Newspaper Feature
ST feature: Chirpy in the City
The following is a feature on me by a Straits Times journalist, Stephanie Yap, published on August 9th as part of the National Day special.
To writer Catherine Lim, the Botanic Gardens will always be a place that inspires great poetry—though, admittedly, not her own.
The energetic 66-year-old chuckles as she casts her mind back almost 40 years, to one of the trips she and her former husband made with their two children, Jean and Peter.
The family used to visit the 52ha park in the heart of town every other weekend, toting a bagful of bread to feed the ducks, fish and turtles.
“We were walking out of the gardens and there was this gorgeous moon. Jean looked up and said: ‘Moon, moon, shining bright, stuck in heaven like a cake’,” recalls Dr Lim, cackling with delight.
“My ex-husband was so pleased and excited that when we got home, he made her repeat it. He wrote proudly: ‘Jean Lim’s poem, at age three years, four months’.”
When the children got older, the family stopped going to the Botanic Gardens.
Jean, now 42, is a doctor in Hong Kong, while Peter, 40, is a journalist in the United States. Dr Lim’s former husband, George, whom she divorced in 1984, lives in Canada.
However, about 15 years ago, the writer started returning to the park on her own, and now visits about twice a month, enjoying a two-hour stroll in the evenings.
“I live in this little box in the sky, so it is absolutely refreshing to hear the chirping of crickets and other sounds you would never associate with urban life,” she says. She lives in a condominium in Newton.
“It never ceases to amaze me that in the midst of the city, you can be in the midst of a jungle, doing a little jungle walk. It is almost like a luxury to me.”
It is clear when you meet Dr Lim that she is an urbanite through and through.
She had mentioned over the phone that she would be wearing her exercise outfit, which turns out to be an off-the-shoulder black top with leggings, paired with a leopard print newsboy cap and a matching scarf.
The amiable writer is soon chatting away like an old friend as she steers you deftly along the most shady paths.
“Sometimes, I sit on the bench and look at the water. I feel a little bit too abashed to bring bread to feed the fish, but I think one of these days, I will do that.”
She nudges you playfully and gestures to a couple lying together on the grass.
“I once saw a couple with their limbs all entangled, rolling down a slope. Luckily, they were fully clothed. I remember I was so amazed, but they couldn’t be bothered,” she says, breaking into laughter again.
That amorous pair would not be out of place in the vast army of characters that Dr Lim has created over the past 30 years, from insensitive teachers and. suicidal schoolgirls in her debut short story collection Little ironies (1978), to her own philosophical, post-death self in Unhurried Thoughts At My Funeral (2005), a work of creative non-fiction.
Such a Singaporean literary icon is she that it can be easy to forget she was actually born across the Causeway, in the town of Kulim, Kedah, in then-Malaya. She immigrated to Singapore only at the age of 26.
“I did not choose to come here, actually. I got married to a Singaporean and he finally decided to leave Malaysia,” she says.
Both teachers, she and her former husband spent most of their time working to support their young family.
Still, Dr Lim has vague memories of family outings to the Botanic Gardens, Changi beach, Glutton’s Square and the old Robinson’s department store at Raffles Place which was destroyed by fire in 1972.
But she is not one to weep over the disappearing buildings in Singapore’s ever-changing cityscape.
“I am probably less sentimental than most. I am a pragmatist and I feel that sometimes these things have to go,” she says.
“The external surroundings to me are far less important than the inner landscape. It doesn’t matter if you tear down a building, but values must remain and must be preserved for younger people to be aware of.”
That said, one place she holds dear is Singapore itself.
“I love Singapore—there’s no question about that. This is the place where I am very happy,” she says, explaining why she has chosen to remain here while both her children live abroad.
“I want to see the tulips in Holland and the cherry blossoms in Japan. But after a stay of less than a month, I am only too happy to come back.”
August 25th, 2008 at 8:06 am
REFLECTION
A frank discourse by a bumiputra of Malaysia. By Ahmad Mustapha The writer is a nephew of Dr Mahathir.
Singapore’s Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore’s founding father, has always been very direct in his comments. This was the man who outsmarted the communists in Singapore (with the innocent help of Malaya then and the willing help of the British) and who later outwitted the British and outpaced Malaysia in all spheres.
Singapore practises corrupt-free meritocracy and Malaysia affirmative action. The former attracted all the best brains and the latter chased out all the brains. The Singapore cabinet consists of dedicated and intelligent technocrats whereas Malaysia has one of the most unwieldy cabinets. Not only that, brain wise it was below par not even good for the kampong.
With that kind of composition, one that is very brainy, naturally Singapore , with no natural resources could outstrip Malaysia in every aspect of development. Malaysia, on the other hand, was too much preoccupied with its Malayness and the illusory ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ and was also more interested in useless mega iconic development rather than real social and economic development.
Whenever Kuan Yew utters anything that was deemed to be a slight on Malaysia, voices were raised admonishing him. Malaysia would never dare to face reality. That Singapore had shown that it could survive was a slap on those who believed that Singapore would fold up once it left Malaysia .
Therefore, it was natural that these doomsayers would try to rationalise their utterances to be in their favour to combat whatever Kuan Yew commented. Its political jealousy.
Singapore achieved its development status without any fanfare. But here in Malaysia , a development that was deceptive was proclaimed as having achieved development status. It was trumpetted as an achievement that befits first world status.
This was self-delusion. Malaysians are led to believe in a make believe world, a dream world. The leaders who themselves tend to believe in their own fabricated world did not realise the people were not taken in by this kind of illusion.
