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Green
Plan dumped? What do we really lose?
- a
lesson from 'Auntie' |
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| I recall, with
a great deal of respect, the mother of my close friend, Stephen. We
were living in the same neighborhood and had literally grew up together
kicking the football everyday. I knew his family well. Stephen has
an older brother similar in same age as I. But since birth, he had
been unable to speak or to walk. In fact he was disabled in every
way. He had a mind of a baby, and need to be fed, bathe and clothed.
He had to be assisted when walking, and had no control over his saliva. |
| The
gentleness and love bestowed on him by his mother, whom I called ‘Auntie’,
was unforgettable. I understood from ‘Auntie’ what a mother’s love
was. It was the greatest. Even now, as I think about her, tears well
up my eyes. What an angel she was. Had she not taken the brave path
to raise him up more than thirty-five years ago, he would not have
known love, care and warmth of wonderful family. |
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No doubt, the
road taken by Stephen’s family was uphill, tough, and full of despair
and uncertainties at times. But the road was definitely richer of
human experience, intimacy, courage and the spirit of self-sacrifice.
Because of this disabled son, the family got stronger and more lovingly
bound together. He was in turn the ‘angel’ of the family.
No doubt, on the pragmatic side, it would have been ‘more convenient’
to ‘dump’ him long ago – to abort, to disown him, to put him into
an institution or otherwise. But what would the family have lost other
than a disabled son?
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The same could be asked: When we dump the little nature areas (and
the Green Plan) that we still have, what do we really lose?
It is not difficult to draw a parallel between the two - the moral
courage of that family and that of a nation when confronted by the
choice for Life. But is the nobler life dead?
Our sense of value, our sense of place and destiny, are called into
question. If not for the noble quest of living a full and |
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vibrant intimacy with all things living (family, community and the
natural world, etc.) what else are we pursuing that are of lasting
value?
I strongly believe it is a very small price to pay for keeping the
little nature areas remaining in Singapore today. These are the little
‘angels’ that we cannot afford to dump. Innovative developments that
work in harmony with nature will bring progress not only for the nation
but also for humanity and the human spirit - in every sense of the
word. |
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'Freedom
in the mere sense of independence is meaningless. Perfect freedom
lies in the harmony of relationship which we realize not through knowing
but in being.'
- Rabindranath Tagore |
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