Son: My language is home. And it’s not here. As I look at the dark sky intermittently set afire with colourful and rather dangerous fireworks, I realise… this man is right. Why would I ever want to leave my father here?

Dad, you told me little about partition. But when I googled, I realised that about 15 million men, women and children had to uproot, crossing borders, to regions completely foreign to them. Whether they were Muslims or Hindus, their true identity, their true home, was where they were born, where their ancestors were. But, as you said, all that is unnecessary history.

Act 2, Scene 3

Mrs Tan: So you left… went overseas. Broke all ties. Started writing about freedom and injustice.

Roshni: I wasn’t writing about my family.

Mrs Tan: Weren’t you?

Roshni: No. I was writing about society, the repression…

Mrs Tan: From your family…

Roshni: Repression comes in all forms. It can be the country you live in or the family you’re born into.

Chapter Three: Kadambari

Shankara: As soon as my mother steps foot on Radha Kund she knows she is home. She goes to the edge of the Kund and splashes water on her face and head. She cannot describe the joy that she feels. Every morning and evening she sits by the Kund and has an inner conversation with her beloved Radha. One day, deep in meditation, she sings a bhajan. When she opens her eyes, she sees her Radha. Radha is dancing and invites her to dance. Savitri leaves her body at the Lotus Feet of her beloved Radha who embraces her and rocks her back and forth. Back and forth.

(Silence.  Then suddenly.  Heavy tremor.  They all fall all over the place, screaming and shouting.)



KW:  They are digging nearer and nearer.  Soon, soon...everything will be over.



R:  Everything is not going to be over.



J:  We will all die again

R:  No, we won't!



J & KW:  Yes, we will.  (They scream and shout)



R:  Wait, listen!  Look, they can do whatever they want.  The land will change, the tombstones will be thrown away, but they cannot touch us. They cannot do anything to us. (pause)  We will always be here.  This is our home.

Act 1, Scene 2

Yati: Since how long you smoke?

Radha: Since the pain started. Even before I came here. I need it. My body needs it [she giggles].

Yati: But it is wrong.

Radha: Who says?

Yati: It’s illegal.

Radha: Illegal doesn’t mean wrong… just illegal.

Yati: But this is Singapore! [slight pause] Can I have a puff?

Marzuki: I was detained without trial. Now even my family finds me guilty.

Juliana: You’re not the only guilty one in this family.

Kartini: I think that’s meant for me. Don’t cry for her Singapura. She’s on her way to the top.

Marzuki: I was tortured. I was abused.

Juliana: You moan about torture, abuse. You claim innocence. You want to be involved in politics, fine. Be involved. But you have to choose whose side you’re on. If you’re on the other team, then have the intelligence to know that you WILL be abused, sued, slandered, trampled on and dumped in the gutter. No one will care. Not even on your deathbed. And the truth, I mean, YOUR truth, will never see the light of day!

Marzuki: So you can choose to arrest and detain people as you wish? First you called them Communists, then you called them Marxists. Now you’re calling them Terrorists. Anytime you’re not happy with someone, you just lock them up? You don’t care what happens to their families?

Kartini: As if you cared about what happened to ‘your family’.

Marzuki: Where is the compassion?

Kartini: Where is compassion when you’re running a country. Or a family. I have compassion when I’m growing my garden.

Juliana: What do you do to weeds?

Kartini: I kill them. [Laughs] Touché.

Marzuki: When I reached the gantry, I saw the director. Hello, Sir! Thank you! My family is waiting for me. He laughed.

Director: Mr. Mazuki, this is not a farewell. You are not rehabilitated. Are you ready to confess now?

Marzuki: Confess? I laughed. You said I can go home. My family is out there. Look at them Sir…they are waiting for me. I tried to leave but he stopped me.

Director: You think we will release you when you are still a threat to national security? Confess now and you can go. Sigh here. Just sign here.

Marzuki: I took his pen. I’ll sign, I’ll confess…I’ll do anything. Please just let me go. But I couldn’t. My hand didn’t move. I couldn’t sign. I couldn’t confess to something I wasn’t.

Portraits II (A Picture of Innocence)

Fighting by Alfian Sa'at
Our Journey Home by Musa Fazal
Wonderful Baby by Phua Mei Pin

Act Three

The foundation of a society is based on law and order. To achieve order—political order, social order, economic order—we must be mindful, not rash. We must stick to the status quo. A stable marriage and a stable family are the cornerstone of a stable society. What lesson have you learnt? What lesson have you all learnt?

Reporter: It started as a simple school project on National Education. But now, several students from Tanjong Pagar Secondary School may face possible expulsion. According to reports, these students were tasked to create projects based on issues they find relevant to their generation. However, after several complains from the public and parents, an inquiry has been set up.