So, some "brave" protesters unfurled a banner calling for an end to arms trade between Singapore and Israel.
But I think the far braver thing to do would be to simply cross the border right into the state that openly supports Palestinians, cheers for the attempted Iranian bombing of Israel, holds offices of Hamas and regularly meets with its representatives.
After all, Singapore and Malaysia share a common history, and just like hundreds of thousands of Malaysians work or have even moved into Singapore, the same is possible in the opposite direction.
Just like countries chose their allegiances, so can you.
What you cannot expect is that one country is going to somehow bend to your demands to make it more like the other, especially when it's evident that it is not measurably better in any way.
All countries which support either side have many things in common, and their allegiances are just one manifestation of the many choices they have made.
Israel is supported by the entire West (the US and the EU), or countries like Japan – in essence, the developed, mostly civilised democracies of the world.
Besides Malaysia Palestinians are supported by most other Muslim countries (at least on the surface), including Iran, Turkey or Yemen.
None of them are functioning democracies and they often discriminate non-Muslims by law, creating a de facto apartheid conditions for their own citizens (like the infamous Bumi privileges). They are typically rife with violence, or support it elsewhere, crime, corruption and poverty.
When Singapore became independent against its own will, because UMNO wanted to build a Malay ethnostate, it didn't have armed forces to defend itself. It reached out to India or Egypt, but they both refused. Yeah, the largest Arab state did not provide assistance.
But Israel did.
Singapore owes much of its early security to it and it's not unlikely that if it weren't for Jewish help, the little red dot would no longer be on the map, given how many times its larger neighbours tried to flex their muscles to intimidate it. Fortunately, by then it was ready to take them on - or at least capable of inflicting so much damage that it wasn't worth the risk.
And now, after 60 years, some uneducated kids think they can somehow ignore history because they got upset by something someone posted on social media?
It would be ridiculous if the entire nation was forced to change its course because of some hysterical ignorants. However, those ignorants can simply move to join the group of people who thinks just like them.
All you have to do is cross the border and embrace your new life, with everything else that it brings.
Will you dare?
