A letter to The Online Citizen from a reader after he had read Dhevarajan Devadas’ article.
Kyle Leslie Sim
Barack Obama was elected not because he is a black man (he is not by the way, he is 50-50, its just that the media love the fact that a black man has made it; that’s why they choose to portray him that way, no sense calling him a brown man when black sounds better right?)
As students, we learned underlying factors (secondary two history class – anyone remembers?). The underlying factor for the start of WW2 was the Treaty of Versailles, the underlying factor for Obama’s win was George W. Bush.
If Bush had not made a mess of everything, there would not be the opportunity to call for change. I mean, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Humans are simple creatures; if everything is going alright, kids get to go school, a few extra bucks in the wallet for the family holiday and meals outside, people will be content. But take those creature comforts away, and there will be hell to pay. Georgie literally yanked the carpet from under them and the roof from over them (sub-prime loans anyone?).
So be truthful: would a brown man have the chance to even call for change if that fool in the White House not cocked things up so badly? I sincerely doubt it, he would have been trashed so thoroughly by Old Hillary that we would not even remember who he is today – Barack Osama? Ain’t he that terrorist? (See, another stereotype – only a white guy would say that.)
Look, I love Obama, I love the ideal he represents. The first time I saw a black president (and he was black) on television was Morgan Freeman in Independence Day (2000). I distinctly recall turning to my cousin and saying, ‘America will never have a black president, and if they did, he would be assassinated the day he takes office’. I was 11 and I already had the stereotype groove down pat.
I can only hope that he lives up to the hype, because he is a modern day messiah. He is a beacon of light in a tunnel so dark that there seems to be no end.
We must salute America, because for all their Democratic hyperbole, they have actually proven many critics wrong. People have always said that even though the Americans preached Democracy and fairness, they themselves are far from either.
Now, they have a black (see, it just sounds better than if I had said “brown”) man as President. Love them or hate them, one must respect them for it is only in an apartheid that a man of minority can hope to be a leader of his nation.
You want change? Then something has got to give, because we are too comfortable, those who care – like Mr Devadas, well you are in a minority. I am sure everyone here remembers how in secondary school (funny how I keep going back there) we were taught how Venice fell. Well, if you look carefully we are following a similar pattern, and one day, we will fall into that very same trap.
Yes, I hope we get our Obama, but I hope that our Obama comes at the right time.
Without Osama, Obama would not have won. Everything happens for a reason, and maybe that was why September 11 happened – to set the ground work for change, and if you think about it, that was when the war on/of terror began and heralded the end of Bush.
Obama has shown that nothing is impossible, can we do it in Singapore?
I believe, yes, we can.
The writer is a polytechnic student.
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In the case of the Black Church, it was the push towards the fundamental ethical teachings of the Christ that is to emancipate the marginalised and to speak truth to power that bought them an extra mile forward in their struggle to gain footing as an equal in the land of dreams.
laserpointer:
‘It is not a matter of which religion people believe in that creates the problem, but why these people believe in that particular form of religious belief that is more radicial and extreme is one that begs the question.’
I must say that I am rather confused about the point that you are trying to make, and it seems like we are going in two separate directions here – I do not think that any of us were arguing that the problem is caused by beliefs in different religions, merely by a distortion of religious doctrine.
/// 19) smallvoice585 on November 7th, 2008 11.53 pm
Dear Kyle Leslie Sim,
I’m sorry, but your letter reads like another run-of-mill “oh, Obama is the greatest, the saviour, the black politician who beat the odds, his victory restores our faith in American democracy etc, etc” kind of delirious letter that you can read by the truckloads any day now in the internet. ///
smallvoice – I think you misread Kyle completely. Read his piece again. He’s under no illusion that Obama is the greatest. In fact, he’s saying that Obama won because Bush screwed up royally. Read again.
@Isabelle
Hmm, actually what i wrote in the second part wasn’t directly addressing you, it was more of a case of ‘my opinions’.
As for the distortion of religious doctrine part, I would believe that all religious practices are in some way or another, variations from the doctrine. That is all.
I think we have come half-circle today with the inauguration of Obama.
There was a conference in my school with the editors of WSJA. In his closing remarks, Mr Costas Paris said, ‘if you want freedom, you, as the voters and citizens of singapore must fight for it.’
I must admit that the discussion thread at some parts was beyond my comprehension(mainly the information overload) but am very heartened to see that in this virtual world, exists fellow Singaporeans who feel strongly about how they want this country to be run.
What is needed now, are people who believe in not just talking, but taking action, this community in cyper space has to move into real space to express these thoughts and feelings over to the people who matter.
People out there need to be convinced that change must come. It is our jobs as friends, neighbours and fellow Singaporeans to show them what needs to be done.
I never thought i would see the day a black man would be in the white house, just like how most of us believe that we will never see a credible and organized opposition rise to take power in this fair nation of ours.