ANOTHER SATURDAY AFTERNOON WELL SPENT AT ORANGE & TEAL

One must think that my Saturday afternoons are spent attending continuing medical education events, of which there are many, or taking a nap at home as a preparation for an evening concert. However the last couple of Saturdays have seen me at opposition politician Chee Soon Juan's bistro Orange & Teal at Rochester Mall attending book talks. He now refers to these talks as Saturday Conversations, or opportunities for people to reflect on current issues at hand, and the latest one was titled Critical Thinking.

One supposes that people who attend such events are not young students in need of good sound advice, but rather members of the converted flock. Anyone who practises critical thinking would be one who does not accept information offered by "official sources" at face value but a sceptic who questions anything and everything. For this afternoon's talk, Chee rounded up three of Singapore's "most wanted persons", people so well-known as naysayers that they have been the government's persons of interest at some time of the other.

They included anti-death penalty advocate and managing editor of Mekong Review Kirsten Han, social worker and serial protestor Jolovan Wham and philantropy consultant and former Operation Spectrum detainee Chew Keng Chuan. Critical thinking led them into trouble with the law, specifically Singapore's narrow definition of rule of law, and here they were to share their experiences.

Critical thinking is of little use if it is not set into some form of action or taking a stand. The forum was more active than the previous Saturday, and members of the audience were led to express personal opinions of their own, including one who questioned whether thinking, let alone critical thinking, existed in Singapore. Another suggested that information was not exactly accessible for critical thinking to be practised. All agreed that freedom of information was necessary and the government needs to do more on this front.

The older gentleman also wondered aloud how the widely-acknowledged successful and capable government should be so threatened by young people whose aims were to improve society by questioning the status quo. It seems that little has changed since 1987 (the year of Operation Spectrum and the so-called Marxist Conspiracy), and that was a sobering thought indeed.

This young man heeds everyone not to buy
the official narrative but to search for facts,
the truth is out there to find.

This ang moh has been all around the world,
and rates Singapore's situation very highly,
but acknowledges more work needs to be done. 

For yet another Saturday afternoon, my blinders were temporary removed and the wool over my eyes parted, albeit for another week or so. Next week, Dr Chee intends to invite indie musicians to share how the Singapore music scene is dying. That should be most interesting for me.   

My ticket for entry:
the Hawaiian pizza is reasonably priced,
delicious and filling.