The Day, The Yellow Brick Road Turned Red – A Singaporean Study in Living with Uncertainty in a Certain World / Part 1
January 6, 2009
Faith it seems is infectious in this fairytale“Dorothy, keep to the yellow brick road and it will keep you,” the scarecrow rents to which the fangless lion adds, “yes keep to it Dorothy and it will get you to the Emerald city safely.”
Despite keeping steadfastly to the yellow brick road, Dorothy can’t help wondering what life offers beyond the bounds of her experience—she wonders aloud, “what’s over the rainbow.” Tip: She doesn’t have to wait long to find out.
One day true to the tradition of great fairytales; Dorothy and her friends stumbles on a conundrum. A fork road presents itself; one holds out the promise of more of the same in the form of the yellow brick road; the other is the omnimous red brick road….less traveled…pathless even….it even holds out nothing except the terrible prospects of uncertainty.
For a while Dorothy and her companions mulls over which road to take – and this is really where the story within the story picks up pace and takes off in earnest as the journey to the fabled emerald city unfolds.
Somewhere over the knoll, over the yonder and beyond the curl of the rainbow, lies a place called hope.
This fairytale sums up both the pathos and askance of our times beautifully.
As many of us begin to grapple with this economic downturn. Some I am sure have already begun to sense the certainty of the yellow brick road giving way to the unfathomable uncertainty of the red brick road; others are already walking on it red brick in earnest; struggling against the dissonance, as uncertainty can only sharpen the sense of pain further; then they’re those who are content to remain brainlessly bochap like Mr Scarecrow and our beloved rag the ST, as they continue oblivious to current events as if its business as usual.
Somewhere in this comical narrative of the blind leading the blind – some of us may even be able to tease out the various nuances of our own reactions concerning the dire economic mood from the different attitudes of Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow or cowardly lion – but no matter what the condition of the pain; magnitude of the lost or scale of displaced hopes and dreams.
One thing remains strikingly unanimous; the melancholic sense that what we may actually be witnessing is not only the passing of the golden age; but an end even to a world that once held out the promise of certainty.
Somewhere in this medley where the bough has broken giving way to a tsunami of uncertainty it seems this recession is different from the others; that at least is how I see it from where I am standing; this recession is different from the others. For one if to take the trouble to look deeper at how the gyre turns; it seems to affect those who believe they might be insulated from the ravages of the malevolent world by seeking safety behind the high walls of intelligence and education even more for some curious reason.
My feel is the elites have been badly mauled this time. Yes, there is nothing like a white tiger special to wake one up. Unlike their less fortunate brethrens, the cookie cutters who are accustomed to living the life of battery chicken; they on the otherhand seem comparatively better equipped to deal with the advent of uncertainty; as it could be said, they were never once part of the Singapore dream; it’s easy come and easy go in the heartlandsl hence, they never ever once expected their lot to improve in good or bad times. Life it seems is permanently fixed in the groove.
I am not for one moment asserting, the working class aren’t hurting; I am sure they are. Only one must always be reminded, there are recessions and there are recessions. And this is very much the latter.
Besides in the heartlands life has never been easy in good or bad times – if one is lucky, the magical numbers on the toto ticket may just line up one fine day and providence saves the day; if one isn’t so lucky then some malevolent force may need placating with a few sweets and joss sticks on the seventh month; perhaps even a few well placed mirrors positioned nicely on the front door would do the job of warding off the evil eye; life it seems just goes on in good or bad times.
But to the educated and privileged and those who have always made brisk capital of the adage knowledge is power – knowledge secures the good life – and knowledge is the alpha and omega- this economic meltdown offers no solace; no hope of redemption even. It has spared none of their well heeled sense and sensibilities – neither can they seek cold comfort on the cheap by seeking security in amulets and magic mirrors to ward off evil. For one what has transpired in the economic landscape remains unprecedented; earth shattering even when the only thing that compares to the carnage is the great depression that once affected so many people around the world during the 30’s.
