Last night, I had a dream. I dreamt I was the Prime Minister of catastrophe-stricken Japan. Millions and millions of Singapore dollars rained down on me as generous Singaporeans opened their wallets for fear that there won’t be anymore sake or sashimi on their dinner tables.
Wait a minute. The money is supposed to go to the quake and tsunami victims. Food, blankets and drinking water for the homeless in the shelters. Medicines and care for the injuired. What is it doing on my table? Shouldn’t it go to the courageous rescuers and overworked recovery teams? What about the selfless workers at Fukushima, endangering their own lives while battling a major radiation leak?
But the generous Singaporeans insist that the money is sent to the right place. I, the Prime Minister, have a monumental task of leadership and coordination ahead of me and I need to be paid a respectable income. Otherwise, my performance will be adversely affected. Or worse, I may desert my post when the winds from Fukushima start carrying radioactive particles into my office.
Dreaming in my Japanese shoes, I saw what strange people these generous Singaporeans are. If they’re going to put so much money into my pockets, I would be so tempted to desert my post the moment disaster strikes. What good is the money if I’m not alive to spend it? Guilt? Maybe I’ll shed a tear or two for Japan when journalists interview me in the Bahamas.
As usual, I woke up. Not only was I not in Japan, I realised that I’m actually one of those generous Singaporeans. Should we or should we not send money to Japan? Some people think we shouldn’t. Yes, it costs money to buy food and medicines. But when your own country and your suffering fellow countrymen need your help so badly, would you charge for your services? For voluntary services, would you look forward to rewards like free parking in your estate or getting your child into your choice of a “branded” school? No matter how much money we shower on the overworked volunteers, they’re not going to be able to work round the clock. They need rest. It’s not just money that Japan needs. It probably doesn’t even need any. What they need is manpower to help distribute supplies and look after the sick and displaced people. Sure, they can spend some money to employ workers from Bangladesh, but this is obviously not in line with the Japanese spirit. Yes, there is a lot that we in Singapore can learn from the Japanese. But their community spirit and sense of duty are not things that can be fostered using mercenary tactics.
Would we risk our lives for “nothing” tangible? What if the situation were reversed. Disaster hits Singapore and generous Japanese people donate lots of money to us. Hopefully, that would be enough to buy each person 3 plates of char kway teow, but will that help if Singaporeans do what they normally do when faced with threats and dangers of all sorts? Run? Hide? Withdraw criticisms and aplogise? Support people we don’t like in order to get lift upgrades?
