“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” – Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

We worry. Because the average Joe is falling so far behind if he is unable to secure that prestigious scholarship, or seize that international business deal, or snag that desirable lady who will complete his life. There is an expected chronology of events to unfold, and if one thing doesn’t fall into place, life, if not put to a standstill, crumbles apart.

Tell me, Singaporean, are you happy?

Look beyond your last bonus, the day you got your hands on the latest iPhone (anything that doesn’t explode), or the booze that got you blissfully wasted last night. Go deeper.

We worry. Because there is an expected chronology of events to unfold, and if one thing doesn’t fall into place, life, if not put to a standstill, crumbles apart.

Do you worry about the meaning of life, or the lack thereof? Are you quietly desperate for something more? Or for those who feel like you’re doing too much, something less? Does your blood boil as you slam on your car horn through rush-hour traffic? Do you repeatedly hammer the traffic light button at junctions, because waiting is such an unproductive waste of life?

Ours can feel a cold and impersonal society, where everything is squeaky-clean, efficient, profit-maximising, and frustratingly soulless. Here it’s all about image.

Like in other big cities, cheap love can so easily be glorified and romanticised, only to be packaged into bite-sized portions for our convenient consumption. For your next feast, do browse through our latest catalogue, and just swipe left if it’s not to your liking.

The battle cry of society rings strong and loud. We now dream of power, security, status, and the reality is that for many of us those dreams are coming to life before our eyes. Welcome to the Singaporean Dream.

IT COMES AT A COST

But I feel that this dream-come-true is falling well short of delivering on its promise.

While Singapore is among the world’s leaders in terms of GDP, healthcare and educational achievement, Singaporeans have on average the longest work hours of any country in the world.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong remarked a few years ago, “If you look at other countries… they’re not talking about work-life balance; they are hungry, anxious, about to steal your lunch. So I think I’d better guard my lunch.”

So we slog long and hard, often unproductively, lest we be knocked off our pedestal of affluence and influence. That’s how we understand peace.

Ask our children about their dreams, and you’d find that apart from the lofty expectations of their parents, nothing beside remains.

Our children are not spared. Ask any child about their holidays, and it’s typically burnt doing homework and tuition. Ask them about their dreams, and you’d find that apart from the lofty expectations of their parents, nothing beside remains.

To fit them into the mould of society, we hammer and file what we deem their rough edges, inject them with performance enhancement drugs, and put lenses over their eyes (physically and metaphorically).
We start on them young, in the hope they’re able to be the ones to herald a new era of Singapore’s development. That’s progress.

And somehow, even though our employment numbers remain among the world’s highest, Singaporean workers are among the world’s most dissatisfied. In a 2014 survey, 75 per cent of the 5,670 employees surveyed in Singapore view their job only as nothing more than a way to make a living. That’s prosperity.

So it seems that despite considerable material gains, the Singaporean Dream isn’t quite working out for everybody. People are now awakening to the realities of this empty pursuit.

THE BITTER ROOT

Perhaps our path to the doldrums started with the Singapore Story passed down to us.

It is a familiar narrative: “Nobody owes us a living; we must fight to make make our mark on the world stage; we are different from our neighbours – better. In those tumultuous days our forefathers, resolute and strong men with humble beginnings, stood against all odds, to lay the trusty foundations for the metropolis we now call home.

“We are now obliged to do likewise, and ensure that all countrymen follow suit. The legacy must continue with us.”

What if your humanity is damaged in the pursuit of things we don’t actually need or want?

In our hunger for progress and prosperity, we have become missionaries of materialism, and anything blocking our surge forward must be removed. But what if that which stands against is you? Your soul, your peace?

What if your environment, your health, and your humanity is damaged in the pursuit of things we don’t actually need or want?

Busyness has become society’s badge of honour, and wanting to rest suddenly feels like a betrayal. We pin these badges to ourselves, our friends and our children, hoping that they would bring us to a better place. But they don’t. The void remains.

IS GOD THE END-GOAL?

In the book “Death by Suburb”, David Goetz argues that the core of suburbia (such as Singapore) is about catering to “the overindulged self in an environment of security, efficiency, and opportunities”. This inevitably creeps into our faith.

A faith that empowers us to indulge ourselves further becomes mainstream, while one that requires sacrifice is easily abandoned.

It is so easy to reduce God to a tool in our toolbox of big dreams, and as a result, Christianity has lost its power for a wider societal transformation.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27)

Instead of living with conviction for a higher purpose, we resign ourselves to the practice of damage-control.

For those in the Singaporean Church caught up in the wave of materialism and consumerism, the Seven Woes of Matthew 23 ring louder than ever. Intertwined with politics, and caught up with every battle of our day, some in the church have settled for counterfeit love. Here, salt loses its saltiness.

Many of us lose sight of the Gospel we are called to live out, becoming blind guides, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs – hardly different from the sinful world we claim to set ourselves apart from.

Instead of living with conviction for a higher purpose, we resign ourselves to the practice of damage-control. Practical faith takes the form of a petition.

RECAPTURING OUR SONG

The truth is that we cannot simply wait for God’s presence to overtake the world while we watch from comfy sidelines. That’s like claiming we want His presence in our lives, only to never let Him tear our walls down.

He calls us so much higher. As you surrender to His will, He empowers you to carry out the work of His kingdom. It’s time to pray!

When Jesus prayed to the Father before His arrest, He made clear that we would and should struggle to fit into society because we walk by the Word.

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14)

That’s what we’re up against. But we have Him on our side. He promises His presence to those who actively make disciples of all nations, to the end of all days (Matthew 28:16-20).

He who leads us towards the path to true life has a new redemptive dream for everyone and everything.

So, raised from death to life just like Jesus, we become His hands and feet to heal a broken world. But most of all, our call is to reveal Jesus to people trapped in the rat race, to show them that there is truly a better way to live – neither by might nor by power, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

He who leads us towards the path to true life has a new redemptive dream for everyone and everything.

It starts with us. The old has passed, the new has come. Don’t just settle for a little life of comfort, material possessions, and empty indulgence. We have something so much more precious – a dream that is grand, beautiful and eternal.

Let’s unite in God’s love song for hungry souls and start loving people as He loves – selflessly, truthfully, and unconditionally.

Let’s transform a generation.