What a week!
Baffled by the admonition for Chinese in Singapore to make the minorities feel welcome I wrote to Straits Times with a "question-comment". It was published here.
251 words in the original reduced to 174.
The next thing I knew this letter was all over FB because someone had used this letter to define "humblebragging" ( TRY NOT TO OPEN THIS as it will only increase its hit count: https://mothership.sg/2017/10/chinese-sporean-woman-recognised-her-chinese-ness-after-strange-men-hit-on-her-in-europe/) and an award-winning novelist had written a considered FB response as a person in the minority.
How recounting unpleasant experiences pertinent to the discussion on racism in Singapore could be twisted into a piece about humblebragging was quite beyond me.
But never mind. Free speech. He's allowed to state his opinion.
I was curious as to why the people who then came on to FB to comment assumed that I was trying to get the attention of these "white men". So, it was my fault for trying to emulate Suzie Wong, I've been told.
Calm down, people, I will never look like Suzie Wong in a million years. I went to Amsterdam as a missionary in my thirties! By the way, it is never nice to be accosted by strangers. Period.
Yesterday the onlinecitizen published this article, all 1900 words, where I set out what I believe had gone wrong. It's my view. I may be right. I may be wrong.
Ultimately I want us to get back to that kind of Singapore I knew where one's skin colour is not the defining issue.
By sheer coincidence, Mr Lim Siong Guan wrote this commentary piece on building a gracious society on Today on the same day.
Grace, not race. Let's be gracious, not racist.
Meanwhile, enjoy Bette Midler here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPj2h0N3bU
