志异 Draft by Drama box December 2014 (english) | Page 11

The appearance of harmony evokes a feeling of warmth and
joy and presents a picture of cordiality. This is the feeling
that outsiders get when they walk around the Toa Payoh
neighbourhood. It appeals to their sense of envy and longing, and
draws them to pursue and participate in it. In this case, harmony
is no longer an ideal state but an instrument of rule. Harmony
is a careful and deliberate construct perpetuated by ideology.
Some elements are augmented in the process while others are
suppressed. Some things are eliminated or sacrificed in the name
of harmony. That is the price we pay for harmony and this is its
brutal yet true nature.
In Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral, Kuo Pao Kun told the story
of a ‘Country of Every Person’. On one of his famed sea voyages,
Zheng He chanced upon a little island known as ‘the world’s
precious gem, created from a teardrop of the Buddha.’ On the
island, people ‘lived in harmony and banded together in joy and

11
The Paradox of Harmony Quah Sy Ren

of harmony in the facets of life, prompting them to begin their
own dialogues with the bits and pieces in personal memories and
experiences that were consciously or subconsciously forgotten.
Those too were the facets of their lives, albeit pushed to the dark
recesses of the mind by the desire for harmony. In this space,
all sorts of views and ideas were given an airing and people
suddenly discovered the plurality of their existence that is often
ignored.