Hope — The Currency of Politics

It was once said that Hope is the Currency of Politics, and if that is indeed true, the winds of change that have swept through our northern neighbour, and that may yet bring forth the first black US president, will by some divine intervention bring about a benign revolution on these shores. Logically though, indications are that such an event would not occur even in the distant future, chiefly because this island’s inhabitants have somehow abandoned this Hope for the distractions of material trappings (so sweetly dangled by the powers-that-be).

However, all need not be lost, Hope also resides in future generations i.e. children, yet even these must be nurtured from within. It may not matter to yours truly personally that he never gets to experience Paradise on this island (or anywhere else for that matter); it is vital for the young to believe that they can indeed create Paradise for themselves, regardless whether they will bring this island with them. If this Hope is neutered instead of nurtured, out nation will cease to exist as we know it.

Hope has another incarnation in the form of External Change i.e. those who have arrived from other shores. In the absence of a politically active local populace, is it any wonder that we may soon be voting fellow citizens who may not be born on this island into our Parliament?

Being born and bred here myself, I have long subscribed to the notion that what constitutes nationhood goes beyond one’s NRIC/passport; indeed patriotism (to resurrect an almost-extinct word) need not be confined to those who hold a pink piece of plastic. Nor should we be deluded into thinking that those who have left our shores have similarly abandoned Singapore in spirit. It is my Hope that this island continues to belong to those who consider themselves Singaporean, and not fall to those who would transact it for wealth or power.