Have you ever read any books? Duh... you say. But have you read any books about Singapore politics? Erm, not too sure this time. Well, the book that impacted my mother's life was this book: Singapore: The Air-Coniditioned Nation, by Cherian George.
Does the title sound catchy enough? The book talks about the importance of unity in the nation and how we unite. Air-Conditioned, hmmm, it actually talks about how Singapore has been governed by PAP and why it is so successful in making Singapore such a peaceful country. My mother says that this book impacted her life because it reminds her the importance of racial harmony. She was not too bothered or a fan of this racial harmony thingy that was emphasised so frequently by the government. This was a long time ago. A rule was imposed that in every level of HDB flats, the residents should consist of people of all races. She only realised the importance of racial harmony after the book described the effects of the absence. Since Singapore is such a small country, we cannot afford to have riots happening in our daily lives, where there is social unrest.
Another aspect that impacted her life her thinking of the grass is always greener on the other side. She had always wanted to migrate to one of the Oceania countries. However, the book emphasised that Singapore was where we are all born in and we should pledge loyalty, where we should have a sense of belonging. It said that " All would be treated fairly with respect as a citizen and a human being". I am starting to find that too. Actually I have never thought of leaving Singapore and I would have not idea where to migrate to go.
Haha, this is the end of the post. Would you like to migrate or not? Or is racial harmony that important? Share your thoughts with me.
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Hi, Joshua Hia. I am Dickson here. I think that you have been very creative here in your method of interviewing your mother. So far, other bloggers from our class have used the Q&A method to record the interview. Example:
ReplyDeleteQ:....
A:....
Thus, it was enjoyable to read another format of the interview. Nice post!
I liked the way you present the answers and questions from the interview. It is interesing to read your post. however, besides the book that impacted your mother's life, you could have aske more questions about her reading habits and her opinion of reading.
ReplyDeleteDan
nice book review.It is so gripping although there is hardly any climax since it is about Singapore politics.
ReplyDeletei think i will want to read it.After reading your post,maybe i will consider staying in singapore when i grow up...
Maybe you could mention how they make Singapore such a peaceful country, like why is Singapore a racial-harmony country? Why did people not quarrel among one another? This might help to increase the importance of racial harmoney.
ReplyDeleteNice book review.You should emphasize on what will happen if riots break out
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