Lee Kuan Yew believed in calling a spade a spade. I was there in Singapore when the People’s Action Party won the elections in 1959. He was forthright in his briefing to party members as to what was expected of them and what Singapore would face in the future.
Ideologically, I did not agree with him. We in the University of Malaya Socialist Club had a different interpretation of socialist reconstruction. But he was a pragmatist and wanted to bring development and welfare to the Singaporeans.
Well! He succeeded.
Malaysia was so much embroiled in racial politics and due to the fear of losing political power, all actions taken by the main party in power was never targeted towards bringing wealth to all. Wealth was distributed to the chosen few only. They were the cronies and the backers of the party leadership to perpetuate their own selfish ends.
Seeing the efficiency and the progress achieved by Singapore caused the Malaysian leadership to suffer from an inferiority complex. That Malaysia should suffer from this complex was of its own making.
In a recent interview, Kuan Yew said that Malaysia could have done better if only it treated its minority Chinese and Indian population fairly. Instead they were completely marginalised and many of the best brains left the country in droves. He added that Singapore was a standing indictment to what Malaysia could have done differently. He just hit the nail right there on the head.
Malaysia recently celebrated its 50th year of independence with a bagful of uncertainties. The racial divide has become more acute. The number of Malay graduates unemployed is on the increase. And this aspect can be very explosive. But sad to see that no positive actions have been taken to address these social ills.
Various excuses were given by Malaysian leaders why Singapore had far outstripped Malaysia in all aspects of social and economic advancement. Singapore was small, they rationalised and therefore easy to manage. Singapore was not a state but merely an island.
There was one other aspect that Malaysia practises and that is to politicise all aspects of life. All government organs and machinery were ‘UMNO-ised’. This was to ensure that the party will remain in power. Thus there was this misconception by the instruments of government as to what national interest is and what UMNO vested interest is.
UMNO vested interest only benefited a few and not the whole nation. But due to the UMNO-isation of the various instruments of government, the country under the present administration had equated UMNO vested interest as being that of national interest.
Thus development became an avenue of making money and not for the benefit of the people. The fight against corruption took a back seat. Transparency was put on hold. And the instruments of government took it to be of national interest to cater to the vested interest of UMNO.
Enforcement of various enactments and laws was selective. Thus a ‘palace’ in Kelang, APs cronies and close-one-eyed umno MPs could exist without proper procedure. Corruption infested all govt departments, the worse is the police and lately even in the judiciary.
Singapore did not politicise its instruments of government. If ever politicisation took place, it is guided by national interest. To be efficient and to be the best in the region was of paramount importance. Thus all the elements like corruption, lackadaisical attitude towards work and other black elements, which would retard such an aim, were eliminated. Singapore naturally had placed the right priority in it’s pursuit to achieve what is best for its people. This is the major difference between these two independent countries.
Malaysia in its various attempts to cover up its failures embarked on several diversions. It wanted its citizens to be proud that the country had the tallest twin-tower in the world, although the structure was designed and built by foreigners. Its now a white-elephant wasting away. It achieved in sending a man into space at an exorbitant price. For what purpose? These are what the Malays of old would say “menang sorak” (hollow victories).
It should be realised that administering a country can be likened to managing a corporate entity. If the management is efficient and dedicated and know what they are doing, the company will prosper. The reverse will be if the management is poor and bad. The company will go bust.
There are five countries around this region. There is Malaysia , and then Indonesia . To the east there is the Philippines and then there is that small enclave called the Sultanate of Brunei . All these four countries have abundance of natural resources but none can lay claim to have used all these resources to benefit the people. Poverty was rampant and independence had not brought in any significant benefits to the people.
But tiny Singapore without any resources at all managed to bring development to its citizens. It had one of the best public MRT transport systems and airlines in the world and it is a very clean city state. Their universities, health care, ports are among the best in the world.
It is impossible to compare what Singapore has achieved to what all these four countries had so far achieved. It was actually poor management and corruption, and nothing more. Everything is done for the vested interest of the few.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
you have nice baby good luck for the future
September 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Malaysian Mamak
Mahathir Kept Hidden His Little Secret – The Indian Muslim
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad started life NOT as a Malay but a Malayali -the people of Kerala in south INDIA, where his father came from.
At university in Singapore, Mahathir was listed as an INDIAN.
Perhaps this explains why Mahathir became MORE Malay than many Malays, all the while pursuing a politics which had scant time for Malay instincts for consensus and compromise.
(Note: Mahathir was born and named as Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty @Mahathir Mohamed. Mahathir’s father, (Iskandar Kutty) was a school teacher of Indian origin, specifically Malayalee (people who speak Malayalam), NOT to be confused with Malay, having migrated from the southern state of Kerala, while his mother was a Malay. – Malaysian Unplug)
Mahathir is full of paradoxes on racial issues. Many of his policies have had the effect of reducing the racial element in government decisions, watering down the agenda to advance Malay interests. As a result he is well regarded by many in the Chinese business community.
Mahathir has been quick to promote himself as the embodiment of “Asian” identity and values, with diatribes against the west, usually couched in racial terms.
Yet, despite his trumpeting of Asian identity, Mahathir appears ashamed to admit his Indian heritage.
In his new book, A New Deal for Asia, he writes about his father in such a way as to imply that he was a Malay dedicated to the improvement of his fellow Malays rather than the hard-working Indian immigrant and government servant that he was.
No mention of Mahathir’s Indian Muslim background ever appears in the media. The subject is taboo.
Philip Bowring.
February 26th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Hi Dr Lim, how do I get in touch with you? When I email your contact address, it seems to bounce.
Thanks!