From Angle to Perspectives

Reflections and Solicitations about Singapore Angle in 2006

"It is always surprising how small a part of life is taken up by meaningful moments. Most often they are over before they start even though they cast a light on the future and make the person who originated them unforgettable. Everyone should have legends, they allow us to dream..."
- Chow Yun Fatt as King Mogkut in "Anna and the King"

If someone ask me the following question, "What is the most important thing that you have done this year?" My answer is being part of the creation of the Singapore Angle. I have played a modest role in convincing the key players to begin this project because of the clear and present need to create a platform for civil and rational discourse and to raise the quality of debate among pressing issues and challenges that our country faces. In the past half year, we began off as a proof of concept (in the words of Sze Meng) and now we transition to the next stage of  development. In this last entry for the year, I will share my thoughts and motivation behind this interesting project, as Singapore Angle is making a major transition in New Year's day from the blogger to movable type engine and the creation of the new Singapore Angle Perspectives.

The Cambridge Experience

To tell you the motivation behind this project, most of the ideas are drawn from my experience studying in Cambridge University, UK. I have spent seven years of my life studying my doctorate and working as a postdoctoral scientist in Cambridge, UK. T0 me, it is an intellectual utopia and yet it taught me one thing important. It is easy to attribute your success based on the brand you have, but in order to succeed in life, you need to create your own niche and idea at some point in life. Since young, upon reading the biographies of many successful philosophers (Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein) , economists (Keynes) and scientists (Watson, Crick, Rutherford, Hawking), I have dreamed of studying theoretical physics in Cambridge.

Unlike most of my peers who followed the trends and social engineering prescribed by the government, I decided a long time ago to follow the route that I want to go. My personal belief in life is that if you want something, you have to fight for yourself and blaming the system is not going to help you in that pursuit.  If you think that my route is smooth sailing (like how most government scholars go thru), I am afraid that I have to burst your bubble. My journey is one that is difficult, from finding funding for my PhD studies to enduring snub from my peers. Most of my ex-classmates tried to give me a reality check (better than the line "Get out of my elite uncaring face") when I was studying in junior college, "You will never make it to Cambridge, let alone studying theoretical physics, because you are not from a top junior college in Singapore or you are not involved in any form of science research program or olympiad." In fact, I went through National University of Singapore and become the first person from NUS who was accepted to study that subject without a honours degree. I went on with non-bonded UK government scholarship and Lee Foundation funding to do my PhD in the subject that I loved to study. The moral of the story is to continue your dream and not the fear of failure to deter you. If you pursue something with your passion, you will find ways to overcome the obstacles.

There are three lessons from Cambridge that greatly influenced my way of thinking now. The first is the multi-disciplinary nature of most academics there. Most of the time, after our meals, most of us will hang out in a coffee parlor where we talk about our research and interesting happenings in the world. There will exist this one fine day where an economist will present a problem and all of us will chip in, and we found an interesting idea or perspective to pursue. I did end up in writing an economics paper with two economists about football managers in that process. The second is the civil and rational discourse, practised by the people who I have interacted over there. We are often engaged in the most difficult topics of discussion and yet with all the diverse, logical, emotional, ethical and sometimes, heated arguments thrown after the debate, we can meet the next day, forget about all the bad blood and move on to have a beer. The ability to dissociate our personal prejudices and grudges to engage in serious conversation is something that is less inherent in Singaporean culture, if not more Asian culture. The last lesson is the need to contribute to society as a general.  Society progresses if there exist an atmosphere that allows proper debate of the issues and a platform which allows people to air their points of view with propriety and responsibility.

The Singapore Angle Project

The story of Singapore Angle often started from the famous lunch between Huichieh, Heavenly Sword and myself. For those who did not know, the lunch actually lasted for four hours. It went that long because we were discussing different things under the sun, from  world issues and experiences down to the  recent general elections in 2006.

That actually took place after two major events, the general elections in Singapore 2006 followed by the post-election forum organized by Institute of Policy Studies. After a short contribution in Yawning Bread, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to create a group blog that advocate rational and civil discourse and is able to accommodate a diversity of views and topics, supported by evidence and justified opinions without prejudices. Oftentimes, the truth is stranger than fiction. The ability to speak truth to power is something that most of us would aspire to. In conceiving that project, my mindset is not that of effecting great change to our political system, but to shape and create a small platform within the vast blogosphere so that we can have a good place to discuss important issues which our nation faces.

