Saddest Sight I've Seen

Singapore's a controlled environment - everyone knows that - and few things develop organically. I've been told that Line Dancing in Far East Square is one of these rare developments. I've never seen this phenomenon till today, the eve of Father's Day, when my family went for a meal at a resturant in Far East Square.

In my mind, I had a picture of men and women dressed in country garb, stepping, clapping, skipping and having a rollicking good time. When I saw the actual movement, it was pretty much the saddest damn sight I've seen in a long, long time. Men and women wore coffeeshop clothes and moped along to the sounds of country or pop music. They appeared uninterested, bored and lifeless. Even my 66 year old father commented that the group lacked energy and spirit.

I'm all for self-expression and Singaporeans taking their lifestyle into their own hands - not waiting for the government to organise yet another party, another event that the Singapore Tourism Board can sell. What I don't understand is why someone would put him/herself out there if they weren't going to do a decent job of it. Give a good show, let everyone know that Singapore DOES have something more to offer; that it doesn't need the government to enforce rules or provide incentives for people to put their best foot forward.

Instead the grave shuffle reinforced the idea, publicly, that Singaporeans are pretty much a bunch of walking zombies. Perhaps that's the reason the government can't let go. If it did, and all we got were more half-dead performances, rather than the thinly disguised lively, energetic city, how would Singapore attract tourists and foreign investors?