Originally posted by BillyBong:
The psychological aftermath of our government's intentions has left
us in a quagmire.
After all the years of developing 'HUMAN RESOURCE' as Singapore's
sole marketable product, the arts and cultural sectors have taken a
huge knock. To the extent that they are neither well-documented nor
publicised.
To take up performing arts or 'lesser' fields such as music or
dance is seen as a niche market with little or no hope of making it
big. As a result, the perverted traditions of engineering and
finance have been rigidly inculcated in us drones, too straight to
even contemplate variations in our future.
Even parents discourage their children in furthering their interest
in these fields. Ditto for sports.
Then along comes Melvyn Tan, who proved that branching into such a
'condemned' field can reap dividends. He, like so many of us, was
chasing a dream, a dream few dare to realise and his parents duly
supported him. He was a first, a man who dare to take a different
and uncertain route and found success along the way.
Even better, he had the courage to return to face the
courts, aware of a potential jail term just so his parents could
watch his performance in SG.
Instead of being given critical acclaim, he was crucified by locals
over an admin mistake, which is arguably the fault of both sides,
not Melvyn's alone. Teo Chee Hean did no favours by lending weight
to the public outcry by saying he favoured jailing defaulters after
the judgement was delivered.
Why are our own ministers so biased and one-sided simply because a
person defaulted on NS? He left at the age of 12 to pursue his
dreams and not 18, the ripe age for enlistment. And given the
choice of career over national service, surely such a untenable
position becomes unenviable and understood?
He made a choice. We as a people may not have agreed with it. but
we should respect his position and difficulty before jumping on the
'flame-him' bandwagon.
Come on people , he wouldn't have come back to risk a jail term.
I am not privy to the going ons behind the scene, but i can hazard
a guess that the conditons for his return and subsequent punishment
would have already been discussed. Given the nature of our kangaroo
courts, i would think that he would have already known about his
punishment even before setting foot in Singapore
So stop potraying him as the prodigal son returning to bring us
salvation.
