The reaction from overseas to the Contemplacion case
raises some questions on whether people here are sometimes
insensiive to the feelings of the less-affluent
I was in the Philippines in mid-February, a month before Flor Contemplacion was hanged and all hell broke loose in the country.
There was no indication then of the storm that was to come. President Ong Teng Chiong was paying a visit at the invitation of Philippine President Fidel Ramos, and ties were at their cordial best.
Along the main streets of Manila, signboards were put up proclaiming mabuhay to Mr Ong and the First Lady. Flags of both countries fluttered under the sun.
The Philippine media gave fairly prominent and positive coverage to the trip, with stories on Singapore's investments in the country.
About the only news item that raised eyebrows, among Singapore and Philippine officials, was a front-page picture caption in The Philippine Star.
It was on a call Mr and Mrs Ong had paid on General and Mrs Ramos. The photographer had clicked his camera just as General Ramos was sitting down. In the photograph, he looked as if he had his head immersed in a bowl of flowers on a table in front.
The caption went: "Simply irresistible ... President Ramos, who cannot resist smelling a bunch of flowers..."
It was a naughty caption designed to make readers laugh, but it was innocent fun. No harm was intended or done.
The five-day trip took us to Manila, Baguio and Cebu. The Singapore delegation was treated with the greatest hospitality, and everyone returned home happy.
When I briefed my editor on the visit, I reported that it went well. "The Filipinos are nice, charming people," I concluded. My editor agreed.
However, the events that unfolded following the hanging have indicated that many Filipinos do not draw that same conclusion about Singaporeans.
Singaporeans have been called all kinds of names -- "scum" and "arrogant" are two that come to mind -- in the same newspapers that only in February indicated that they welcomed Singaporeans.
Has Singapore really, as the Philippine commission on the case concluded, "ceased to be a caring and humane society because of its sudden affluence"?
Whether or not the commission had any business commenting on Singapore society is besides the point here.
The fact that it and so many Philippine commentators, and periodically those from other countries, have drawn such harsh judgements, should be food for though.
Are Singaporeans, generally, an arrogant people?
After all, don't people here have a habit of announcing how successful our system is and in the same breath criticising others for the way they do things?
I am not being unpatriotic, nor indulging in self-flagellation, when I ask these questions.
I acknowledge, wholeheartedly, there are so many things about this country that Singaporeans can justifiably be proud of, from our multi- racialism to tolerance for different religions, low crime rate and an uncorrupt public service.
But in counting their blessings when they compare their lot with others, could Singaporeans be inadvertently insensitive to how they might feel?
I must admit that it is only now, with the dust seemingly settling on the Contemplacion case, that I can be reflective about the whole affair.
Like most Singaporeans, I was outraged when events unfolded last month, and witnessed with increasingly agitation how Singaporeans was being thrashed in the Philippines.
How dare they burn our flag and threaten Singaporeans based there? And the commission's report? The bulk of it was a load of balderdash.
I am still annoyed when I think of all this, and I am still convinced that the Singapore Government was right in not staying the execution.
Having done so would have set an unhealthy precedent. There would be no end to the problems that would have arisen. For example, how long should the stay be? Would Contemplacion have still admited her guilt if she knew her countrymen wanted her to be innocent? The questions go on.
But time has cooled my anger somewhat and I can think more calmly about, and even understand, the Philippines' reaction.
Looking back on the trip in February, I have gathered a faint idea as to how the Filipinos may view Singaporeans. One of my assignments was to interview a Singaporean enrolled at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio, an institution Filipinos hold in high esteem.
He was a confident young man of 23. Was the training tough? he was asked. Standards in Singapore's SAF were much tougher, he replied. The academy was more relaxed. As long as they could shoot and run, it was okay.
Did he have a Filipino girlfriend? "Oh no!", he said promptly, "Singapore girls are the best."
He was just being honest about how he felt, and he had every right to be. But there were, and he must have been aware of this, Filipino information officers around and the interview was held within their earshot.
Should not that young man have been a tad more tactful about his host country? But then, growing up in Singapore where people speak in that brash, confident manner, how could he have known better?
I remember, too, how the press stayed in a small hotel in Baguio which did not have IDD lines.
Overseas calls had to be booked at the reception counter. The rooms did not even have telephones, only an intercom linked to the front desk.
The lack of IDD facilities made it difficult for the press team to transmit stories. There were a lot of heavy sighs and impatient clucking of tongues among us.
Thinking back, I suppose our media guides -- Joseph and Rolly, two friendly and charming young men -- could not have been too happy hearing our complaints. But as they went along trying their best to help us, they never once showed it.
On the night before we left Baguio, we had dinner with the two men at a Chinese restaurant. It was a happy affair, with everyone joking.
Rolly mentioned that he was getting married this year, and was thinking of spending his honeymoon in Singapore.
With all that has happened in the past month, would he still come?
I hope he does, for I believe that despite the Republic's tough public stance on many issues, Singaporeans are a good-hearted, though not perfect, people.
I would like him to find this out for himself.
But I am not optimistic that I will see him here.