Bao Zhang Bao Dao

whoa..

see? its still me here! hahaha.. well well well, shiyin, wheres your response to my posts, huh? haha..

well, i came with the idea that i could have something to debate about.. but sadly, i think with the school re-opening and all, you people are quite busy.. hahaha..

then i will just imagine myself as some pro-writer, doing my column here, ok? hahaha.. practise abit of writing and learn how to give my views equally.. like in General Paper back in JC days.. hahaha.. the other reason is also that I am feeling quite bored at home now, with nothing on TV and no one free to chat online.. and also, i can also practise typing! i used to do 62 words per minute average typing "The red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog."

First, lets talk about something that concerns us - the emergency drills on public transport held last Sunday morning.. since no one here owns a car yet, it means public transport is a crucial part of our life, or like i would prefer to say, a large part of our expenses as well...

I don't know how you all feel, but i feel that the mock blasts and chemical attacks held at Raffles Place, Marina Bay, Dhoby Ghaut, Toa Payoh MRT stations and a bus at Toa Payoh Interchange was a great move by our government and the respective agencies.

Cliche it may sound, but I feel that such move prepares us for acts of terrorism that can happen to us. Singapore, in particular, should be even more guarded or prepared at the very least for such scenarios because of our geographical locations, our oil industry, our multi-national culture and our relatively lenient laws on the influx of foreigners. More importantly, I feel such exercises require the citizens participation and support simply because you, your family and your future are all on this land.

Does your 70 year old grandmother knows what to do if such an attack happens on the MRT as she is on her way to her weekly mahjong session? does your little brother knows the importance of staying calm and trying to offer assistance, if not follow evacuation procedures as ordered at the very least? Do you know who to approach, who to call for enquires if your family members are suspected to be trapped underground in an attack?

Frankly, I did not bother in the past.

After seeing trains getting bombed in Spain and London, I realised how vulnerable we are to acts of terrorism. The disruption of public transportation not only causes death and injuries to the masses, but also brings along a chain effect of consequences like economy slowdown leading to monetary problems to the nation, mutual fear and suspicion leading to racism and discrimnation, lack of trust in the governement leading to instability and political chaos.

Seeing pictures of the exercises and reading about it on the newspapers, I can't help but feel proud that our government is taking the initiative to perform such effort consuming and non-profitable drills. The money and effort SCDF spent to make it look real is definitely commendable and somehow, the way they handled the emergency won praises from many, ministers and public alike.

However, there are always lessons to be learnt from everything we do. And like the newspapers wrote, there are several problems that occurred which should not have. If I were to summarise them, they would be firstly, the excessive paperwork / red tape / bureacracies encountered by the "victim's" next-of-kin, the shortage of personnel to provide information on where to go and the usual problem of some people not being able to understand English. It is lucky that Singapore has a chance to have a "dry-run" on such an event first, so that we can learn what we missed out and ensure it not happen again on the real event. Also, in my view, we should also note that the proverb "practice makes perfect" should not be applied on such emergency drills.

Regular drills will only serve to take away the "surprise element" from people and make it seem like "its only a routine exercise". Not only that, the agencies like the SCDF, SPF and other services may start to develope a standard operating procedure, a standardised way of working and operating in these attacks, which is defintely adverse to the intention of preparing ourselves, for it may then become "just another rescue mission".

As observed from events around the world recently, we can come to a conclusion that people who really want to disrupt the peace and order of our normal lives are no longer stupid barbarians living in caves. They are as equally modern as us to the point where they can be learning how to fly planes, studying in renowned Universities, or even be the guy with a Armani hairstyle, wearing a Levis jeans, Nike top and listening to a iPod next to you on the bus. They plan and organise their attacks, usually making it very simple yet impactful.

