I titled this brief Introduction as ‘The Unquenched Thirst’. Why ‘unquenched’? Can the thirst for justice and equality (the ideals of a functioning democracy) ever be quenched? This is no mere rhetoric. As we see the unfolding and unraveling of the so-called Arab Spring, and as we come to terms with such devastating, transforming events as 9/11, it is inevitable that so much of what is embedded (a post-Han Suyin term) in this book reappears in our consciousness and we cower in fear for we find ourselves in helpless situations or we stride out, determined to do our bit, no matter how small, how insignificant, to contribute to the cause and make a difference. The book touches on topics, issues, challenges and questions that are very much our concern too: sloganizing, galvanizing forces, clamouring for causes, fighting and dying for what we believe to be the Truth. Around us so much waste. Around us so much haste. From the haunting notes of ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ to the gory realism of the numerous battles going on everywhere, we are witnesses to the ongoing struggle between oppression and liberation, between democracy as a political goal to the thousand ways in which democracy is undermined right in front of our eyes. For whatever else we thank our brilliant author, Han Suyin has painted here a canvas so richly disturbing, so powerfully moving and so persuasively eliciting that just to re-read and imaginatively experience what our elders in Singapore and Malaysia lived through is a blessing.
(Prof) Kirpal Singh
Director, Wee Kim Wee Centre
Singapore Management University