A poem about Singapore on fire

By Sunaryono Basuki Ks

Mad Caesar Nero enjoyed the flames of the burning buildings of Rome, reciting his poems of beauty, misery, love and sympathy to helpless people running in different direction trying to save themselves and their possessions. His tears ran down his cheeks while his lips murmured words of poetry. It was a strange excitement he felt; it filled up his heart until he shuddered and cried.

"I cry for my people, my poor people, my miserable people. They have become prosperous under my power, and now they have lost their possessions. Oh, my poor people. I have worked hard to make you prosperous. Oh, but why do you protest against me? Why? Have I wronged you? I have given you food, I have given you opportunities to trade, I have given you freedom to fish in the sea and rivers. Look at the green vineyards that give you the best wine, look at the gardens that give you the best tomatoes."

He lamented the burning town and the panic-stricken people in poetry and music, which he played on his mandolin.

Oh, my people, oh my trouble

Have you ever imagined life is beautiful

So beautiful

When fire is burning

The golden flames

Reach the starry skies

Reflected in your eyes

Caesar never understood why people did not like him, protested against him, said bad things about him. He never understood about blood that runs sufferings around the body, he never understood the viruses that slowly consume people's health. He only understood that he had made Rome a great country, known by everyone in the world. Rome was self-sufficient and had made Nero a king of kings. The Romans had built Hadrians Wall in Britain, roads running from south to north and beautiful canals where ships could travel as far as Lancaster. They spread Roman culture throughout Europe.

"We are a great nation! A great civilized people, the people of culture and art."

A baby cried for her mother's breast, but Caesar did not hear it. He only sang and cried and laughed the night away.

But the Caesar of the modern times did not cry. He only smiled. A very typical smile. When he took over power from King Satyadharma, a foreign political writer wrote about his smile.

At the beginning, everyone was full of hope for a better life. King Satyadharma was overthrown for he was accused of being an authoritarian, too totalitarian, a political dictator who had hand-cuffed human rights. Everyone talked of good things: of a beautiful future, of the rebirth of democracy. For years, Caesar Abdulhasad appeared to dedicate his whole life to his people. He improved the country's economy and encouraged the farmers to increase rice production, so that at one time the country became self-sufficient in rice. Everyone was happy about it. The cost of basic needs were reasonable so many people could save, and many new banks were established.

Caesar was a great ruler. All the lesser kings of the country dedicated their life to him by becoming too loyal. Over-loyalty was the key to permanent power. Once a king criticized him, openly or only by reference, he would be discharged and replaced by a more faithful prince. The country became a country full of apple-polishers.

Later, it became known to some people that King Abdulhasad's grown-up children borrowed money from these banks but never paid it back. Year after year the businesses of Caesar's juniors grew larger and larger. They behaved like their father and liked to use official channels when doing their business. All the lesser kings considered them to be Caesar, or even a figure much greater than Caesar and more frightening than Caesar. They were always welcomed on their business visits to various smaller kingdoms as very distinguished guests. When they wanted the people's land for the sites of their factories or hotels, the kings and their security guards were ready to chase away the people from their farming lands and dwelling places. They were sent to a less fertile land and had to work harder to survive. No one dared to protest or say bad things about the policy. Sengkon was sent to prison when he tried to beg for his right of a piece of land snatched by Caesar. He was accused of being a dissident, and no one had ever followed his example.

It was also a public secret that Caesar was morally not respected. One of his princes had a love affair with a beautiful model. It was considered normal for a prince to have a mistress, but people were surprised to know that this prince shared the same mistress with his brother-in-law. And it was really shocking to know that Caesar, not knowing about this, had also shared the same woman as a mistress. The scandal almost rocked the palace and the kingdom, but Caesar's body guards worked fast. A professional killer was hired to kill this beautiful but miserable woman in a staged robbery.

Every critical citizen felt fed-up with what had been done by Caesar and his cronies. And then, after more than three decades of power, Caesar was overthrown by a movement called people's power. Who was more powerful than the people? The ruler who never hears the voice of his people never hears the voice of God. That was people said.

But Caesar was not shocked. His children weren't shocked either. They said that they already transferred his wealth overseas, and deposited it under a secret name. Caesar himself had long known that one day he would be overthrown by his own people. Long before the day arrived, he already deposited the major share of his money in overseas banks. At a very critical moment -- a few months before his fall -- when the economic crisis began, he tried to overcome this by withdrawing five billion dollars of his money from overseas banks. Some sources said that he used a special airplane to carry that lot. But he realized that good will towards him was running out. The local businessmen, that already heard the rumors, widely circulating abroad, about the coming fall of Caesar, had also already transferred their money to some neighboring countries. The foreign reserves had dried fast from the country, and industry and business was stuck. Thousands of laborers were dismissed and thousands more people lost their businesses in the informal sector.

While people in the streets were crying out for a better life and fighting with anti-demo troops, Caesar stayed in his quiet, peaceful and well-guarded palace, watching five different TV sets switched on simultaneously. As he sat on a luxurious leather sofa made overseas, the large TV screens gave him the best pictures of what was happening around the country. On one screen he could watch a city being destroyed by its own people; people running helter-skelter, carrying small bottles of kerosene or gasoline and burning down any building they came across, throwing Molotov cocktailsat shops and malls.

On the second screen he could see two groups of people attacking each other, armed with daggers, swords, bows and arrows, or even guns. Caesar smiled at the scene.

"Now you know how powerful I was. When I was in power, no mass riots like this ever took place. Now you know that it is not easy to rule this country."

A private guard suddenly entered his room and reported:

"Everything has been done as planned, Sir."

"Good work! I can see it from here," he replied calmly, without even turning his face from the third screen where he could see student demonstrators clashing with anti-demo troops.

On the fourth screen he could see exhausted and hungry women and children's faces: refugees waiting in temporary barracks for a helping hand.

And on the final screen he could see demonstrators from the most western kingdom demanding freedom and a change from kingdom status into a republic.

Caesar, who had been smiling from the beginning, could not resist the bitter humor welling in the bottom of his stomach. For the first time in his life he roared with laughter, his belly shook, his heart beat fast, his hands trembled and he slowly fell into an extremely deep slumber and most beautiful dream, a dream of victory over other peoples' sufferings. Unlike Nero, he never sang lyrics of poetry or lamented over the misfortune of his own people. The guard tried to deliver another message, but there was no sign that he heard it.

Sanggar Bukitmanis, Singaraja, Nov. 27, 1999