As an entrepreneur, you don't want to recreate the wheel unless necessary. The best way to set up a group blog like that is to leverage on the existing infrastructure in the blogosphere. There is one candidate  other than Yawning Bread which I thought that it will fulfill the criteria I outlined. That is Huichieh's "From a Singapore Angle" as it has documented a lot of interesting content about Singapore issues and other diverse subjects such as politics, economics and philosophy. For six months prior to our meeting, he has not been updating his blog for half a year. It might be ideal if we can restart this into a group blog. I sent an email to ask Huichieh for lunch in NUS and he responded. Interestingly, Huichieh also asked Heavenly Sword to join us. The meeting happened. I took the opportunity to pitch to him the group blog idea and the rest is history.

Coming back to now, I am happy that I am part of the group that started a proof of concept and make it work. My initial motivation in setting up Singapore Angle (along with the many others who have joined the group) is correctly represented by Huichieh in his starting post (also cited by Mr Miyagi in Today):

"The possibility of reasoned discourse and civil discussion does not imply a deep agreement on every substantial matter. It is in fact largely consistent with the many disagreements that we are bound to have over substantive issues. Nor, I should emphasize, does the possibility of reasoned discourse and civil discussion given the fact of deep-seated disagreements over substantial issues suggest that the matters about which people disagree must somehow be of less than the utmost seriousness. In some cases, they might well be among our most cherished values and irreducible parts of what make up our personal identities.

The question is--as fellow citizens--whether these disagreements need stand in the way of fruitful exchange and profitable debate, and whether, in our sincere desire to convince others of the cogency of our positions or persuade them to take up the attitudes so favoured by us, we respect their status as persons to whom we owe, in the first instance, reasons rather than blows.

Even if, at the end of the day, we walk away more convinced of the rightness of our own positions and the wrongness of the opponent view, the hope is that we can now say that we have seen the other side and have, after conscientious consideration, found it wanting of reason, that ours is no longer an opinion held merely for lack of an awareness of alternatives or possible objections, but a conviction that survived an encounter with those who, having given it due consideration, think otherwise.

If something of the above can be achieved ever so often, then our discussions would not have been in vain. If by our meager examples others may come to appreciate the profit from an orderly exchange of ideas, and yet others of better heart and mind may deign to come forward with superior reason and more eloquent speech, then this site would have done its modest part in contributing to the ongoing cultivation of a thoughtful democratic citizenry in Singapore.

The possibility of reasonable disagreement, discussion and debate within the context of a democratic society divided upon various weighty issues--and beyond that, the possibility of peaceful coexistence, mutual advantage and the pursuit of a common good. These are themes to which I will return. The above can only be said to be a statement of intention rather than an argument."

We have shown that a group blog with a loosely guided democratic system can produce civil and rational discourse in Singapore. Of course, we hope to reach out to more writers out there who share our dream of civil and rational discourse. As we are often seen to write long and academic articles, we have decided to start a new project known as Singapore Angle Perspectives, to solicit new ideas and insights from those out there on issues which concern Singaporeans in the future.

To end, I leave you with this quote from Bill Clinton about making small contributions on how we can help to improve society as a whole:

"Our job is to live as well and as long as we can, and to help others to do the same. What happens after that and how we are viewed by others is beyond our control. The river of time carries us all away. All we have is the moment. Whether I had made the most of mine was for others to judge."
- Bill Clinton, "My Life"

I hope that in the many years to come (whether I am present or not in Singapore Angle), our dream for a civil and rational discourse in the blogosphere will prevail while accommodating all other views (which may or may not agree with ours).

Acknowledgments: I thank Huichieh (also on some of the reflections in this article) and my fellow colleagues - Dansong, Heavenly Sword, Ringisei, Speranza Nuova, Kway Teow Man, The Void Deck, The Legal Janitor, Soon Sze Meng and Wayne Soon in Singapore Angle for the many interesting and fun discussions over the past six months.

Comments

[kwokheng]

'My journey is one that is difficult, from finding funding for my PhD studies to enduring snub from my peers.'

Ooh...

Hmm, no wonder you said what you said. :)

(Psst... Prof. Shih also an oddity. Lianhe Zaobao put one.)

Oh and btw, anyway:

And:

'We say, to shine one corner of the world -- just one corner. If you shine one corner, then people around you will feel better. You will always feel as if you are carrying an umbrella to protect people from heat or rain.'
- Shunryu Suzuki

---

One night after a dharma talk, I asked Suzuki Roshi a question about life and death. The answer he gave made my fear of death, for that moment, pop like a bubble.

He looked at me and said, "You will always exist in the universe in some form."

-David Chadwick, "To Shine One Corner of the World", (Broadway, 2001), p. 10

[Bernard Leong]

InSpir3d & Cognitive Dissonance,

Thank you for your comments.
Have a happy new year too.

[inspir3d]

cool post.
happy new year :)

[cognitivedissonance]

Seldom have I seen reflections so public, and it is a rare privilege to hear them. As you know I first got to know you through your writings on Singapore Angle and wondered who you were. :) Cheers to the future, and happy new year.