ThE rOaD nOt TaKeN.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Didn't go to school today as I caught a cold and have a throat infection (Talk too much and never preserve my voice...plus some retribution from when I was 'gloating' over Kirk's inability to eat spicy food, bleah!)
Took the opportunity to re-charge plus realised Dear Wife would expect me to cook tonight, so stopped by the market after visiting the doc's. No porridge today to DW's disappointment as they are closed on Thursday. Plan B was to buy some
cheong fun and
siew mai for her together with some seafood porridge for myself. Also went to buy some pork ribs, minced pork, watercress and chicken wings for dinner tonight.
The menu is (like in a posh restaurant):
- Watercress soup with pork ribs
- Garlic chicken wings in soysauce with ginger and honey
- Omelette with minced pork
- White rice
- Yong Tau Foo soup (leftover from yesterday's dinner)
Well, except for the last item which is a bit LC, the rest of the dishes are still quite presentable. Scrapped the omelette as I thought it was a bit too much food for 2 people to consume. Turns out that the chicken wings are still not that good as I need to keep refining the recipe which I had gotten from MIL.
Watched Hotel Rwanda on Star Movies in the afternoon during lunch and was shocked. Basically the movie is about the racial violence in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsis and how a hotel manager Paul managed to help many refugees survive during the period. Although the UN forces were present, but it was sad that many of the so-called superpowers were not willing to help because Rwanda (as a country) did not have any thing of value. It was a situation where the refugees who were caught between the opposing forces were being slaughtered in the millions... I couldn't help but imagine the helplessness of being in a country that was being torn up internally by racial prejudice and being unable to defend your basic right to live in peace.
Living in Singapore is a blessing that many of us take for granted. We do not need to worry about finding food or clean water or shelter. So although we do love to complain about anything under the sky (the hot topic now is the NDR speech by PM Lee), it is still important that we take the time to be thankful for being in a country which is stable. It sounds very NE but seeing how the Rwandans were living, not knowing when a soldier or rioter would be brandishing a rifle or machete in front of their faces, makes me proud that we have an SAF to defend us. In order to get help from the police, Paul had to bribe the general several times. Can you imagine calling the police and having them ask you what you will be able to pay them if they help you?
So the next time when the govt passes another piece of legislation to fight terrorism or Changi Airport creates another rule to make searching for contraband easier, I'm going to try and remember that the cost of complaceny is destruction, that sometimes we have to give up a bit of convenience to preserve liberty and our way of life.
It's not ideal, but it's just the way it is.
Labels: Hotel Rwanda, Taking things for Granted
