RETURN OF FARTMAN!

Did You Leave Anything Behind?

I realise that life in Singapore is so hectic and fast-paced that the only time I ever get to stop and think about random things when I'm out of the house is when I'm in a cab.

While in a cab, alone preferably, I'd reflect on my past actions and life, be it five minutes ago, or five days ago. I'd randomly think about things I'd done, words I'd spoken, people I'd laughed at, and chickens that I'd ingested. It's the only time whereby I'd sit still and actually contemplate all the things that Singaporeans in general complain about. Of course, since I'm also in a cab, one of the major sources of food for thought would be the friendly cab driver.

Just last night I was in a cab home with my Dad, and the cab driver started complaining about the government being hypocritical and two-faced. A political discussion, or rather a verbal attack on the political situation, is the pond from which the cabbie and the customer quench their thirst after a long hard day at work. This time, since I had no obligation to respond, I had the luxury of just sitting there listening to the issues flying back and forth. In all my years of riding in cabs, the issues haven't changed that much. It made me wonder what exactly was happening to our nation, especially National Day coming up in a weeks' time.

We've been complaining about car prices, housing, jobs, foreign "talent", smokers, foreign talent fucking our women, foreign skilled talent raping our women, ministers getting paid outrageous amounts to come up with outrageous schemes that get them paid even more outrageous amounts, retrenchment, HR, expensive alcohol, etc. for years now, and it hasn't changed much. My point is not to actually point out who's right and who's wrong, for we can never speculate too much in a social-democracy such as ours, although speculation leads to conspiracy theories that might sometimes ring true. However, be forewarned that no one should speculate. We should not think out loud even, for there will be dire consequences. I was really wondering, if the general populace actually felt this way, why isn't anything happening?

After having had a night to sleep on it, I realised that although changes occur only when there's a shift in the equilibrium, and in a political context there must be widespread unhappiness for that shift to take place, Singaporeans in general are still too comfortable with their lives to actually do anything about their unhappiness. Granted, in every economic state there will be some who sacrifice for the greater good. There will be unhappiness, BUT the important thing for a goverment to do is to keep the unhappiness at a level where it can still be controlled, and our government is doing a really good job in that sense. They're making the best use of whatever resources they have, human mostly, keeping the rich happy and the country running relatively smoothly, and also placating those who lose out by giving them the occasional perks of citizenship, for example upgrading. Of course, there are those who are easily placated by the news of yet another opposition leader being sued to his/her underpants and his/her family also having to bear the brunt of his/her "mistake". Fear, of course, instilled in the right dosage is a very powerful asset.

Hence, I'm really waiting for the day when the bubble bursts, and our people get so fed up with talk of new foreign policies, housing loans, car prices, hypocritical censures against retrenchment of older workers, once again foreign talents fucking our women and foreign skilled talents raping them, that they just erupt in a frenzy, and another equilibrium is embraced. Then again, as all the dust settles after the storm, I think of getting into a cab again, and I'm quite convinced that I'll find the dialogues rather similar. I somehow feel that although the complaints may change regarding the issues, they will inherently be similar, and at the end of every ride I'll still be hearing the same monotonous, chirpy query of "Did you leave anything behind?"

Till next time, goodbye world.

posted by Da Buffalo! @ 2:13 AM