Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Will I be a Mr Saga, if push comes to shove?

There are a couple of enigmatic quotes and a couple of interesting letters in today's Straits Times and Today, and I'll come to them. But I want to first highlight one poignant incident from the continuing accounts about the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake in Japan.

This is excerpted from a New York Times article that Today (16 March, page 8) carried:

[A young Japanese man, Mr Yuta Saga, 21, fleeing with his mother from the impending tsunami, reached a junior high school, the tallest building around.]

"When they reached the school, [they] found the stairs to the roof clogged with older people... unable to muster the strength to climb them... As the bottom floor filled with fleeing residents, the wave hit.

"At first, the doors held. Then water [poured through]... In a panic to reach the roof, younger residents began to push and yelling 'Hurry!' and 'Out of the way!'...  'I couldn't believe it,' Mr Saga said. 'They were even shoving old people out of the way.'...

"Then the doors burst open and the water rushed in... Mr Saga saw an [old] woman without the strength or will to stand, sitting in water that rose to her nose. he said he rushed behind her, grabbd her under the arms and hoisted her up the stairs. Another person on the stairs grabbed her and lifted her up to another person. The men formed a human chain, lifting the older residents to the top. 'I saw the ugly side of peope, and then I saw the good side... Some people only thought of themselves. Others stopped to help."

I hope I can be a Mr Saga, or if I am no longer abled-bodied, a Mr Saga is in my presence in a time of need.

Okay, two interesting quotes, both from ST. The first, by Foreign Minister George Yeo (page B5), seemed strange, given that he has a masterly command of the English language. Replying to a Japanese diplomat at a religious conference, on racial and religious harmony in Singapore, he said the government worries about potential conflicts daily.

I'm not sure what he means by "potential conflicts daily"? Did he mean the potential for seemingly innocuous situations taking on an ugly mood? I can attest to such a danger. I once saw a cyclist and a pedestrian collide. Both were of different races. The cyclist apologised profusely but the pedestrian seemed unassuaged and started scolding him. Then I saw a group of old people who were just sitting around getting up and moving towards the scene. They were from the same race as the pedestrian. Fortunately, the cyclist decided to move on and the pedestrian cooled down. The group went back to their seats.

Then FM Yeo said maintaining harmony is "a daily struggle" for Singapore. What did he mean by that, and why did the reporter not query further to get a clarification? Pity.

But his enigmatic quote is this one -- explaining why Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses was banned but not The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis, he said: "The Christians are less likely to riot."

The other enigmatic quote comes from PAP MP Charles Chong (page A16), who -- commenting on the very thorough logistical preparations his party was embarking on ahead of the expected general election -- said: "The PAP never leaves anything to chance."

Moving onto readers' letters, one Today letter writer (page 16) said he and fellow residents were exasperated that non-residents were parking their cars along their narrow road which led to a cul-de-sac, thus blocking even the garbage truck on its morning rounds. He said letters to the relevant authorities elicited the responses he cited here:

"The LTA has said it cannot enforce any action as there are no signs to forbid parking on both sides of the street, and that it is the job of the Traffic Police. However, the latter on their part say there are no painted yellow line that would enable them to take action against vehicles parked on both sides of the street."

Catch-22, huh?

The other letter-writer, who wrote to The Straits Times (page A34), seemed rather cheeky. Noting that the President's salary will be increased from $3,376,800 to $4,267,500, he then asked: "Why is the President paid more than the Prime Minister and veteran ministers?"

I await the official replies to these two letters.

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