They take their name from Guru Gorakhnath, an 8th century Warrior-saint. Best known for their history of bravery, strength and discipline- Many Singaporeans much like myself were perturbed by the recent news that the presence of Police Riot Police vehicles surrounding the Ghurka Base compound in Mount Vernon was the result of in-fighting amongst the Nepalese soldiers.
Apparently, the Gurhkas were fighting over the rising cost of living and the inability of their salary to keep pace. Right.
"Were you one of the few that believed toilet urinals have doors?" asked Ken sarcastically refering to the terrorist escape debacle.
Justin Ken- He was a senior editor at one our country's local mainstream offerings. I met him after a particularly bitchy letter to his publication.
I have a gift- I know how to spin a yarn, add a dash of backhanded compliments and a smidge of antagonism and you have the makings of one semi-interesting columnist. That's how he became my boss. Only part-time though. Long story.
Besides, it doesn't matter what I did for a living before the outbreak. Overnight, the celebrities of the new age weren't the movie or radio stars. Neither were the bald headed hairdressers or cutie pie models like Marggy Mee. They were carpenters, engineers, electricians and plumbers. That's right, in the new age, manual labor professionals were the rockstars.
Truth is- you don't get much experience rebuilding fortifications or splicing communication lines when you're a film actor, model or rich young scion from a family with deep pockets. Money didn't count for jack in the new economy neither did looks. You were a benefit to society or a deadweight.
Boy those fuckers who used to diss ITE graduates are probably feeling mighty stupid now.
Anyhow, Ken, proud owner of a gorgeous (till this day) Prada black leather bag was giving me an earful over spotty cellular connection, "Listen, it wasn't some in-fighting bullshit. I'm probably going to be asked to tea by ISD over this..."
I narrowly avoided a pair of idiots chatting a the foot of the escalator as Ken continued, "Hard nosed no-nonsense Ghurkas are not going to fight over some shit like pay. The riot vehicles were there to contain something greater, I dunno what the hell it is but apparently, there were more reports of the "bite attacks" taking place over there."
"Bite attacks?" I asked, to think I used to write movie reviews.
"Yeah that's what the elites are calling them. Some bangras (yeah that's what we call our migrant bangladeshi workers) were attacked during land reclamation works over at the former cemetery. Doesn't say what exactly but do the math."
"So police were there to keep the "biters" in? Not so much as to keep people out?"
"Bingo."
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
A new day
The 3 of us watched awestruck and perhaps a little horror stricken at the unfolding chaos. Even as sirens screamed past Lido cinema, we watched in mesmerized wonder, the giant video screen situated at the theatre's main foyer.
Someone had the presence of mind to switch the video feed to CNA rather than continue to show month old mindless previews of movies no longer showing.
It didn't matter whether you worked at Starbucks or were ordering a cafe latte. Everyone was watching the projection of images on canvas. Young, old, fat, fit, single or loving couple, we stood united watching a live broadcast of an urgently called parliament session.
We still weren't sure what was going on- but one thing was certain- The Ministry of Home Affairs was undergoing an upheaval of sorts.
The Gurkha compound near the former Biddari cememtaries in Mount Vernon, were sealed off a few days ago after an in-camp "scuffle". Many of us found in perplexing that police "Ang Chia", the vernacular Ah-Beng dialect for Riot vehicle were establishing a perimeter around the zone.
Using the Ministry's recent failures in duty as ammunition, Opposition leaders had finally found their voice to launch a full scale review of the rapidly declining reputation levels of our ever esteemed and "infalliable" Home Affairs minister.
It was like watching monkeys type complete works of Shakespeare.
Change was upon us. Many of us thought it was of the political kind.
Many of us were wrong.
Someone had the presence of mind to switch the video feed to CNA rather than continue to show month old mindless previews of movies no longer showing.
It didn't matter whether you worked at Starbucks or were ordering a cafe latte. Everyone was watching the projection of images on canvas. Young, old, fat, fit, single or loving couple, we stood united watching a live broadcast of an urgently called parliament session.
We still weren't sure what was going on- but one thing was certain- The Ministry of Home Affairs was undergoing an upheaval of sorts.
The Gurkha compound near the former Biddari cememtaries in Mount Vernon, were sealed off a few days ago after an in-camp "scuffle". Many of us found in perplexing that police "Ang Chia", the vernacular Ah-Beng dialect for Riot vehicle were establishing a perimeter around the zone.
Using the Ministry's recent failures in duty as ammunition, Opposition leaders had finally found their voice to launch a full scale review of the rapidly declining reputation levels of our ever esteemed and "infalliable" Home Affairs minister.
It was like watching monkeys type complete works of Shakespeare.
Change was upon us. Many of us thought it was of the political kind.
