Our Little Red Dot

As a guest, I'm very much at ease in Vientiane. I like the food and the generosity of the people whom I've met so far. I enjoy their stories, perspectives and conversation. There's so much to learn on these trips which I otherwise won't see as a normal tourist.

At these work meetings, I truly appreciate how a stronger command of languages could gently ease some of the barriers and baggages that our countries carry in the nature of politics. We could set those aside and genuinely try to understand one another better. We'll not agree on some issues, but we could try to 'get' where the other is coming from.

The main language used is English, of course. But to be able to speak a smattering or at least adequately, a second or third language is priceless. By now, I'm acquainted with my counterparts, but at the start, we were all strangers and it was difficult to carry on an awkward conversation in English at tea or lunch. We can, but it's just....lacking in depth. The last I want to do is to drive home any pre-conceptions or impressions of Singaporeans the counterparts might already have.

Understanding Bahasa (but terrible with the spoken) when our immediate neighbors speak it, clue me in on so many complexities across all levels. Being able to converse in Thai fluently, granted me consideration from my hosts in Vientiane and brought me closer to my Thai counterparts. I can't do Cambodian or Vietnamese beyond the level of greetings, food and directions, but it's enough to break the ice. Alternatively, depending on the age group and luck, I can do rather passable French or Mandarin to both Cambodians and Vietnamese. A pity about Burmese and Tagalog.

At a dinner, as always, we were made to sing a song. Again, we were at a complete loss as to what song to sing. The band, using classical traditional Lao musical instruments, obviously knew all the 'famous' songs of the region and played them well as the counterparts took the microphone. Each country had a noticeable song, i.e. Bengawan Solo, Rasa Sayang, Loy Krathong, etc. When it came to our turn, I was like, shit. The emcee was like, "Just sing! The band will follow!" Seriously? Die lah. Confirm they couldn't do all the songs that rushed to the mind in panic. I wanted to sing Kit Chan's 'Home'. But nobody would know it! I didn't know enough of Chan Mali Chan or Geylang Si Paku Geylang or Di Tanjung Katong; I didn't want to sing those anyway, lest I be embroiled in some battle about copyrights and ownership. I didn't know any other English songs that were non-offensive. I bet the band didn't know how to play John Mayer stuff, not that I could sing it! So like all those Singaporeans who have sung before us at these platforms and meetings, we- 2 Singaporeans, reluctantly siddled to the stage to belt out Teresa Teng's '月亮代表我的心' (The Moon Represents My Heart). *cue poker face

And so, this is my two cents' worth of one facet of the unique geo-political position of Singapore.