Equal Misery

Equal Misery

Why did the AWOLee Melvyn Tan, who had to give up his Singapore citizenship 30 years ago because he had to choose between his fledging pianist career and his loyalty to Singapore, become the talk of Singapore?

Do you think Singaporeans, when condemning Melvyn's behaviour, are on moral high grounds themselves?

Why do they bemoan the fact that he was only fined $3000? I didn't. His parents coughed out $30 000 a long time ago. Then, that was an exorbitant amount.

Why do they belabour the fact that he did not report for national service? Had he not given up equally much, if not more? He had to live to Britain since 30 years ago and could never step back to Singapore, where his parents are living.

Have we progressed in our talk to becoming a more inclusive society? Hey, we *just* deferred cybergamers so that they could take part in the World Cybergames just a month back! How come we are unable to place the entire issue in retrospection and celebrate the fact that one of our sons is now a world-class pianist?

There are many many questions in the same vein. But it finally boils down to the "an eye for an eye" mentality of Singaporeans. We want all to share EQUAL MISERY.

Simply put, we went through two to two and a half years in the army. Outwardly, our bodies may have been toughened up, but deep inside, only we ourselves know if we have changed mentally. We lost out on opportunities and we devoted the best years of our lives to defending our nation.

To us, $3 000 is a small price. If possible, we would gladly fork out the $3 000 to trade off our NS obligations. What we enjoy as citizens may not be worth the sacrifice...

So, if we lose out, then why should one man gain? But did he really gain? What did he gain?