To obey or rebel?

I was in Singapore last week to watch the Lion King musical. It was a lovely performance, the stage props and the costumes were so creative, it was really something else. I enjoyed every minute of it. After that I watched the National Day rehearsals at Marina Bay Sands, where the army, navy and air force showed off their skills. Quite extraordinary.

I have been to Singapore many times but the thing that caught my attention this time around was how the people were just so obedient. They never question anything, they just follow the rules. Even when the rules don’t make sense.

Of course, law and order is necessary to prevent chaos. But surely one must be allowed to question certain rules that curtail one’s freedom unreasonably, or prohibit one from reasonably exercising one’s rights, or rules that are downright ridiculous. But there must be a balance.

Taking to the streets must be the absolute last resort, for example if the people are fighting for independence or democracy for the nation, or are trying to overthrow a despotic or autocratic ruler. I do realize that what is important to one person may be frivolous to another. Hence, objectivity should play a role.

If people are allowed to take to the streets for anything at all, all in the name of freedom of expression or freedom of assembly, then there would be nothing to stop me, for example, from protesting in the streets against my neighbour who had deliberately killed 2 of my cows. It may not be important to you but it sure is important to me.

Objectively, one would say that my proper recourse would be to lodge a police report, or seek compensation from my neighbour in court. Objectively, no one would condone my street protest. And yet, I could argue that it is my legitimate right to protest in any manner I choose.

Personally, I feel that taking to the streets must be the last resort after all other legitimate efforts of getting the desired results have failed. If people took to the streets every time they feel aggrieved, the danger is that nobody would take them seriously after a while. It would no longer be a novelty. So while it is still a novelty, why not save it for something that is really worthwhile?

On the other hand, the enforcers of the law should not be too paranoid about street protests. Arresting people for wearing yellow? That is downright silly. It makes me believe that they have something to worry about because if everything is hunky dory, there is nothing wrong in allowing people to march on the streets since it won’t make a difference anyway.

Someone once told me, “if you see a good fight, get in it.” I’m still waiting.