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Author Tay Kheng
Soon |
2002 Many things have been severed
in the process of modernisation.
Among these are participation and memory. As people put shoulders to the wheel, they left their
memories and feelings behind.
The young grew up narrow. The old alienated. Diversity in thought, word and
deed got streamed into the one single developmentalist mindset. For the young, monoculture is all
they know. By contrast with the world outside, life must seem very dull
indeed. Thus there is a lot of self deprecation; dreaming for other green
pastures. This can be partly corrected by allowing the natural richness of
Singapore to emerge in the telling of their own stories, that is, if it will help
against the backdrop of even larger and more pressing issues. But still, the memories and
experiences of older Singaporeans is a source untapped. And what a rich source this is. Stories of the war, life before the
war, songs, cross language rhymes, linguistic jingles, success stories,
tragedies, travel tales and visits with relatives in surprising places,
events both great and small which signify people and place, stories of
wonder, tragedy and glory attached to places and locales extant or lost, local
heros great scoundrels, crooks and madmen, famous tales of mystery and
supersition, great entertainers, the venal and the foibles of men and women,
adventures, strivings, humour, squabbles, loves, great romances, lost loves,
pinning women, jilted lovers, gang rivalries, strong men, street brawls,
gangsters, joget, cabarettes, great teachers, priests, spell binders, corrupt
politicians, double deals, spys etc. etc. childhoods of great men and women. These are the story-lines of
our people and our placees through whose narration, Singaporeans will live
more vividly in the mind. Old bricks, weathered stones and moss-stained
places will begin to speak and cast their romantic spells. Pragmatics never
stirred any spirit nor warmed any blood! Let the old tell, the young ask. Let the stories unfold. a
new live-line is brought about. These are what makes life, not 1, not 2, not
even 3 but 4 dimensional, polycultural, fleshed-out reality. The need is to
go well beyond the sterile orchestrated story-line for life to imagine itself
fully. Let ordinary Singaporeans live a little in the telling of their own
stories. Once tongues are
untied, the stories will roll an and on for ever. A new imagination of the
past comes alive. And thus
exercised, the imagination will spark a new vivacity in life to better
imagine a future more bright. The medium is: COMMUNITY
RADIO................................. A continuous spoken and sung
history in the vernacular voice; be it dialect, ethnic, or patois but
translated into official english, malay, tamil and mandarin, the modern day
linguas across race, class and culture, on radio......live. Working with the
Community Museum, each and every community tells the story of how it
established itself in Singapore, its adaptations, its customs, its heros and
its strivings for success and relevance, its inventiveness. The radio is the
voice of the Community Museum. The community Museum is the
repository of each community's memorabelia, i.e., its family album, its
voices. Sharing will also be through soul-foods and festivals. Let the radio be the
alive-link between the communities with mobile phones to connect to broadcast
radio to get dialogues going from across the world wherever Singaporeans are. Resources: Old people's clubs,
schools' culture programs, Singapore Clubs in other cities. Link the old and the young through
heart-felt narratives. Phone in
by young to old. Live,
real-time. Let the extra-ordinary stories of ordinary lives trigger a new
imagination of the collective soul.
Let Singaporeans everywhere turn on. Let the radio be run and
curated by personable presenters with multicultural researchers like Vivienne
Wee, Sharon Siddique, Lai Ah Eng, Nirmala Purushotam, Kwok Kian Woon set the
research tone. Attach graduate
students to the program for muscle and brainpower. Start International Radio +6562100000 now. A radio
station is a cheap investment. |
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