Epocalymus

Ris Low has been fighting to keep her crown lately, all because she was convicted of a credit fraud long before she ever sign up for the pageant. Poor thing though, this episode has opened my eyes to see the glory and the gory of what Singapore is made up of. This applies especially to Singaporeans as a population in general.

I know Ris is more famous than Pasir Ris, especially for her broken-down English that has misplaced its engine somewhere in the running pipes of the contestant’s polytechnic toilet. Nevertheless, it is understandable to me since Singapore is a country that is made up of many people who cannot even properly pronounce the word ‘country’ (cowntree), much less the word ‘Singapore’ (singgabor). So I guess Ris Low truly represents Singapore in many aspects, thanks to the judges who have an eye for detail and a taste as unique as Singapore.

Some of you may know that Ris, being convicted of credit fraud, is now known nationwide, or perhaps international-wide, as a “thief”. Well, how can this be a bad thing for her to keep her crown? After all, Singapore has, through the years, copied and gently refined many programs, for instance, from the media such as Singapore Idol, or If You Think You Can Dance, or Deal or No Deal. What ever happened to the Pyramid Games, or the Channel 5 sequels of Growing Up? Man, I grew up with those shows while I was still in secondary school. Now, these shows are what I truly missed and anticipate in future, rather than watching programs that Singapore has directly copied or (if I can sound harsher) plagiarise from other countries. So to send a “thief” to represent Singapore is to show our uniqueness and talent to the world that we are so capable of flamboyant plagiarism.

In addition, the fact that Ris was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder further increases the tension of the controversy. Not only that, it worsen the stigma against people with mental disorders. Well, what can this represent Singapore this time? Our mental stability. Being in Singapore for years, I can truly sense the internal insecurities among its people and the people who refuses to look out of their horizon and think about the possibilities of a better society, greater contribution, thinking out of the box, pursuing one’s own passion rather than sticking to the “just a job” mentality. Sure, the government does not change. But the people must! If we don’t, we locals will die out.

Singapore has an increasing number of people suffering from various mental disorders, and depression being the common one. I guess from an international perspective, the Singapore population seems to be too small for comparison against bigger countries that actually manage to chalk up the statistics with regards to their own population suffering from the same disorder. All the same, the increasing number of people suffering from depression or other mental disorders can be the result of stress, in this rather competitive country. It may be due to bad genes, or perhaps poor upbringing. So there is no issue, in fact, there should not be any issue of whether a contestant, who is seeing a psychiatrist, should be discouraged from attaining his or her dream.

Yet, I think the standard for Miss World Singapore has gone to the hades. But I still believe that the sponsors should give Ris Low a chance of proving herself useful. In fact, she can be. Maybe, posing for an advertisement campaigning for the awareness of AIDS. She can wear her crown and take a picture holding a sign that says, “I have AIDS, beware!”, and the public will be really talking about it for years. So I think this will be a brilliant idea to get the Singaporean public’s awareness about AIDS. In fact, she can be the model for the Speak Good English Campaign. Likewise, taking a picture holding the sign that says, “If you can’t speak English, it is my excuse – NOT YOURS!”. Better still, a sign saying “SPEAK BETTER ENGLISH”. The public will be really on their toes and there’s no need for any cartoon animal that we once used in the 90s. By doing a good job of springing surprises on Singaporeans, some of them will stop walking like cows, eating like pigs, and start being alert once again!

Ris Low, no matter how badly the public feels about her package of representing Singapore, is still eligible to participate, because she represents the darker side of Singapore, which, probably might earn her the Miss World title for being honest, upfront, and even… special.