He's not saying sorry, you know

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COMMENT

He's not saying sorry, you know

OVER a cuppa, MrYaw Shin Leong explained his about-turn to me, using a myriad of metaphors from the biblical to the Hollywood:

By Ng Tze Yong

18 June 2008

OVER a cuppa, Mr Yaw Shin Leong explained his about-turn to me, using a myriad of metaphors from the biblical to the Hollywood:

'I was blind but now I see.'

'I woke up from a matrix-like slumber.'

And: 'I have undergone a metamorphosis...'

If it sounds cryptic, it's unfortunate, for voting should never become something as straightforward as, say, voting for a lift upgrading.

But cryptic it very well is.

Mr Yaw may now 'see', but can he make others see what he sees?

Last week, Mr Yaw explained in his blog that he won't be voting PAP in the next election.

As quickly as they had got riled up, opposition supporters were pacified.

Wrote one: 'I sigh a relief with your new enlightenment. You are still young...'

Wrote another: 'I will only be kind enough to pardon you for that.'

The response from those who only recently crucified him is now forgiving - in a paternalistic sort of way. They are smug from having won.

But Mr Yaw, if you read his carefully-worded entry closely, is not saying sorry.

He titled it 'Introspection Of Perspectives'.

He did not mention 'sorry' at all in the entry.

What he wanted to say instead was the new understanding of politics he now has, one that has brought him to 'a new plane, not higher or lower, just different'.

It is an understanding that is filled with nuances, more subtle and more considered.

His message is now: Vote opposition for opposition's sake, in particular the Workers' Party.

'VOTE FOR IDEAL'

Vote, not for the better man, but for an ideal, he says.

In person, he further explained his about-turn using the example of actus reus (Latin for 'guilty act') and mens rea (Latin for 'guilty mind').

It's all quite confusing to this writer. But what should have been clear, from the very beginning, is that this was no sorry.

'My conscience is clear,' he said.

So what does it show when many WP supporters jumped on the forgiveness bandwagon and missed his point?

Is their world black and white, compared to Mr Yaw's world, with its shades of grey?