The main takeaway from this story for me…
A good deal of what Liberals and those in the Human Rights community call “empathy” is actually condescension, Applying lower standards of quality to earn accolades for members of so-called marginalised populations, is fundamentally condescending, not empowering.
This kid has every right to aspire to be a celebrated poet instead of a construction worker, but rather than offering him a chance to improve his talents, take some writing classes, maybe learn something about the business end of publishing; he was given star treatment, praised, and promoted — not because of his poetry but because he is a migrant worker who writes poetry..and he was ultimately discarded for the same reason.
He was just a gimmick for highlighting migrant workers. Problem is, he didn’t know that. He actually believed that all the attention was due to his own brilliance. And why wouldn’t he? He did not realise that Singaore’s artistic class were actually just celebrating themselves and their own compassion. Basically, they tricked him. Because, despite all their rhetoric, this lot are the most profoundly prejudiced set of hypocrites you will ever come across.
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