To those who are accustomed to watching their plans past effortless from the realm of theory to reality. These must be sobering times indeed, not only do they have to content with the possibility of the passing of an age. They may even have to accept their knowledge will always remain finite and in certain cases present even a liability to themselves and others; that will always militate against such a thing as a goody good machine that can be counted to produce good; to add to the pain, there may not even be any solid laws which can guarantee even if one cuts all the right moves; or makes the all the right decision; one may even succeed.
Like the sudden appearance of the red brick road in the Wizard of Oz, all it promises is the only thing we can be certain about is uncertainty.
To these elites, it must be disconcerting to wake up one day only to realize the bough has given way; or the pebble that once held up that precarious face of the mountain has slipped – things it seems will never ever be the same again.
Some I am sure will chaff at this write up and simply say; the good times will come again; or what goes down, must come up. But I am not so sure, things are so simple this time. (I will elaborate on this in Part II)
I guess if you’re looking for some barometer that reflects that adequately reflects the sign of the times and the melancholic mood amongst our elites; look no further; that could explain why even the government these days has suddenly fallen curiously silent.
Even they are compelled to reconcile themselves with the limits of what they have traditionally marketed as the tried and trusted yellow brick road – keep to the rule and the road will keep you safe from harm.
It doesn’t take a lot effort to draw out the endless motifs which all make up this picture of the yellow brick road and how virtually aspect of Singapore life has been moulded and shaped by it; the cult of infallibility; the 1st division dream team; pragmatism taken beyond mere dictionary meaning to account for everything underneath the sun; right up to the whole idea of the nanny state that doesn’t quite seem to register the embarrassment in not knowing where precisely to draw the line between good governance and plain intrusion. If we stretch this story board further, we may even go on to include other set pieces which make up the whole idea of the yellow brick road; was it for instance even wise to have invested so much hope and faith in only a few juggernaut oligarchies to multiply the wealth of the nation? Was it even realistic for Philip Yeo to have embarked on his Byzantine plans to turn Singapore into a bio-tech hub? Could the scholarship system be further improved beyond the current corseted limits of zoo keeping to maybe covering a wider sphere that more closely resembles bee keeping? (If you have the time please write directly to the brotherhood press to get a free copy of this 5 chapter philosophy on nurturing excellence which I once wrote about in 2006)
Against this heady backdrop. No matter how we choose to cut and splice it, only one question stands out in stark relief at the end of the day; will we be able to live with uncertainty in an age where we have been accustomed to demanding certainty for so long? Will we even be able to undertake that paradigm shift in the mind to even admit that we may have even lacked wisdom to have placed so much blind faith in the whole chimera of certainty in the first instance?
I don’t know. I have no answers.
Darkness 2009
[Funding for this piece has been kindly provided by the Royal Thai creche in virtual courtesy of the Lady of the lake and her associates - as such this article will not be ascribed an EP codex - FILB 2009]
Special Message from Darkness 2009 / com-sat 00-24952 / Primus Time
“Today we have received a large donation from the Royal creche and from some unknown anon sources that amounts to a staggering 43 million Imperiums! / This is a huge sum and I really dont know what to say / I know this may say sounds stupid, but I have never had so much power before and to be honest with all of you. I really don’t know what to do with it - In all honesty. I don’t believe, I can even trust either myself our my comrades to manage this huge sum wisely / so I have asked for it to be returned / We already have enough to allow us to continue our work. My feel is less is more; if we are overwhelmed with more, it will just encourage us to be complacent and bovine and we may not even be able to continue to strive to develop core competencies in studying ways and means to get on top this recession.
Nonetheless, I would like to thank, the Lady of the Lake and her generous friends for the offer.
In times like this when there is so little to cheer about she has brought us not only hope but more importantly an opportunity to believe that in an uncertain age, we can still depend on the certainty of friendship and the brotherhood of man.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I remain your loyal servant Darkness 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK2Mn-XgHjA
End of tranmission”
From the flag ship of the brotherhood KKD Les Enfants Du Paradis / Transmission EDX 398 41759 / Primus
[This has been compiled and brought to you by the FILB - 2009]
