No Fool.

Speaking well

doesn't mean you are 

wise and mature.

There are plenty who

speak so well,

yet

they only

broadcast their 

foolishness,

especially

when they use their strength

to poke and batter

those who are weaker.

*

A single word

is enough to

crack the mood.

If there would be any country

to be convicted of this

it is

Singapore.

And the word is,

'Boomz.'

One word,

a common ground

for everyone to

gibber and giggle about.

For awhile,

it's the

most effective ice-breaker.

And just when

the people are

warmed up and cosy,

their unity 

blackened the comedy.

It is

an army

against

one 

-

a 19 year old girl

who

like multitudes of others,

has poor pronunciation.

'Preens', 'bigini', 'rad'

enraged the army

into brutal attack;

from Facebook,

to blogs,

trains,

buses,

coffee shops

and

at wedding tables.

I am guilty

for laughing.

In kindergarten, my teacher

loathed me for being the pest

that kept interrupting her lessons with,

'Wait, Miss XXX.

It should be pronounced as

''TH-E'

not

''DE''

and it's

''TH-REE'

not

'T-REE''!' -

all demonstrated with

my tongue sticking out

between gums with absent front teeth.

And the adult version of that

annoying child

cringed, scowled and squealed

at the video interview Ris Low was in.

I dreaded the thought of this Ris-person representing Singapore in Miss World 2009.

It's easy to join the crowd

and

 chorus in the anthem of taking her crown,

but tonight,

I am moved

by the

strength and courage

of this smiling girl.

When the world is informed

that

you see a psychiatrist

and

the mistakes you've made

blew up in the forms of 60 criminal charges,

would you be able to 

face the public and 

speak words like these? 

'I was hoping that it wouldn't come out.

Things were fine until now.

It caught me off guard.

I just know I have to accept it,

even though I'm a bit worried about my future.

But I thought, okay, 

brace myself and 

actually face up to it.'

She was reported by Tan Dawn Wei of

The Straits Times

to be

 '...largely composed' 

at the interview.

'I think it's time to speak up for myself.

It's not about 

running away, 

just like the Speak Good English thing.

They kept saying 

I got no comments but

I have so many things to say. 

I want to go on 

RazorTV again to show that

actually my English is not that bad.

I want to change their perception and

make them see

what I am.'

Ris Low

is

teaching us many lessons here.

This poor-pronouncing 19 year old

is

no fool.

Yes,

she is

thoroughly imperfect.

So are 

you and I.

Hers 

just happened to be 

broadcasted, 

toyed with and spurned into ridiculous versions

and

yet

 she still stands whole, 

smiling.

She sounds awful

but

she isn't pretentious.

She looks silly sometimes

but

she is courageous.

Most of us would have

scurried off and disappeared

in a meltdown like this.

Looking at her

stand and come forward

in the midst of

a mud-throwing public,

Ris has made the scorners

look quite like kids.

'The fool will shame the wise'.

Let he who is without fear

cast the first stone.

*