I had great difficulty getting to sleep last night. So J and I lay in the dark, listening to the night noises outside, and discussing things. In the mornings, we usually discuss politics. I hit my news sources, he hits his, and we share our insights and the latest developments over tea and coffee. At night however, we tend to discuss more personal things, which is much more relaxing that arguing foreign policy in the Middle East or domestic policy in Poland (which will often have us running to gather corroborating references).

J started it all by asking what on earth I meant by including a review of Toer’s The Fugitive on the blog. It had nothing to do with either science-fiction, technology, romance, life in Singapore, or the kids, and it probably wouldn’t garner a single comment. I did it, I told him, because I thought it was important. People tend to think of their own communities as the only ones that can feel happy, sad, betrayed, hurt, torn. I wanted to present a different perspective. Of course it’s coloured by the fact that I come from this locale myself, but it’s vitally important, I said, for people to understand that everyone in the world has the same hopes and fears as everyone else. And exposing Toer’s first work on my blog (as insignificant as it is) was my way of trying to show that … as well as introduce some local writing to the population at large. Toer is dead, but there are many other Asian writers out there and I will review them, and write about them, in the future.

Then morning came, and I went to my friend Maria’s blog, and she had a quiz up: ‘Which Fantasy/Sci-Fi Character Are You?’. And I did it, because I’m a sucker for quizzes, and the answer was personally profound because it encapsulates my entire philosophy so elegantly.

Jean-Luc Picard

An accomplished diplomat who can virtually do no wrong, you sometimes know it is best to rely on the council of others while holding the reins.

[My emphasis follows because, gosh darn, these words have never been more important as they are now:] There are some words which I have known since I was a schoolboy. “With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.” These words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie — as a wisdom, and warning. The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on, we’re all damaged.

Jean-Luc is a character in the Star Trek universe. This The Next Generation fan site has an outline of his career.

Yeah, it may all be pop psychology but, as Maria says, I’ll take it!