Many of us were wrong.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Cannibalism Hits Poverty Stricken Singaporeans
It feels like a big joke sometimes- 3 men, a Chinese, Eurasian and a Malay reading a newspaper....
"It's the firebrand style of opposition politics. Just the usual bullshit ravings of a madman lah." said Aidan as he riffled through the pages of the whisper thin newsletter.
"I dunno dude... they might be onto something here, only I don't think cannibalism has anything to with it."
According to the article, a homeless man started to attack passers-by at Toa Payoh hub yesterday afternoon. A lady was severely mauled and had to be rushed to SGH A&E because nearby Tan Tock Seng was responding to "rioting" at a nearby hospice for the aged and infirm.
"Fuck guys. Apparently, the gahmen civil serpents shot the homeless dude dead."
"What?!" I grabbed the papers from Ishmal.
My eyes scanned through the wall of text, I felt labored pulse of cardiac response as my mind tried to make sense of what little I had read:
A 67 year old homeless man attacked and brutally mauled 23 year old Linda Lee as she made her way through the back alley adjacent to Toa Payoh HUB. The man later identified to be Wong Chuan Say was discovered slowing gnawing on Ms. Lee's severed arm as she lay bleeding to death along the passageway. Passers-by to the scene tried to restrain him but were frightened off by Wong's nasty snarls. The situation came to a close when the Police responding to calls from the public fatally shot and killed Wong. Other than Lee who remains in critical condition, Arresting Officer Andrew Lim was bitten and required 22 stitches along his thigh during the scuffle. Corporal Jason Chen fired an initial shot into the man's abdomen but failing to stop him, was forced to fire a second . The subsequent headwound ended the day's dramatic events. Andrew Lim remains in critical condition.
Ah, the Singapore Police Force- "The pride of the land". I used to remember the jingle before each episode of CrimeWatch. We're quite proud of our men in blue, with the ever low crime rates, they were experts at taking naps at carparks, equally apt at ordering roti kosong from neighbourhood prata stalls. Life's good in Singapore.
Singapore, jewel of the orient and pristine city of East Asia, the richest "developing" nation this side of the world yet for all our wealth, the social graces and humanity befitting our financial stature eluded us for decades. Money doesn't buy happiness or social graces unfortunately, a good deal of us keep our aged away from our homes and in hospices.
Hospices- we hide our dead and dying there. I would say "aged" but aged would be a stretch. The horrible truth was that many Singaporeans, caught up in the rat race that was society here nary had time for our elderly. When you abandon your parents/grandparents to these homes, chances are they wished they were dead or dying, hopefully spared the ignominy of desertion.
Asian values, western decadence, these were keywords of an earlier Prime Minister. Now, an elder statesman, we watched his son ascend the throne of the dynasty. Like the time he went AWOL during the escape of a terrorist figure from one of our most highly secured facilities, our leader was nowhere to be found during the early stages of the outbreak.
I watched the pretty pan-asian CNA reporter read the news emotionless as footage of "rioting" old folks attacked the hospice matrons. I noticed something odd though- it wasn't caretakers vs the elderly. Some of the attackers were assaulting their own too.
Her calm, confident veneer broke when the camera cut to a swarm of wrinkled bodies chewing on a plumpish aunty, as the camera zoomed in, the blood and all it's visceral connotations spray painted the white hospice tiles crimson. It wasn't long before the live feed was cut but not before we saw a glimpse of intestines skidding across the nicely sanitized floor.
Black screen turned to yet another live feed of our Home Affairs Minister, "I'm appalled." He said.
Boy that makes twice in one week. First the immigration checkpoint issue where a dad waltzed through airport security using a passport not his own and now this.
I was appalled too. But not that this happened, we had long moved on from that. But that it made little sense watching what was unfolding before our very eyes. The web admins were hardpressed to suppress the youtube links that Singaporeans were posting on STOMP and Hardwarezone forums. But in a matter of hours, it was everywhere and everyone had a different opinion on what the hell was going on.
But a few like minded individuals had a rough idea.
Hell was going on and it was coming here.
"It's the firebrand style of opposition politics. Just the usual bullshit ravings of a madman lah." said Aidan as he riffled through the pages of the whisper thin newsletter.
"I dunno dude... they might be onto something here, only I don't think cannibalism has anything to with it."
According to the article, a homeless man started to attack passers-by at Toa Payoh hub yesterday afternoon. A lady was severely mauled and had to be rushed to SGH A&E because nearby Tan Tock Seng was responding to "rioting" at a nearby hospice for the aged and infirm.
"Fuck guys. Apparently, the gahmen civil serpents shot the homeless dude dead."
"What?!" I grabbed the papers from Ishmal.
