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  Today Online 12 Dec 06
Naive no more: Author 'walked the line' with Opposition, urges public to 'read between the lines'

AS A playwright, activist, author and former journalist all rolled into one, Ms Dana Lam is no outsider to the forces at work in society. Yet, the former president of the Association of Women for Action and Research tells LOH CHEE KONG ( cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg) that she is "naive and wide-eyed" no more — thanks to her experiences in penning her latest book, Days of Being Wild: GE2006 Walking the Line with the Opposition.

What was your motivation for writing the book?

This was a book I was meant to write; it is a moving story of the human spirit. Uncannily, this year was the first time I paid attention to the elections. About a week after Polling Day, I was approached by Hoe Fang (the founder of Ethos Books), who wanted to publish something inspiring. The brief was to do a book to commemorate the General Elections.

It is very sad that Singaporeans are always broadly painted as being politically apathetic and obsessed with material gains and little else.

By saying that, we are legitimately dismissing the 300,000 or so Singaporeans who have consistently voted for the Opposition at each election. My point is, there are many Singaporeans who act on their convictions.

I'm a typical Singaporean — I try not to think. I won't go out on to the streets and start a protest. Am I too rational?

That brings me to the book, which sets out to explore the Singaporean character. What are we made of, really?

Your book is about a political awakening that is taking place. But haven't Singaporeans always turned up in droves to cheer at Opposition rallies? And the euphoria at these rallies usually gets left behind when the voters enter the voting booth ...

The book shows that many Singaporeans rise above themselves and the pursuit of material gains — at least for the period of the elections.

This phenomenon got me very excited but I went from being very "high" to depressed in the space of a few days after realising it is not something new.

I asked myself, what are we celebrating, then? I had to go back to my notes and rediscover the spirit of the people who were turning up at the Workers' Party Open Houses. I saw it on the faces of these people, who were asking for more political analyses.

There's still some fear when it comes to choosing our political leaders. But a political awakening does not necessarily mean going against the establishment ... Certainly not.

Political awakening comes first from self- awareness.

I don't think any regime can keep its people from growing up. In our 40 years of nation building, in order to deliver the efficiency to achieve certain means, we have incurred opportunity costs.

We've traded independence of thought in order to support the mainstream doctrine.

It's the language the Government uses. They say: "Vote for us and we will increase your wealth."

A very young child does not question the opinions and actions of his parents. But there will come a time when he thinks his parents are not always right, and that they can be authoritative. A love- hate relationship may result.

There has certainly been more airing of views of late and some people will think that's better than nothing. But the Government still decides when there's enough debate and when it's time to move on.

And there's this perception that it seldom changes its mind once it has decided on something — take the decision to build the Integrated Resorts, for example.

Your book begins with quotes from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew — not quite what one would expect in a book devoted to the Opposition.

The concept of the book is to be visually arresting. Many people have pre-conceived ideas of how a book about the Opposition and the General Election would look like. My book is nothing like that.

There are quotes from various people, in a smaller font and in a different colour, running between the lines of the main text. A reader can choose to ignore my voice completely and just read the quotes.

This is what we mean by having more than one voice ... besides reminding people that they should always read between the lines.

The first page of the book contains MM Lee's quote on democracy from when the People's Action Party was in the Opposition. The next page contains his quote on the same topic from two decades later. The two statements show how Singapore has evolved.

It's to set readers thinking. What new things have you found out about yourself and how has working on the book changed you?

My own awakening started when I became a parent about 20 years ago. It led me to think: Do I want to raise children who put the nation before themselves and stand up for what they believe in? Or do I just want to raise children who will grow up, go to university, find a good job and earn big money?

The four months I spent working on the book were very intensive. I realised there is so much knowledge out there that is sidelined. Anything not on the current agenda is not very accessible.

I think I'm naive because of an almost desperate need to look for goodness in people. I feel I've grown from the experience, from being wide-eyed to becoming more knowing.

I've learnt to question more.
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