We may be a small nation, but at least we are an independent nation

pro-independence taiwanese burning the Singapore flag

two new term has been added to singapore's dubious collection of euphemisms. from the 'little red dot' to 'the israel of south-east asia', comes the literary imageries ala hokkien from the pro-independence taiwanese foreign minister Mark Chen. tada! Singapore: 'the country the size of a pi sai' (literally translated as noseshit or booger) and the honourable 'bearer of the weight of China's testicles' (lan pa in his exact words). how i wished i too could use such words to enhance the diplomatic tone in my political science position paper.

it all started with George Yeo's innocuous speech to the UN general assembly on the 24th of Sept in which he expressed concerns regarding the 'deterioting relationship across the taiwanese straits' and the 'push towards independence by certain groups in taiwan'. to which poet chen responded in his now classic retort '新加坡如鼻屎大小' and "新加坡捧懒趴”(懒趴 ostensibly being the written form of Lan Pa). taiwanese pro-independence activists followed up by burning the singapore flag

a metaphoric reference to the human anatomy to describe a country, and much less the burning of a state flag would constitute nothing less than a full diplomatic outrage in any other country, and perhaps even a declaration of holy war in more theological regimes. but somehow, the whole shebang seemed actively downplayed by the Singapore press. i was hard-pressed to find any english reports on this poetic recital in the singapore press with the exception of that from the lianhezaobao website. a call to shawn revealed that nothing much was reported in the english media. while it is nothing new that the singapore press is partisan in reporting local politics, it's quite unfathomable why the straits times chose to brush aside this slap in the face. after all, it isn't hard to spell L-a-n P-a or P-i S-a-i in english is it? Even in the MFA website, Singapore's response to that was simply that of a curt "Taiwan is an old friend. We are saddened by such intemperate actions."

Ok, so it was arguably an informal or perhaps personal comment on the part of poet chen. most taiwanese do not endorse his literary embellishment in the description of the Republic of Singapore. in his reponse, poet chen refused to apologise on the basis that it was purely his personal point of view and not an official diplomatic statement. instead, he accused those who chide him of being 'more shameless'

for a person of his stature, the use of such language was quite frankly to me, more comical than offensive. but beyond the laughs, the outrage and the superficiality of it all, i half-heartedly empathise with poet chen's frustration. apparantly as he claims (click on link in the pink box for video),

'i was blacklisted, exiled from taiwan for 30 odd years for my pro-independence activism. I wasn't even allowed to return to attend the funerals of his parents. so now that i'm a cabinet minister, how can i possibly sell-out my ideals?'

Without the support from his contemporaries, poet chen turned to voice his frustrations to his rural tainan (rural hokkien speaking taiwan) pro-independence supporters in the sort of language they understand. it was a bid for carthatic relief, not unlike blogging. so perhaps all diplomats should be offered a free blogspot account to avoid such debacles from happening in the future...but then again no blogs are ever free from public scrutiny.

Every nation has a legitimate claim to be free from coercion and independence (which must entail international recognition of its government). betrayed and booted by the UN in 1971, sacrificed by its former allies in favor of realpolitik, the Nationalist Government of Republic of China is indeed in a sympathetic situation. to all other singaporeans, before you make a harsh judgement on taiwan, how would we feel IF Singapore was to be booted out of the UN, deemed as an unlegitimate renegade island regime by the whole whole, with Malaysia staking its claim on our island state, and thousands of missiles pointing at us all the time? Not many countries like can have the dubious honour of pissing off two countries within the span of barely two months. But to solely pander to china without considering the sentiments of our other friends should not be the way to go. Yes, china is a friend, she's important to us, and pissing her off can possibly be economically distressful.

But ala Hugh Grant in Love Actually, a true friend would not force us to do what's against our will. We may be small, but we are a great country, a proud nation. The land of the Tiger Beer, of the Singapore Sling, of great food, of high-quality public housing, of the Singapore Girl, of much-envied ethnic harmony and so much more. We will stand firm in the face of coercion to do what's right, in our national interest, undictated by any other forces other than the will of the sons and daughters of Singapore.

MAJULAH SINGAPURA!