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1996 Mr Seah's will
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On the lower front page of the Straits Times of Dec 13, 1996 was an article
about judicial proceedings to settle the will of Mr Seah Liang Seah, 71 years
after his death in 1925. It took so long because he inserted a clause which said
that the assets could not be distributed to his heirs until 21 years after the
death of the last surviving child of King George V.
Who? would be the reaction of most Singaporeans reading that article. Well, George V was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, her Territories and her Dominions, Emperor of India, Defender of the Faith, 1910-1936, and it is believed that Mr Seah intended the clause as a tribute to the monarch. Those were different times then. The British Empire was roughly at its apogee, the largest empire humankind has ever known; wide swathes of the map were coloured pink. Singapore was a Crown Colony ruled by governors-general with feathers in their helmets, and nothing, nothing, looked like changing anytime soon. Mr Seah was a successful trader, handling spices among other goods -- remember the centuries-old term for the this part of the world, "The Spice Islands"? -- and he was also a political leader for the Chinese Community in the early 1900's. He was a loyal British subject, and as reported by the Straits Times, was involved in various activities to promote the British monarchy, including putting up a statue of Queen Victoria. Hence the quirky will, which had to wait 21 years after the death in 1974 of the Duke of Gloucester, King George's last surviving child. Reading that article reminded me of my father's own quirkiness. Whenever Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance No.1 is played within earshot, he would go turn up the volume, hold himself upright and sing in a proud voice, "Land of Hope and Glory". True, Elgar's music is genuinely moving (the words were written later by others), but also for my father, the whole thing is wrapped up in fond memories of Empire Day celebrations when he was in school in the early to mid 30's. One must have felt proud to be part of the Greatest and Most Enlightened Empire in the world. That era's gone now. The hollowness and racism of the Empire has been revealed to all. That schoolboy at Empire Day has grown older and seen the horrors of this world. And my father's loyalty has long since been transferred to the Republic of Singapore. Political loyalties are formed from many factors, some sentimental and some functional. A sense of place and of community are often the starting points. But there are also more hard-headed calculations about security, prospects, and fair treatment by the State. I think over the last thirty years, most people who live in Singapore have come to be loyal to this little country, however much our political leaders worry about it. What Singapore lacks from most of her citizens is political affection, for there is a difference between the two. Political affection, unlike political loyalty, is all emotional. It is the stirring of the heart, the mistiness in the eyes, a heady mix of history and idealism, and the crazy impulse to rise and sing "Land of Hope and Glory": Land of Hope and Glory, © Yawning Bread
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