I do believe that June 2015 will be a month that will be etched in my memory for a very long time. Most of it has to do with what happened in Singapore or to Singaporeans but epoch-making world events also helped to mark this month as a special time that would not be forgotten so easily.
Firstly, Singapore hosted the 28th SEA Games from the 5-16 June 2015. The successful hosting of the Games was a testimony to Singapore’s well known strengths in management and organisation. Our athletes did splendidly and managed 2nd place in the overall medal tally with 84 gold, 73 silver and 102 bronze to emerge as the nation with the most bemedaled athletes.
My most favourite moment of the Games was when Veronica Shanti Pereira took the gold in the 200 metre sprint in track and field, clocking a new National record of 23.6 seconds. Being a runner myself in my school days, I can appreciate that Veronica’s success came on the back of real hard work, sacrifice and a lot of sweat and tears. But winning the way she did, beating pre-race favourite and 100 metre champion, Kayla Richardson from the Philippines, in front of the home crowd at the new National Stadium, must have felt special, not just for Veronica, but for hordes of Singaporeans who have been starved of seeing a home grown talent win a track gold for a long time. Glory Barnabas last won the gold in track, incidentally in the same event, in 1973.
The spirit of the Games, the way the athletes performed and how Singaporeans from all walks of life came together to support the athletes and each other as spectators and volunteers, made this a special SG50 event, very aptly reflected in the songs of the Games, 2 of which caught my fancy – “Unbreakable” and “Greatest”, the latter sung by Daphne Khoo, who is a Mass Comm, alumna from the School of Film & Media, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
The celebratory and upbeat mood was dampened perceptibly early in the Games when tragic news emerged of the loss of lives following the 6.0 magnitude Sabah earthquake on the morning of 5 June 2015. 10 Singaporeans – 7 school children, 2 teachers from Tanjong Katong Primary School and 1 adventure guide, perished as boulders and rocks descended upon them at Mount Kinabalu while on a trekking expedition. Monday, 8 June 2015 was declared a Day of National Remembrance, with all state flags flown at half mast and 1-minute of silence as a mark of respect observed at all venues of the SEA Games.
What was truly remarkable of these 2 events – one evoking joyous celebration and the other infusing grief and melancholy – was that they served to rally Singaporeans of all races, religions and backgrounds, new citizens and born and bred Singaporeans, to come together and support each in a way that members of a close knit family support each other. The warmth of Humanity lifted the spirits of our athletes and soothed the anguish from the loss of fellow Singaporeans. Humanity triumphed wonderfully.
But then a few world events made me question just for how long can Humanity sustain the warmth emanating from its bounteous bosom.
A 21-year old white male from South Carolina, USA, Dylann Roof, shot dead 9 people in an African Methodist Episcopal Church in a racially motivated attack. One of the victims was the church minister Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a long serving South Carolina senator and civil rights leader. We are well into the 21st century, nearly 150 years after the end of slavery in the U.S. and it makes me wonder what made a young man like Dylann commit this heinous hate crime.
More recently, series of coordinated terrorist attacks across 3 continents, purportedly bearing the indelible mark of the militant group, the Islamic State (ISIS), shocked the world.
Scores of people were killed – 37 tourists, mainly Britons and Germans, killed on the beachfront of a hotel resort in Tunisia, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a Shite mosque in Kuwait after Friday prayers and the beheading of man, a manager who worked in a factory of a U.S. gas company near Lyon, a city in south-east France and whose decapitated body was found as police arrested a man, believed to be a worker at the factory, for trying to blow it up.
Such attacks, allegedly perpetrated by militants fighting for what they believe is a divine cause to right the perceived wrongs done unto Muslims and their God, represent Islam in a very bad light, especially since we all agree that Islam is, essentially, a religion of peace. By planning and executing these attacks during the sacred month of Ramadan, these militants sought to exact maximum damage and publicity for their twisted and misguided cause, attempting to write a narrative that runs counter to the basic tenets of Islam.
Has the warmth of Humanity’s bosom dissipated quickly, never to return?
As I pondered this question, agonising to comprehend the tragedies unfolding before me, in greater numbers and frequencies, I realised that, alas, Humanity is the net sum of all actions by every single human being on this Earth.
As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must not lose faith in Humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”. As long as the number of good acts outnumber the number of bad acts, Humanity has a chance of surviving and spreading its warmth to all.
Another development that could very well re-define our societal norms and they way we look at the institution of marriage and the traditional family structure is the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow same sex marriage in all 50 states of the country. The 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision to legalise same sex marriage was met with thunderous applause from gay rights groups and sparked immediate queues at the registry of marriages at local government offices.
President Obama said the decision “arrived like a thunderbolt” and called it “a victory for America”, obviously delighted that he’s come good on one of his earlier campaign promises to bring dignity and equal status to all same sex couples, even as he laments the embarrassing lack of progress on race issues.
I feel that this development in the U.S. is sure to test the unity and harmony of our largely conservative society in Singapore with a more active and vocal gay rights movement which is growing increasingly confident of pushing through its agenda.
My hope is that Humanity plays her part in calming our senses and giving all of us a chance to think through not so much of what divides us but seeking to accentuate that which unites us. And if this requires us to live and let live, then let us appreciate that there are just some battles we can never win and be prepared to take the losses as long as those who sit in the opposing ideological camps, do not launch missiles into the other camp, destroying their opponent’s right of abode in their own sanctuaries.
As long as Humanity endures, we have a chance to live harmoniously as one. I will like to end by taking heart from with this quote by Nelson Mandela from his book, Long Walk to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela,
“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in Humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
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