(top image: Protestors tied up a Chinese journalist)

I have always liked Hong Kong. I almost got a gig there as a young medical practitioner when a Singapore chain opened its first branch there in the 90s. I admire their people’s resilience, self- reliance and self-righteousness. They work fast. They talk fast. And within that high-octane society lies a lot of kindness too. It is therefore with much sadness that I write this piece.

Now with the city imploding, thanks to the increasingly violent protests, many Singaporeans have understandably expressed concerns and disgust at what they have seen. Many have correctly called for better socio-economic solutions to address the political stalemate. Others have made comments that upset the Hongkongers. These have made many Hongkongers unhappy about our supposed smugness. It is not surprising that our very own usual liberal detractors have joined in their chorus to attack Singapore for not supporting the violent protestors. They seem all too keen to see a similar outbreak happening to Singapore.

But increasingly I am seeing one argument coming from the territory that is pissing me off – that Singaporeans are such a sheltered and cowardly bunch of useless citizens that they don’t understand what the wild kids in Hong Kong are trying to achieve. We, sedate and gutless Singaporeans, have been oppressed so much that we don’t know how to protest and stand up for ourselves. In short, these poor Singaporeans – they don’t understand freedom and democracy. The usual fly-in foreign correspondents’ narrative. If I may add, the usual misconception by many Hongkongers of Singaporeans.

Nothing is further from the truth. Critics of Singapore forget how this little country with no natural resources surrounded by hostile neighbours arrived at where she is today. Unlike the youth protesting in Hong Kong – many who are prepared to hold their own countrymen hostage for their own reckless acts and do not have to deal with communal violence and real threats from their neighbours, Singapore has gone through her own bloody revolution and soul searching.





Ordinary residents and shopkeepers yelling at the protestors to get off the streets.

In our struggle towards nationhood, we have been through it all. We do not know riots and protests? We paid with real lives lost, from the student, union and communist riots of the 50s and 60s to the racial riots of the 60s. We know what it was like to try to invent our nation, and at the same time to hold our people together when our less-than-friendly neighbours planted bombs and tried to divide our races. And another from up north constantly trying to cut our lifeline, including occasionally threatening our water supply. Those threats continue until today. These are life and death matters. But many sheltered Hongkongers still do not have the breadth and depth to understand such regional and communal politics. Thanks to a homogenous insular population backed by a big brother hinterland that has been responsible for their success in the last 40 years. Thanks partly too to the fact that they do not have to spend a cent on defence and foreign affairs.

Like many other developing countries, our struggle for freedom and democracy didn’t come easy. We fought hard, we made mistakes, we lost lives and livelihoods. The pain and the prejudice among the races remain very much in the psyche of our people today, save the younger generation who have only benefited from the fruits of their parents’ struggle. Yes, we understood far too well what is it like to protest, to fight in the streets, to kill each other and to live in an unsafe society where the major races do not trust each other. It takes decades, generations to recover from them. We have been there and back. So please save your lecture about freedom, democracy and revolution.

And my dear Hongkong brothers and sisters, we do know what it is like to start a successful revolution and run a country. (And perhaps you need to take a leaf from our book – a former British colony who broke away from colonialism and stood up to a bigger bully up north to build a successful nation.)

And here’s another tip for you. A successful revolution is one that is by the people, of the people and for the people. But when your revolution is about bullying and hurting the old, the children, the women and the poor, you have simply lost it. You take down the dictatorship by winning the hearts and minds of the people. You seem to be doing the opposite. Very smart, heckling and physically hitting an old man in the airport. Preventing sick women and children from boarding planes and trains. Preventing struggling small businesses and taxis from doing business – people who have to feed their families. You are no longer working for the people. That was the first principle of politics Singapore learned – you don’t bring benefit to the masses, you are finished.

Protestors smashing the Legislative Council building. (all images not mine)

And a little gratitude would be welcome. Singapore has been amazingly gracious and helpful towards Hong Kong all these months. Capital flight has already begun. People are beginning to abandon the special administrative region for elsewhere. The Singapore government has notably been careful with their public statements and highly responsible in not capitalising on the misfortune of her rival up north. I am not so sure Hong Kong would react likewise if we are in trouble.

So get this – we have reacted the way we did because we have been through turbulent times and know what is important. We understand what is it like to lose personal freedom when people sabotage public properties and threaten us with bombs. When race and class divide threaten our livelihood and personal safety. Get the cause and effect right. We are not going out to the streets to protest and fight for freedom because we have, by a large margin, gotten our socio-economic policies right. We delivered.

More importantly, we understand politics is about having clear leadership and working out trade-offs, compromises with the different stakeholders – the government and the people. The Hong Kong liberals have protested for three decades in Hong Kong and gone nowhere because they do not understand the politics of the possible and compromise. They will not get anywhere with China with where they are going. The rich and the foreign passport holders will be fine, as they have one foot safely out of the door. The youth ironically would be one who will suffer the most. Today, China relies less and less on Hong Kong for its trade with the outside world. With the economy crippled further by the violent protests, Hongkongers’ bargaining power has gone further south. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.