A letter to The Online Citizen from a reader after he had read Dhevarajan Devadas’ article.
Kyle Leslie Sim
Barack Obama was elected not because he is a black man (he is not by the way, he is 50-50, its just that the media love the fact that a black man has made it; that’s why they choose to portray him that way, no sense calling him a brown man when black sounds better right?)
As students, we learned underlying factors (secondary two history class – anyone remembers?). The underlying factor for the start of WW2 was the Treaty of Versailles, the underlying factor for Obama’s win was George W. Bush.
If Bush had not made a mess of everything, there would not be the opportunity to call for change. I mean, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Humans are simple creatures; if everything is going alright, kids get to go school, a few extra bucks in the wallet for the family holiday and meals outside, people will be content. But take those creature comforts away, and there will be hell to pay. Georgie literally yanked the carpet from under them and the roof from over them (sub-prime loans anyone?).
So be truthful: would a brown man have the chance to even call for change if that fool in the White House not cocked things up so badly? I sincerely doubt it, he would have been trashed so thoroughly by Old Hillary that we would not even remember who he is today – Barack Osama? Ain’t he that terrorist? (See, another stereotype – only a white guy would say that.)
Look, I love Obama, I love the ideal he represents. The first time I saw a black president (and he was black) on television was Morgan Freeman in Independence Day (2000). I distinctly recall turning to my cousin and saying, ‘America will never have a black president, and if they did, he would be assassinated the day he takes office’. I was 11 and I already had the stereotype groove down pat.
I can only hope that he lives up to the hype, because he is a modern day messiah. He is a beacon of light in a tunnel so dark that there seems to be no end.
We must salute America, because for all their Democratic hyperbole, they have actually proven many critics wrong. People have always said that even though the Americans preached Democracy and fairness, they themselves are far from either.
Now, they have a black (see, it just sounds better than if I had said “brown”) man as President. Love them or hate them, one must respect them for it is only in an apartheid that a man of minority can hope to be a leader of his nation.
You want change? Then something has got to give, because we are too comfortable, those who care – like Mr Devadas, well you are in a minority. I am sure everyone here remembers how in secondary school (funny how I keep going back there) we were taught how Venice fell. Well, if you look carefully we are following a similar pattern, and one day, we will fall into that very same trap.
Yes, I hope we get our Obama, but I hope that our Obama comes at the right time.
Without Osama, Obama would not have won. Everything happens for a reason, and maybe that was why September 11 happened – to set the ground work for change, and if you think about it, that was when the war on/of terror began and heralded the end of Bush.
Obama has shown that nothing is impossible, can we do it in Singapore?
I believe, yes, we can.
The writer is a polytechnic student.
———-
