这样的权力而必须快乐的理直气壮。大家的快乐，并不是对你快乐的权力所必须承担的责任。更不是一种必然。

我知道生活的忙碌、时间的稀少，所以朋友相聚的时光必须珍惜。然而，朋友相聚的时光，并不是一个纯粹为了制造欢乐时光的活动。熟悉的言语、温度、生活的杂事；陌生的言语、新的温度、突兀的念头；快乐的、感伤的、沉重的、轻松的、愉悦的、震撼的、惋惜的，在这个相聚的空间里，应该被允许。唯有这样，才是朋友。

自然地，大家都会贪婪于欢声笑语，那样的一身轻，谁不想？可惜，真实的生活真的真的未必如此。朋友更不是用来制造快乐/欢乐的工具。所以，朋友相聚的时光，并不是为了你快乐的权力而产生的。于是，席间的人都务必上演百分百快乐的戏码；严肃/不快乐的课题遭严禁、愤慨的情绪应该被制止、面红耳赤地争辩/抬杠等动作应该被遏止……以此成全你对快乐的追求？

朋友，你得到快乐，我会为你而高兴。与此同时，朋友的沉重，我也同样想拥有。那才是朋友的全部。

我知道，生活中悲苦无奈的事很多。想要把这些负面情感减到最低、把它们的负面影响缩到最小，也自然不过。然而，朋友相聚的时光，真的，不一定，都必须是欢声笑语充塞的场合。

是的，追求快乐是每个人与生俱来的本能。却不能把朋友的相聚时刻，成了对你的快乐的一种责任。 

那样的对快乐的要求，是一种变相的霸道。

我们是谁

曾贵为一国总统，却自以为是地否定狮城子民至今已形成属于自己的共同身份。经过了三代人、近50年的建国历程，狮城岛国最早的海外移民，原来，还无法建立自己的身份。

仿佛狮城岛民什么都不能是，或者说，任何海外人士都能即刻成为狮城子民。我们的破英语、烂母语……既不东又不西，也曾就此以为我们什么都不能是。 

然而，当英国唐人街似曾相似的中式食品安慰不了味蕾的南洋思乡情、当英国人酷爱的印度咖哩炮制不出狮城咖哩的风采时，你不得不承认，狮城移民的祖国母体文化已经演化了。我那来自唐山的外婆在世时，爱喝的并不是中国茶，而是kopi。

狮城的饮食文化，体现的是共同的社会、政治和经济环境下，各族移民的融合、延伸。思想、言行举止、价值观也必定在共同的环境下进行了磨合以及演变。文化、种族、语言、宗教的差异存在。但联系着大家的就是那共同的生长环境。共同身份也在产生、演进。

身份这一种区分你我差别的理念，你说有就有，没有也就不存在。然而，身在外地时，还是无法不承认自己不是中国人，不是台湾人，不是香港人，更不是英国人的事实。

语言特色、国民服役、饮食文化、集体怕输的行为等，都无法完全代表狮城岛民的身份。身分这概念抽象，难凭几个标准来限定，也没有一套标准能作代表。

它可有，也可无。只要岛民觉得自己跟其他民族不同，那身份就存在。有些人需要，有些则不。不需要身份的人，无法否定对其他人而言，身份具体存在的事实。

有些人的眼里只看到钞票的具体颜色，自然看到不到抽象的概念存在。所以，共同身份这东西，也就自然看不见。

抹黑个人主义

  孩童、工人、单身人士、宗教人士、单亲妇女、年长者、残障人士、失聪人士、贫困者、富裕者……综合起来，聚成了一个社会。

多年前，在英国见证了一家给顾客提供多款手推车的超级市场，让我眼前亮了起来。有七款之多。兼顾到了携带幼童的购物者，甚至是轮椅使用者以及残障幼婴的需要。因为意识，所以看见了不同群体的购物需要。这样的超市，说真的，在英国并不普遍。

这却让自己对既定的个人主义有了新的诠释。

习惯性地把群体利益与个人利益定位在敌对的位置上，将“个人主义”斥为自私的思想，必定危害群体利益。然而，群体本就来自个人。失聪人士的需要，为何被视为危害群体的利益？个人与群体的利益肯定有相通的地方，例如对良好治安、公正司法、便捷的交通、良好的住屋、优质的医药服务等的追求。

