CMIO? I'd rather, OIMC

Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others? I’ve come across the acronym for it quite a few times, CMIO. ‘What nonsense?’, i thought. Even in an acronym, the Chinese are given prominence. And they talk about ‘harmony’, which seems to be everyone getting along whilst knowing their racially ordered place. Unacceptable.

What does CMIO mean in essence?



C: Significance by Numbers,
M: significance by Originality,
I: insignificant because of lesser numbers-cum-non-originality,
and,
O: ‘God knows, all we know is that they aren’t majority what!'

The order, ‘CMIO’, basically maintains the significance of respective races along the lines defined above and sets the path for the assimilation of all below C to C. I always baulk whenever I come across this acronym in sight or sound as it comes across as a subconscious and arrogant assertion of the significance of the Chinese simply because of numbers. I often find it ironical that the chinese value significance by numbers on the one hand, whilst lauding the achievements of a singular man, Lee Kuan Yew. I wonder how many Chinese appreciate the significance of this contradiction and how it indicates some gross perspectival deficiency on their part.

What the Chinese never got is that the essence of democracy lies in the valuation of the significance of the singular individual. However, by ordering groups according to the aforecited criteria, the significance of the singular individual is cast aside and democracy is immediately undone. What comes thereafter is what may be termed, a 'fascist democracy' where democracy is appreciated insofar as it delivers the greatest benefits to a majority defined along 'racial' lines - hence, my assertion, on the basis of overwhelming evidence, that the singaporean oppositional sector is a pro-C enterprise.

I’m all for getting rid of this racial classification thing. But firstly, we need to pursue a course of Egalitarian Multiculturalism. This refers to equal respect, prominence, and appreciation given to all cultures. This is to promote cross-culturalism whereby fusion results through the dialectical interaction between various cultures.

It is only than that we can pursue with a final course of getting rid of archaic classifications. If these steps are not followed, what might happen, as it already has, is that MIO is assimilated to C. Thereafter, moving on to casting aside racial classification is akin to claiming the ascendancy of one over all and the dilution of all difference in favour of the one. (which has also come to pass, thanks to the self-absorption of the 'opposition'.)

The point here is simple enough. When we put the least first, the criteria by which we contradistinguish the 'least' and the 'most' is displaced by a valuation of even the single individual as significant as the whole. In that, we install a firm and true foundation for democracy. It is only then that other social evils, such as the death penalty, gender discrimination, the lack of eco-consciousness, et cetera, will gain even more support amongst a people who would have thus be trained to appreciate sentience in itself.


a2,

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