I read LIncoln Tan not because he says anythinig that shattering on a regular basis but because he is Singaporean and I find it nostalgic to read the occasional quaintly Singaporean turn of phrase that still peppers his writings. I lived in Singapore for many years and won't hear a bad word said about the place. He starts his column today reporting a truly horrific racist letter he received after having the temerity to comment on the English language after the TXT SPK nonsense of a few days back. Scary, scary stuff that one would hope could not be written in these times. He writes in the main though about colonialism and British colonialism in particular. That his father regarded the Brits as colonial masters is, perhaps, natural but that he still has some of those thoughts lurking deep below the surface of his concious mind suprised me having lived and worked in S'pore for thirteen years. He obviously doesn't hold the views of his father (and he doesn't tell us if he is still alive) but the place such views had in his formative years I find fascinating.
Save the best until last- the back page. This from Sideswipe, and I paraphrase a clipping they found in a Queensland newspaper.
'I hope the Queensland Government will suspend daylight saving this year in view of the disasterous effect the extra sunshine will have on the current drought situation'
That won't be bettered for many a day.
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