Therefore, we should never assume that a car bomb always come in the form of a grey Mitsubishi van, or that sucide bombers are always guys who look like American Football player. Making it look like a routine will only make us complacent and cause more chaos in a different scenario. I can imagine that when one day, say for example when our water supply is contaminated, Kee Fong (don't know why I choose him, but his name just "popped" up for this scenario) may just shout,

"HEY! This is not part of the 'Tactics-of-terrorism'. They cannot do this, its not in the book! Its out of syllabus and we do not know what to do! Ask them to re-start the attack and go back to bombing trains!"

No offence, but like how I heard some elders comment, "Young Singaporeans will not know how to go home once the lift is spoilt."

Sounds ridiculous, I know. But don't you think it may actually happen? Not on us, of course. But if you baby cousin has only been taking the lift all his life, taking it for granted, I won't be surprise that when he reach 20 years old and the lift is under maintenance, he will reach out for his handphone and call his mum and ask what to do.

So to conclude, I would say its a good move by the government, but we should always be alert and not take it for granted. In addition, I would also suggest that if we were to have such exercises next time again, do not inform the SCDF and SPF about it before hand. Let them have the "element of surprise" as well. This will really serve to be a good drill then.

Now, I would like to bring you back to some years ago (can't remember which year), on the Total Defence Day. I can particularly remember a mock attack by members of NCC and NPCC of a secondary school on another school nearby, simulating Japanese invasion. If I remember correctly, this was what happened. The NCC and NPCC cadets stormed into the school, screaming and yelling at the kids. The cadets were deliberately rough on the kids, pushing them around, asking them to kneel down with their heads bowed and so on, as the cadets shout at them and bang on tables and chairs.

this simulation brought both positive and negative response from the public. a few of the good ones were that the school kids "finally understood" how it was like during the Japanese Occupation. Some kids could feel the "being suppressed" feeling and felt really patriotic after the exercise. Parents felt that this event was a better way to relate the World War than conventional lessons or story telling. On the other hand, there were also parents saying that its stupid, going through all the torture and yelling to learn about the Occupation. Who are the cadets to act tough and scream at my kids? My son got frightened and cried, this has caused him to become an introvert and has been sissi-fied, pussi-fied and gu-niang-fied!

well, of course, i made the last one up. But my personal opinion is that the simulation has failed. it has failed very badly and i would say it has "mis-led" the kids who were playing the roles of a prisoner. in this case, the school would be like the country, the cadets the invaders, and the students the people of the country.

in modern Singapore, we now have the 5 defences that make up Total Defence. The 5 aspects are here to ensure that everyone, no matter how rich or poor, young or old, fit or sick, has a role to play in defending our country. We are said to have learnt our mistakes in the World War, we show the world that we are a strong, independant, prosperous city that can defend herself, but yet, in that simualtion, all we showed was how we submit to the invaders once again. All we showed was how we allowed ourselves to be pushed around like dirt by a superior force again. All we showed was how we dared not unite and drive the invaders out of our country again.

I had this thought in my mind for a very long time. In fact, all the while, since the incident happened. If this happened in Kranji Sec, and I was to be part of the student body assigned to be the "prisoners", i think the cadets are going to be in for a surprise. I once imagine this scenario,

Damn, this guys are here in MY place, shouting at ME and MY friends, making a racket. Damn, why should I allow it to happen? If my ancestors had allowed the darn Japanese to make slaves out of them, resulting in a terrible 3 years and 8 months of terrible time, I WILL NOT succumb to them again.

Of course, in any crazy fantasy, I would definitely be the hero. I wink wink to Jian Wei, Lunzi and all the guys, pass the message to tell every guy to aim one or two of the "invaders", go get a broom, a rock, or a rifle from the amoury and wait for a chance. Once the opportunity arrives, everyone will charge and whack the "invaders" with all our might and drive them our of the school.

