1. If I have to read another letter that calls writers irresponsible or immature for boycotting or pulling out of events, or calls for them to have a dialogue, Im going to have no humour left in me. There was no dialogue when these books were pulled out, and no dialogue when the decision was made to destroy them. We should be so lucky that we have a community of writers who care enough to make a stand, either by boycotting events on principle, or by keeping to their commitments to make sure this issue gets addressed. Either way, action is always better than inaction. 2. Many of the comments and responses to these letters say things like let them boycott, who is this writer? nobody reads them, we dont need them. HEY NLB, You want to think really really hard about the illiteracy and lack of education from the demographic who is saying these things, especially since youve decided THEY are the ones who get to decide what people should be reading. And you want to think really really hard about what matters more to you. Pandering to people who have no value for language and writing and reading and keeping to your stubborn, ridiculous stance that is hurting and alienating writers both in our country and internationally, or rectifying this situation 3. What hurts the most is that every single person who writes a letter like this and condemns writers, is ignorant and clueless about how much work and dedication goes into building a sense of Singaporean Literature. There are writers and teachers and arts programmers who have put in years trying to make Singaporean Literature something we can all be proud of, bent over backwards to create a space for Singaporean voices. And when you give the time of day to people who make careless statements like who is Felix Cheong? Who is Ovidia Yu? Most Singaporeans have not heard of them and do not care, you are siding with people who are saying, we dont read, we dont care, we dont need writers in this country, they do not matter. Do you really want to find out what its like to become that country? Because every one of those letters is taking us a hundred steps backwards to that horrific goal. What are we? #nocountryforwriters ? 4. I cannot blame anyone in the literary arts community for any of their reactions. I agree, it is hard for anyone to want to work for or represent a country that flatly says it will not represent them. It doesnt come easy to make a stand that involves you having to not do the thing you believe matters the most. I also give love and props to every single person who has stood up and said something. 5. This isnt going to die down. Not if the people I know in the writing community that I belong to and am proud of are anything to go by. So you can stop hoping for that. 6. Wake up your idea already lah.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:18:00 +0000
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