JBJ - How it should have been

There he stood, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam. Settled in a corner with his back toward the wall, a pile of his self written books neatly piled next to him.

He was a little hunched over, but I have never in the entirety of my life seen a man with a straighter backbone. 

I remember the first time I ever saw Mr Jeyaretnam. It was in the bar room of the Supreme Court, as he sat there sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper. He was oblivious to the going-ons in the bar room, the conversations of the other lawyers.

I had never seen a man more at ease with himself. A quiet confidence cloaked him, as he slowly browsed the news. 

He was very easy to look over, simply because he was so nondescript. But he firmly held my attention. I was thoroughly entranced by this gentleman, his presence so weighty to me. 

I think he noticed me looking at him, as he turned and looked at me, a very slight smile on his face. It was slight, but it was extremely warm. 

I was a law intern then.

He was and always has been to me, an amazing man.

And now, there he stood, an undischarged bankrupt, reduced to peddling his books by the corridors. Oh how it gnawed at my heart, that a man of his pedigree should be reduced to such. 

Many people walked past, none paying him any attention. Some people's eyes widened as they went out of their way to avoid him, knowing full well who he was. 

The gnawing became worse. I felt sick to my stomach at these people's actions. So what if we were a successful society. I saw humans, but I saw not a shred of humanity. 

I walked over to him. 

"Mr Jeyaretnam," I said, as I put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Will you allow me to stand next to you and sell these books with you?"

He stared at me intently. In his eyes I saw a soul that weathered the vicissitudes of life, but a fire that stubbornly burnt, refusing to ever be extinguished.

"Why would you like to do that?" He asked.

"Mr Jeyaretnam, you have dedicated the best days of your life to the country, to the cause you have believed in, and to me there is no greater sacrifice. 

It is sad, the state of affairs we are in now, where if you are not for a cause, then you are by default, against it. 

But you have never bowed your head. You have forged through hellfire and brimstone with your head up high and never once have you compromised on what you believed in despite the challenges that life has thrown at you. 

It is a basic right of any human being to criticize the people they put in power. No government is immune to mistakes. No human, no matter how cerebral, should be spared from scrutiny. One should always be aware that a government is made of people, like you and I, who along with their intelligence and abilities, bring with them their own leanings, inclinations, prejudices and imperfections. They are not machines, they are not free from errors. A government's duty is to its people, and if they should ever get so confortable that they forget that, then it is our job as citizens of this nation to remind them. And nobody should ever take this most fundamental right away from us. That is what I believe, Mr Jeyaretnam.