"A man rising in the world is not concerned with history; he is too busy making it. But a citizen with a fixed place in the community wants to acquire a glorious past just as he acquires antique furniture. By that past he is reassured of his present importance; in it he finds strength to face the dangers that lie in front of him". Malcolm Cowley.
The above saying can shed some light concerning the actions taken by the leaders and the followers under them.
According to our Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, "2009 will test the mettle, the strength of character, of Singaporeans." (AsiaOne, 7 Feb 2009). How are the leaders of Singapore and Singaporeans reacting to the crisis facing us?
Let’s look at how the leaders and followers of ancient times reacted in a crisis and gain some insights from them.
During the Ming Dynasty, a peasant rose to become the Emperor of China. Though he removed many capable men from office to reduce the chances of them usurping the throne, he had to constantly fight his persistent adversary, the Mongols. All the fighting was putting a toll on his military funds which was running dry.
One day, he decided to call upon his ministers to make donations. What the ministers gave amounted to a small fraction of what was needed. The Emperor then decided to put on plain clothes and reduce the budget for his meals and entertainment. This did not help to move the ministers to give more. He became very disturbed and extremely troubled.
The Empress saw the gravity of the situation. One day, she called for the concubines and in their presence, she took out all her golden hairpins. She told them that she wanted to share the Emperor’s burdens by donating these items to the military funds. The concubines followed suit. Then the Empress went on to say that everyone must try to reduce the expenses in the Palace and she would take the lead to plant some vegetables in the Palace grounds the next day.
The Empress' father visited her when he came into the Palace. His initial reaction was that the Empress had been removed. But when he was told the truth, he rebuked her for doing so. The Empress in turn begged the father not to make them 'lose face'. She then took out two bank notes amounting to 10,000 taels and told her father to donate them all.
The next day the Empress' father gathered the other ministers and told them that he had sold his burial grounds and coffin because "without the country, there will be no place to bury my bones" and donated 5000 taels. He did fulfill his daughter's wish but at the same time, he added wealth to himself.
The Empress was saddened by the fact that her father had pocketed the other 5000 taels that she had given him the day before. She then approached the Emperor to find out about the outstanding amount for the military funds. When pressed for an answer, the Emperor told the Empress that he was still short of 200,000 taels.
The Empress with tears in her eyes exposed her father's plan to transport 43 boxes of gold, jewels and money to another location so as to protect his wealth. She urged the Emperor to seize the possessions and use that for his military funds. She did that to prove her love for the Emperor and her loyalty to the country.
All of us will react differently when we are faced with a challenge. Are we like the Emperor, the Empress or the Empress' father?
Our MM has spoken words of encouragement at the Tanjong Pagar Chinese New Year Dinner. He said, "The success of Singapore came from the hard work, resourcefulness and ingenuity of your forefathers and their leaders. You are the descendants of these lion-hearted pioneers. You have it in you to succeed. Joining you are hardworking and talented new emigrants from Asean, India and China. Together we can make the grade" (6 Feb 2009)
Let our leaders do their work 'to make history' and as a citizen, let us do our part to add to "our glorious past so that we will find strength to face the dangers that lie in front of us."
Crime Library (Singapore) would like to propose for a Patriotism Fund. Giving a dollar a month is something that most of us can afford. We can start of with each of us giving twelve dollars to a common pool. The building up of this fund can be an avenue to help our own people in times of need besides digging into the reserves.
All of us have seen how Singaporeans responded when our charity organizations and those disaster-affected countries call for donation or request for assistance.
What will you do for Singapore if there is a call for you to GIVE BACK especially when now that more and more people are being retrenched and more and more families are being affected?
We were told that the reserves have to be utilized during this crisis. Rather than utilizing the reserves, Crime Library (Singapore) would like to propose that we donate our money to our own country for this time.
Giving a dollar a month is something that most of us can afford. We can start of with each of us giving twelve dollars to a common pool. The amount will be put into what we have termed as "Patriotism Fund" and our government can tap on it in times of need.
The building up of this fund will be an avenue to help our own people instead of just depending on the reserves in future. We have prepared our cheques and we have communicated our intentions to the Ministry of Finance.