Chay would grab a canteen bench and swing it around like Guan Gong and his Guan Dao.. Jian Wei will be like Sun Wu Kong with a broomstick, chasing his victims around the parade square.. Delon will be camoflaged in some dark corners (compliment his skin colour then), waiting for his unlucky prey.. Hui Jie will be lining up soccer balls and ramming them at the head of the cadets.. Den will be wrestling with some cadet and throw him into the pond.. Not to leave out the girls! Can imagine Peggen playing netball with her team, using the balls of the cadets.. Shiyin and Yirong can gather the choir and emit ultrasonic, supersonic soundwaves to scare them away..

Sounds like Fantastic Four, The Incredibles, Journey to the West, Shaolin Soccer combined.. hahaha...

Ahh.. The Mrs Bibiana Clark will go announce,

"Well done Kranji Sec! You have all done well to drive out the invaders! This has been a successful exercise and you have all proved yourself to be worthy Kranjians, worthy Singaporeans. All this would not have been possible without the great leadership and courage of our Head Prefect, Mak Jia Yuan!"

Hahaha, yes, I can see you smirking in front of your monitor. all these are just my imagination, my fantasy of what could have happen if it happened to me. Sure, some of you will be scolding, Hey, its just a mock up. Its just a simulation. Why get so worked up?

But hey, this is my answer to you, the idea of a simulation is to make it look real!

we put blood on the victims of the MRT drill to ensure that people won't faint when they see real blood. we play the national sirens once a year to ensure that people know what to do in an air strike and not waste time trying to think what does the siren stand for.

if want to act, might as well act more real abit. otherwise don't act at all..

hahaha.. thats the end of today's review and analysis. hahaha.. hope you all have enjoyed it! I would always welcome comments, be it compliments or critcisms, from anyone who would have any.. because feedback will only help to make me improve.. we should all try to be involve in discussions and stuff like that.. someone can start a topic or something to talk about, so that this place can be more lively, more fun, more intellectual.. of course, this includes the updates about your life, events and stuff like that..

hahaha.. i feel like doing another one on the Molest incidents that happened at the New Year Parties and Countdowns.. but after thinking it through, i only have three words to say to the victims of molest..

YOU DESERVE IT!

totally, absoutley and definitely..

this is not the first time such things happened here.. it occurred ever since the first of such parties in town.. and so, its just a case of "Ming zhi shan you hu, pain xiang hu shan xing." direct translation: Despite knowing there are tigers up the mountain, you still venture on up the mountain.

don't try to push the blame to the police officers not doing their jobs, don't try to blame the foreign workers.. and most idiotically, these ridiculous girls are calling for a ban on aerosol sprays!

i cannot believe it.. how clever and how matured are these people?!?! well, i guess if they go for these kind of stupid stints and parties, they can't be very clever or matured..

but don't get the wrong idea! going to watch the fireworks and all is all very fine.. nothing's wrong with that at all! but those who go dance on the road, wear nothing but 2 "5cm-by-5cm-masking-tapes-over-their-nipples" kind, those are the people i am despising..

i will NEVER NEVER NEVER allow my mother, my wife and my daughter to go to such things.. tsk tsk.. next time, they should name such Countdown parties after the famous car in Initial D..

No, not Toyota AE86.. but they should call it Teng Yuan Dou Fu Countdown Party!!! haha..

ain't it just a place selling toufu for guys to eat?

hahaha..

read The New Paper, 9 Jan and you will see how the Westerners mock our way of celebrating Xmas and New Year.. One of them commented, "Funny. 'Cause usually, we have family gatherings on Christmas."

Ouch!

So, we are not Westerners... and we are defnitely not Chinese, cause its not in the culture to see bubbles and foam outside the bathroom...

So what are we?

Or is this the Singapore identity we are trying to show the world? Something of our own?

Hmm.. food for thought eh? But for me, not so much to think about.. I am still the conservative, tradional, old fashioned guy who is very much a Chinese deep inside me.. and i still very much prefer to have my own foam party alone, in the comfort of my bathroom, singing nice songs instead of hearing those fustrating "technos or trance" crap..

in fact, i am going now..

i would like you to come along, but sorry, this is a entry-by-invitation-only event..

hahahaha..

regards,
mak