A museum of the dead

"We unearthed the Earth and found a dead museum..."
- Judith Huang's The Apocalypse Museum

Hail, young Singaporean poets.

But first, let us talk about death, this Morbid Monday.

Did you know that where C K Tang and Ngee Ann City stands, there used to be burial grounds?

A twist to the shop-till-you-drop idea.

Just imagine, if we were to have a cemetery, a museum of the dead, if you like, in the heart of the city, what would that be like?

I, for one, think it's great.

A museum to commemorate our dead. Our heroes, our fallen comrades. I don't mean a structure like the Civilian War Memorial but a proper resting place with tombstones, exhibits, gift shops.

Ok , maybe not the gift shops.

America has Arlington. Britain has Westminster Abbey. We only have Chua Chu Kang, which now sounds slightly ludicrous, thanks to a contractor in yellow boots.

Think about the day when the great Patriarch of this country makes a graceful exit from the First World to the Next World. Where is he going to go? What are the arrangements going to be like? Will a grateful nation be able to give a proper farewell? Will his resting place accommodate the thousands of grieving schoolchildren paying their annual tributes?

I am sure many will call for His Body to be preserved in state.

Like Lenin and another Great Leader, Kim Il Sung.

We can do with 2 less shopping centers. But we cannot afford to have anything less than a grand institution for the resting place of our Beloved Father.

In the heart of the city, it must lie.

Something to think about. But for now, may that day be far away. I wish our Great Leader and all my readers good health.

And peace.

Again, congratulations, Dawn and Judith.