Ideals that make us (more than we can be)

On February 22, 2006, at 3.15 pm, one of the founding fathers of our nation drew his last breath. He was 90. I was in the car with my sister heading for a family dinner to celebrate her birthday. I turned up the volume of the radio. Having heard the words used to describe the late Mr. S. Rajaratnam, some continue to resound in my heart. "Man of ideals", "heart", "spirit", "loyal", "deep thinker". Despite not being born in Singapore, he stayed and called it home. When this island was nothing, he believed that someday it would be significant. When this country was just another place, he saw a nation, he saw a people priding themselves as Singaporeans, and this was how he expressed his vision for our nation:

"We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality,

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity

and progress for our nation."

Brief, succinct, idealistic. These are the values that he believed in, birthed from the heart of a man. Stirringly, these words were written in 1966 against a backdrop of heightened communal tension and uncertain survival of an abandoned nation. The Longman dictionary of contemporary English defines ideal as perfect in every way; very suitable; expressing possible perfection which is unlikely to exist in the real world. More aptly in this case, (a belief) in high principles or perfect standards. The word idealistic has too often been associated with foolhardiness. Yet for this man, his comrades, and for this nation, it was instrumental and fundamental in transforming this third world country to a first world nation. Ideals, the next time we are tempted to brush this word aside for what we have always known it for, let us remember that it was the ideals of the founding fathers that gave the heart, soul and values that this nation of Singapore is founded on.

Going back two thousand years, I encounter another set of ideals. Try to imagine this scene depicted in a motion picture where foreign soldiers were harassing a bunch of commoners. Yet in the face of total chaos and outright outrage, He was shouting, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you". Matthew 5:3 - 12 NKJV. Ideals, man live and die for them. Why? I believe it is because we are made for them. We are made out of God's ideals. Creation is God's idea, and human beings are part of that ideal. Although history has proven that we humans are a fallen race. However, His-story has proven that yet there is hope for this fallen race. He paid the price to redeem us to a living hope, one that is found in and built on His ideals. Ideals that express the possibility of a better tomorrow, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". John 10:10 NIV. Ideals that express the possibility of every human being to become a better person, lest we forget, ideally, just like Jesus.

A toast to ideals,
Sv ",+