i was just having a conversation with one of my army friends this past week regarding world war II. we were just discussing that it was BECAUSE of the war, not IN SPITE OF the war, that the American and hence, world economy was pulled out of the Great Depression, leading to one of the longest sustained boom eras in history. we were thinking, had the war not happened, was it likely that the world would still be languishing, or just coming out of, the Great Depression? had it not been for the massive government spending during wartime that set factories in operation and got people out to work, would America have managed to pull itself out of the Depression?
Sometimes, the greatest harm does the greatest good.
A paradox, no doubt, or perhaps an oxymoron or whatever one would like to call it, i don't know the technical term. perhaps if i were to extrapolate that to the current situation in the army, i would be more positive about my service to the nation. now there's no question about the 'harm' army has done to me. other than take away my freedom, my time, my life (no less), i've had to sustain a number of injuries among others. it's been long established that, if given a choice, i would NEVER (read: capital letters, double emphasis) have chosen NS. it's just a brainless option. however, the army hasn't been all bad. as a matter of fact, if taken in a positive light, there are many positives that can be gleaned from the negative experiences and made useful and applicable in my daily life.
After all, it's mentioned in the Bible, and is one of my favourite verses: We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Rom 5:3-5)
So i've come to a conclusion that there is always something good in the bad or the harmful. there will always be something to learn, something to take home, something to apply to make me a better person. i'm not being overly-optimistic, in fact i am being practical. since i'm here, i damn well make use of it to improve myself.
Booked out only on Sunday morning, due to live range on Saturday. hate the planning in the army. Lesson learnt: have efficient planning AND execution, make sure all the people know what they're supposed to do and always have a contingency plan. Saturday was an epic failure because we spent two hours waiting in the jungle because somebody couldn't decide if we had to shoot the machine gun or not. major suck thumb moment. imagine spending a saturday on a hilltop looking at the jungle below you growing on a steep slope that could take your head out if you were to fall.
The Aware thingy has been dominating headlines for days now. it seems that the Straits Times is fascinated with the fact that these women have orchestrated a cunningly well-executed operation to 'overthrow' the Old Guard and institute a new regime in Aware. The ST seems to keep harping on the fact that the new exco are Christian and come from the same church, insinuating that these women have a religious agenda or are overstepping sacred boundaries by pushing a religious agenda into a supposedly secular organisation. it seems to suggest that there is a conspiracy by these women to take over Aware and put it on the path towards religious exclusion, thereby swerving Aware from being an 'all inclusive' organisation.
Clearly there seems to be two camps, as read in the New Paper today: the 'religious conservatives' and the 'homosexuals' or for the matter 'liberals'. so it seems that the day has come when Singapore has two distinct, opposing camps of conservatives and liberals that seem to be doing battle over moral issues and Aware now appears to be the latest front in this battle of conservative vs liberal. who knew? It seems that Singapore has been dealing with a number of moral issues that are thorny dilemmas to the policymakers and government officials, and both groups have not had a problem making their voices heard. some of the moral issues that we've had to grapple with include: casinos (liberals won), repealing section 377A (conservatives won), organ trading (murky), now this. someday we will have to deal with the issues of euthanasia, abortion, among others.
For now, i think it's great that there is a grand debate occurring, a clash of ideas and a battle of wits. i do not think, however, that many singaporeans identify with either camp. most don't care about Aware, nor do i. whether it survives or not does not directly affect society. at the most, a splinter group could be set up as an alternative to Aware. nevertheless, it's great that there are opinionated Singaporeans around who are willing to take concrete, solid steps to fulfill their convictions, to take sides and be brave enough to want to make a stand for something. Josie Lau and gang took over Aware because they were alarmed at the direction they perceived Aware was taking and the Old Guard is fighting back because they feel that the new exco is veering away from Aware's original path. it's an altogether intriguing and interesting clash between two camps of very successful, very intelligent and very involved women. and i would love to see how this saga plays out.
perhaps someday Singapore will have two major opposing camps, without the majority sitting on the fence or being simply bochap. perhaps someday our leaders can engage in a debate like we see between the Republicans and Democrats, a civilised, informed and logical debate arguing for or against homosexuality, legalised gambling, euthanasia, organ trading, abortion, corporal punishment, etc. maybe then we will see more lively exchanges in the blogs, forums, newspapers and even, dare we say it? Parliament?
i don't know what instigated this long exposition about Aware and debate and opposing camps and stuff, but i've always been intrigued at the perennial clash between liberal and conservative. how there are two stands to one issue and neither of them seems correct. how we can engage in endless debate over right or wrong, left and right. it's all very interesting and fascinating.
this lengthy post will end here as i'm extremely sleepy. hope the next book out day comes fast.
