Of Sadness and Hope

Hi all, I am the Voice, today, of Sadness and Hope. Rather than give you a self-introduction as my first post, I decided to let my consciousness flow and allow you to feel who I am as a person.

This month has been a rather depressing period for me. I am pretty sure many of you, connected to the internet as you are, can feel the reverberations of hate and intolerance throbbing around the globe.

Let me first talk about something I am sure most of us are aware about, gun violence in the USA. I suppose that there was never a day that US gun violence never troubled me. I guess, like many sane human beings, I figured when the problem hits critical level, their government will step in to fix the problem. It was that fateful day where forty-nine human beings were gun down, maybe due to who they are as people, maybe due to a dysfunction of the mind of an individual, that I realised this fix will never arrive. Of course, down the road, things did not get any prettier, cumulating to several high profile shooting of dark-skinned people and some sort of retaliation against this alleged systematic violence.

I am not trying to make a comment at fault here, but as an echo to my fellow human beings around the globe, could we stop shooting at each other for a while?

But of course, despite what some people may feel, the United States of America is not quite the centre of the world. So let me turn to depressing events elsewhere in the world. Yes, this is going to be sad for a bit, but hopefully you stick with me, I promise I will at least try to turn it around.

Oh, for the record, I am a Singaporean. I hail from a tiny island in South East Asia, and if you have heard of us, frankly, you probably think that we are bigger than we actually are. I will share more about Singapore, and my feelings of, in the near future. I think it is fair when people argue that other people do not have a right to comment when they are “not from around here”. But I also feel like we are all human beings and that collectively, it is good to once in a while hear the voices from other lands.

ANYWAY, back to the sadness. BREXIT, one of the biggest words in the last few months. Frankly, I think the world has not quite recovered from the shock of it. I know a lot of UK youths are traumatised by the development of events. I read stories of how couples from different nationalities are worried that they will be displaced from the homes that they have built, or worse, torn apart from one another. The stench of xenophobia aside, I guess what was really heart wrenching to me are stories like this, where people across countries have found love in each other, to be torn asunder by the narrow-mindedness of the people they call their fellow countrymen. There is just so much hate and anger in Britain at that time (though there probably still is), the anger of the people who supported the separation, the anger of the people who supported staying on the weekend following the results. The outward seething hatred that people of different coloured skin got after the results, like the blatant shouts for them to leave Britain immediately as the country has spoken, was particularly tough to take in.

Meanwhile, I hear stories about right-wing politicians gaining ground across the world. Where I thought that acceptance and unity or logic and reason is a national identity, like Australia and Germany, I start hearing hate about refugees and immigrants and the need to protect one’s borders. It was terrifying, to be honest. Imagine it, a world where in the centre, there is an endless war going on. Where countries are interlocked in a web of enmity and violence, alliances come in the form of having a common enemy, or where even sometimes hating the same enemy does not guarantee that we are friends. Where people support the most violent dictators because only they can protect the national interest. Where groups of people suffer the lack of a home, a country that they can call their own. And as war ravaged across the region, the displaced, the victims are looked at with suspecting eyes. And I honestly cannot tell which is worse, the suspicion thrown upon this unfortunate group of people, or the people, both the safe countries and the terror organisations, who pushed the idea, the fear that we could have terrorism agents hidden within these poor people to infiltrate other countries.

And as dissent spreads like the Zika virus around the globe unabated, I wonder whether it is a surprise to the governments to find that people want to carve themselves out from the country. Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Kurds, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico, a bunch of states in America just to name a few. A bunch of states in America! That’s from the country that calls itself the United States of America. Of course, the United States of America have a whole set of issues going on for them right now. But those issues really reverberate the whole theme of what I have been writing so far, hasn’t it?

But of course, the governments and leaders of these countries are not going to let it happen, because like my uncle (who is a really wise man, by the way) puts it, if China goes ahead and let Taiwan be independent (which it is not, and there’s a long story behind it if you are surprised by this fact), then what happens tomorrow when Xinjiang or yet another province wants independence? It would be a weakness in the eyes of its own people, and more importantly, the international community. And it seems like, in this increasingly tensed and violent world, seeming weak, for even the most humane reason, is something that cannot be allowed to happen. Problem is, I feel, strongly feel, that these governments are unable to inculcate a unifying sense of national identity, or more importantly, a sense of community among these fragmented people, and failing to do that, what they have chosen to do instead is create an oppressive atmosphere. Of course, this does not help, because when you oppress a child without attempting to create a form of dialogue, or openness, or sincerity to communicate, you just encourage the child to rebel more. That or the child does not turn out too well.

To be honest, at this point, I really cannot bring myself to dwell deeper into the cesspit of depression that has been this year. For each sentence I write, it brings to mind a whole week of current affairs about war, discourse or the general darker side of humanity. Most of what I have written so far are “first world problems”, but the part about the war happens on daily basis. And every day, someone is shooting a fellow human being to death, or blowing himself up for an ideology that I honestly believe that this person does not really believe in. It is like at some point, a huge chunk of humanity just lost its sense of purpose, and in trying to figure it out, all logic and reasoning abandoned their minds. And I honestly don’t blame religion, and I know many people (a lot who I know I will respect) will disagree vehemently, and I admit religion does not help, but I honestly think religion is not the fault that these people are so disconnected with what it means to be human. That is yet another topic for another day.

BUT, there is a silver lining. There is a message that the media isn’t shouting loud enough. Things like crime in the United States being at an all-time low, and ISIS is really losing ground in the war. And when someone sacrifices himself in order to find some twisted meaning in his life, there are people around to help the wounded, there are people around to plant flowers for the fallen. When someone radicalised, whether due to a twisted religion, or a lost sense of self, or a general hatred to the world that shun him, there are people out there that hug the misunderstood, the victims, the refugees tighter and harder and closer, recognising them as people, as fellow human beings, as potential to make this world a better place.

And I admit that not all people react this way to the ugliness of the world. There are people who respond to violence with more violence, to guns with more guns. And I do understand the feeling of needing to protect yourself, because the feeling of vulnerability isn’t great. I’ve been there, frequently. It’s scary to bare it all to the world, and allow the world so much openings to hurt you and destroy you. But there is so much in life to experience that we miss out if we do not do that, isn’t there?

But I believe we will progress, we will unify, and as a race, it is not just doom and gloom. And I believe that because we have gathering of people, being human together, sharing and communicating. I see tribes and villages of people together that ignores nationality, ignores gender, ignores race. Places where people share ideas for humanity, share humour, share insight to lives across the globe. We have places like the platform that I am writing on now, where people gather and listen. And I guess to some governments, it truly is terrifying that people can just project across the globe and touch and be touched by other people across the globe, but it is a beautiful thing and a unifying thing that will prevail across the hate and violence.

And if you are out there, still connected with us, and you are suffering a really bad day, or week, or month, or year, maybe because of the politics of your country, maybe because you stand on the brink of violence, or maybe even if you have everything going for you but yet you feel dissociated from humanity, just know that out there across the world, there are people there who care for you. People who don’t know you but might hear your story if something unfortunate should happen, and truly feel sad about it. People who would lay flowers for you because your life, every life, actually mean something. But let us leave flowers for happier days.

So this is about it for now. I have said pretty much what I wanted to say. Hope to hear from many of you in the days to come. This is the first time I am reaching out like this and honestly it feels exhilarating. Live well and take care.