I've come to realize. That the price of peace is really, violence and bloodshed.
I don't want to go into the details of the actual cases which sparked the issues in US or in HK.
And I'm not trying to glorify violence and lawlessness
The point I want to make is... peaceful protests have generally gone ignored and life goes on.
I really want to hope and believe that peaceful protests work. I really want to condemn rioters and looters.
I really do. I would like to believe that these rioters and looters are criminals, and they are. In the basic legal system. They are vandalizing things and robbing innocent shopowners who probably have nothing to do with the actual case of cause of the unhappiness.
And there's good chance that the peaceful protesters are of a different group than the criminals who loot and burn.
And yet, time and again, the "system" (wherever or whoever the system may be, US, HK, France, wherever, etc...)...
The system doesn't listen to peaceful protests. That's just how the system works.
If the Government or system or lawmakers, don't feel threatened, that if they don't feel that if they don't do something, then the system will break, then most likely they won't do anything.
Peaceful protests are generally... Ignored.
I read somewhere, that peaceful people aren't really peaceful.
When they, themselves, deem they are peaceful, they actually mean, they are harmless.
A country at peace is actually a dangerous country.
Dangerous is usually looked upon as military might, BUT it could also be dangerous economically or other ways of being dangerous to another entity.
A country that other countries don't dare to infringe on their peace. Cos they are strong and willing to exert force IF necessary. But generally, they don't initiate force for no reason.
And a people at peace, are a group of people who are dangerous, cos the Government or system doesn't dare to infringe on their peace. Cos they are strong and willing to exert force IF necessary. But generally, they don't initiate force for no reason.
Take for instance the situation in Myanmar, the Rohingya. They are being chased out of the area that they stay in. Where they have lived for generations.
I don't want to get into debate on who's right or who's wrong.
But harmless people get pushed around. The 1 million people who were displaced could... Could have put up a very strong fighting force, so are they peaceful or harmless?
They would like to tell themselves that they are peaceful but they are actually harmless.
Do you think they are leaving their home area willingly? In peace? No. They are being chased out.
So I've come to realize. Don't confuse weak people and peaceful people. Harmless people as peaceful people.
Usually the weak and harmless tell themselves that they are peaceful. That they don't resort to violence. But in actually they are just trying to console themselves.
The strong and dangerous, they deserve their peace. They have earned it. Cos no one dares take their peace away from them.
No. I still dislike my NS days. But yet, I see it in a different light.
NS is no fun, but yet I don't want Singapore to be weak and harmless. I don't want it to be a walkover.
Many people don't know what happened on 8/9 Aug 1991.
You can read more...
Here, or here, or here...
They all basically repeat the same story.
Malaysia and Indonesia scheduled a joint military exercise, the exercise was named “Pukul Habis”, in English it means “Total Wipeout”, just 20km away in Johore Bahru, ON SINGAPORE'S NATIONAL DAY.
MINDEF triggered a massive open mobilisation on National Day Eve (8 August 1991) and recalled thousands of troops. NSmen were called back. Live ammo and new weapons were distributed. Armour and artillery assets were deployed to staging areas. Some were mobilised to sit along the edges of the Malaysian railway in Tanjong Pagar with live ammo. Soldiers were also deployed to plant live mines around Singapore
For people who think it's just any ordinary military exercise and Singapore's response was over the top, I'd call them naive, in politics, these things aren't just "coincidences".
Of course the other party would deny it and say it was unintentional, I didn't know, blah blah blah...
It's politics right... cannot be they admit, "Yea we did it to intimidate you.".
So yea... it's highly likely that this was done by Malaysia and Indonesia as a show of force, and Singapore HAD to respond.
Anyway, this post isn't about NS.
It's about peace...
And peace... is like respect.
It has to be earned.
Just cos someone is older than you. Doesn't immediately mean they must be respected.
They gotta earn it.
Same as peace. Just hanging around not being violent and just keeping quiet all the time... that's not peace.
Quiet harmless people just get bullied.
People have to fight for their peace.
You're probably sleeping well tonight, cos someone else fought for your peace sometime in the past.
So don't be too quick to condemn violent protests. No doubt. It is illegal. And I wished we lived in a world where that is unnecessary.
But yet on the flip side. I see... helplessness, people who've been bullied, stuck and screwed by a system which doesn't change, people don't listen.
People are suffering.
And sometimes, to be heard, it may be necessary to create some inconvenience.
I really hope that we lived in a world/society where peaceful protests work...
Except that the problem is... when we talk about "peaceful" protest... those "peaceful" protests aren't actually "peaceful"... They are just harmless protests.
PS, Currently, I'm largely unaffected by the protests as they are quite far from where I stay. Also it appears that in Houston, the protests are less violent than in the other states.
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