this is a reply to a mail that was sent...i've sliced the first part off, but the second part makes for amusing reading, i gather. the narcissist in me.
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my second rebuttal would be what keong said about singaporeans...how singaporean society only consists of ah bengs and ah lians. to me, singapore consists of two parts...

a) the hypocrites
b) everybody else

i don't really understand how racial integration should involve not being allowed to wear tudungs to school. the whole idea of integration would be to promote a society that could accept and respect our differences, no? the uniformality of a one, true, "singaporean" culture is already impossible, due to the fact that you've got a whole potpourri of cultures claiming ground on your little island. think about how someone gets puzzled when you ask them about what the hell malaysian culture is...they just can't answer you. instead of allowing racial diversity, you're pinning it to the ground. let's just put the religious issue out; most primary school-going malay girls in singaporean schools don't wear the tudungs...so using the religious angle would be adding salt to the wound of the great farce that it is. whether or not they choose to wear the tudungs may be a whole different matter...but the fact that it's a general rule that you can't wear tudungs in primary school is the part that ticks me off.

racial integration...let's see.

integration:
1) the act or process or an instance of integrating: as a : incorporation as equals into society or an organization of individuals of different groups (as races)

"as equals". wouldn't that mean letting them wear the headscarf as a sign of respect to them? i doubt that a tudung worn by a little malay girl gives her some sort of psychological advantage over her chinese or indian peers? i'm sure little sikh boys wear their headwraps to school...and i'm sure that it doesn't hide their latent mutant telekinetic or mental powers. [on a side note, is anyone planning to watch the guru?...and x2 is coming out this year!] equal integration means equal chances for the children, doesn't it? all's fair in love and war, yada yada yada? it's just a bloody scarf. just a scarf. some might use the same argument about over what the whole fuss would be, but it's a person's right and privilege to be able to worship the religion of your choice. if some are scared that there might be instances of name calling or anything of that sort, then where the hell does the integration come in? start them young; embrace your cultural differences and your diversity...don't slay them. a nation's people make it special.

i do understand that i haven't even heard the singaporean side of things. i'm sure they've got some rational, reasonable explanation for all this. i have nothing against singaporeans. [well, i've met some that've pissed me off, but let's not go there...] just the leaders. and i love americans. most of them, anyway. i've lived there. i've seen how friendly, how open they can be. but it just goes to show that the leaders of nations...they don't really listen to whatever it is the people say, is it? and on a sadder note, no matter how much we try, how much we tell them what we want, they don't listen. then again, i guess everyone has their own agenda. so whether or not george bush is fighting iraq to protect or extend the united states' oil assets, or because he sincerely thinks that iraq is a lot more dangerous than north korea [kimchi-loving statesmen who wine and dine while their people suffer...bastards], we won't know...only george w. bush knows whatever it is that runs around in george w. bush's head.

but if any of you think that war is the answer, then...fine. but it also can be said that he's as much of a terrorist as those who he claims are marked for vindication. in the end, i guess we're all hypocrites.