My eyes scanned through the wall of text, I felt labored pulse of cardiac response as my mind tried to make sense of what little I had read:
A 67 year old homeless man attacked and brutally mauled 23 year old Linda Lee as she made her way through the back alley adjacent to Toa Payoh HUB. The man later identified to be Wong Chuan Say was discovered slowing gnawing on Ms. Lee's severed arm as she lay bleeding to death along the passageway. Passers-by to the scene tried to restrain him but were frightened off by Wong's nasty snarls. The situation came to a close when the Police responding to calls from the public fatally shot and killed Wong. Other than Lee who remains in critical condition, Arresting Officer Andrew Lim was bitten and required 22 stitches along his thigh during the scuffle. Corporal Jason Chen fired an initial shot into the man's abdomen but failing to stop him, was forced to fire a second . The subsequent headwound ended the day's dramatic events. Andrew Lim remains in critical condition.
Ah, the Singapore Police Force- "The pride of the land". I used to remember the jingle before each episode of CrimeWatch. We're quite proud of our men in blue, with the ever low crime rates, they were experts at taking naps at carparks, equally apt at ordering roti kosong from neighbourhood prata stalls. Life's good in Singapore.
Singapore, jewel of the orient and pristine city of East Asia, the richest "developing" nation this side of the world yet for all our wealth, the social graces and humanity befitting our financial stature eluded us for decades. Money doesn't buy happiness or social graces unfortunately, a good deal of us keep our aged away from our homes and in hospices.
Hospices- we hide our dead and dying there. I would say "aged" but aged would be a stretch. The horrible truth was that many Singaporeans, caught up in the rat race that was society here nary had time for our elderly. When you abandon your parents/grandparents to these homes, chances are they wished they were dead or dying, hopefully spared the ignominy of desertion.
Asian values, western decadence, these were keywords of an earlier Prime Minister. Now, an elder statesman, we watched his son ascend the throne of the dynasty. Like the time he went AWOL during the escape of a terrorist figure from one of our most highly secured facilities, our leader was nowhere to be found during the early stages of the outbreak.
I watched the pretty pan-asian CNA reporter read the news emotionless as footage of "rioting" old folks attacked the hospice matrons. I noticed something odd though- it wasn't caretakers vs the elderly. Some of the attackers were assaulting their own too.
Her calm, confident veneer broke when the camera cut to a swarm of wrinkled bodies chewing on a plumpish aunty, as the camera zoomed in, the blood and all it's visceral connotations spray painted the white hospice tiles crimson. It wasn't long before the live feed was cut but not before we saw a glimpse of intestines skidding across the nicely sanitized floor.
Black screen turned to yet another live feed of our Home Affairs Minister, "I'm appalled." He said.
Boy that makes twice in one week. First the immigration checkpoint issue where a dad waltzed through airport security using a passport not his own and now this.
I was appalled too. But not that this happened, we had long moved on from that. But that it made little sense watching what was unfolding before our very eyes. The web admins were hardpressed to suppress the youtube links that Singaporeans were posting on STOMP and Hardwarezone forums. But in a matter of hours, it was everywhere and everyone had a different opinion on what the hell was going on.
But a few like minded individuals had a rough idea.
Hell was going on and it was coming here.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A new dawn
No one knew why it happened. We only knew when. And it wasn't through the mainstream either, it was oddly enough, through a local opposition party newsletter- "Cannibalism hits poverty stricken Singaporeans" it claimed.
It was the news breaking edition.
Indeed, it broke the news that day. TODAY, The Straits Times and Channel Newsasia were all proclaiming it to be scattered one off incidents. The Minister for Home Affairs said as much. But some of us knew better.
It wasn't that the government had always lied or treated the populace like children. It was that the government always told us some version of the truth.
But truths are not facts.
The fact was healthy men were dropping dead in the prime of their lives. It wasn't that the medical screening process was negligent- it was that the government was claiming that they didn't know the reasons for their deaths.
But we knew this- one of them "awoke' and attacked family members during a wake.
That was the day everything changed. The dead were rising.
And they were hungry.
It was the news breaking edition.
Indeed, it broke the news that day. TODAY, The Straits Times and Channel Newsasia were all proclaiming it to be scattered one off incidents. The Minister for Home Affairs said as much. But some of us knew better.
It wasn't that the government had always lied or treated the populace like children. It was that the government always told us some version of the truth.
But truths are not facts.
The fact was healthy men were dropping dead in the prime of their lives. It wasn't that the medical screening process was negligent- it was that the government was claiming that they didn't know the reasons for their deaths.
But we knew this- one of them "awoke' and attacked family members during a wake.
That was the day everything changed. The dead were rising.
And they were hungry.
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