英国社会下不同的群体，政策上看得见、民间团体也看得见。让我意识到“个人”的存在。残障人士的需要、被逼婚少女的安危、穷困孩童的支助、单亲妈妈的需要、军人和军人遗孀的需要、钟点工人的权利、年长者的照顾……这些“个人”的需要，并不是过分的自私，而是生存的需要。这类的需要，也符合群体利益。因为他们也是群体的一部分。

小红点的群体利益说教，有时候，如同单一色的白布，把底下的个体全隐藏起来。一旦逾越白布的界线，就被抹黑为不顾大众利益的罪名。

以划一的政策来强迫群体中的每一个人接受，也可能是变相地牺牲群体底下每个人的个人利益。

工人的利益让位给群体利益；不谙英语的年长者让位给群体利益；残障人士、老去的人的利益也让位给群体；失婚人士、有才华的人、非大专文凭者、病弱者也如此。

究竟，这个群体是谁？是国家吗？不能让人民幸福的国家会是群体的利益吗？把群体利益建筑在个人的牺牲上，最终的群体会快乐吗？

或许，“群体利益”的利益并不存在于群体本身。那个群体，有时根本不存在。“群体”很可能只为方便实行政策的一种名堂而已。

Leaders of negativity

“Leadership must begin with commitment; with conviction. This, in the end, is what I think leadership is about. You should be able to fulfill the need of the people who are willing to be led by you. They are willing to be led by you because you fulfil their need for hope, their need to believe in themselves. If you cannot make those people you are trying to lead believe in themselves, you cannot really be a leader.” ---- Aung San Suu Kyi.  [Link]

On the contrary, our “leaders” derive utmost pleasure from running down their people and the country, specifically the country before PAP took over. Remember, Singapore was still a small fishing village before PAP came to our salvation.  

They have a range of infamous vocabulary for us, such as “daft”, “lesser mortals”, “quitters”, “poor”, “ungrateful” and “xenophobic”.

They must have the hardest time in governing this hopeless island and therefore the justification of the size of their salaries which is still astronomically high even after the pay review.

Our land size, our population and our lack of natural resources are all perceived negatively and selectively and persistently ingrained into us.

It makes one wonder why would the British set their eyes on this island based on the forlorn description painted by PAP. Singapore eventually became the crown colony. And yes, we know that the British were not looking for tin ores or oil fields but a strategic harbour for their trade. They saw beyond the size, population and the natural resources to appreciate what Singapore has.

The Arabs may have the oil but they do not lead the world. India and China may be populous but that could also be a disadvantage for now. It is just not about what we do not have but what we have. And even what we do not have may also be an advantage if we look at it POSITIVELY. It is about working around the constraints, staying focused on our goals and overcoming challenges. More importantly, it is also about the kind of leadership exhibited.

But PAP conveniently forgets to share with us the advantages of our land size and population in the planning and building of infrastructure for a young country; the added advantage of exerting easy control over the population. Having a small population size also reduces the pressure of creating sufficient jobs. Look, our political leaders were desperate enough to bring two casinos onto our shores to create jobs opportunities, implying the challenges of job creations that they face.

Someone just dispelled the myth that our land-scarce island is ill-suited for agricultural. A vertical farming was created with cutting edge technology right on our island. [Link] At an individual level. It goes to show that with the right conviction and determination, even at individual level, one can achieve the near-impossible.

We are repeatedly handed “death sentences” by our leaders, about our inability to be anything worthwhile. We cannot be the price setters for wages, we cannot enjoy cheap public housing (yet, we can afford tens of golf courses), cannot do without foreign investors and foreigners, cannot groom our own sports talents, cannot do without huge GDP growth, cannot grow jobs without the presence of casinos.

And the worst thing that we cannot do is that we cannot do without PAP. If it is really so, then that would the biggest failure of PAP’s 48 years of governance of failing to establish a strong social, economic and political systems that are independent of political entities.

We understand too well about how PAP enjoys playing their cards with our “weaknesses” as a means to inflate their “successful” leadership. To prove that PAP has the right talent to transform worthless rocks into gold wherever they lay their fingers on. That is the way to which they legitimate their monopoly on local politics.

“So that, simply, to me, is the mindset of leadership; the determination to serve, not to lead. And it’s a determination and commitment to serve that decides who is a real leader, not the desire to be a leader itself.” ----Aung San Suu Kyi.    [Link]