The crowd resumed their bleacher seats with that loud, peculiar rustle emitted by tons of moving human flesh. They smelled of sassafras and suntan oil and snow cones. Suvendra lifted her binoculars, scanning the bulletproof glass of the celebrity box. "Now comes the big speech," she told Laura.
"He may start with the space launch, but shall end with the
Grenada crisis, as usual. You could be taking the measure of this fellow."
"Right." Laura clicked on her little tape deck.
They turned and stared expectantly at the video screen.
The prime minister rose, carelessly tucking his shades into his suit pocket. He gripped the edge of the podium with both hands, leaning forward, chin tilted, shoulders tense.
A tight, attentive silence seized the crowd. The woman next to Laura, a Chinese matron in stretch pants and straw hat, clamped her knees together nervously and jammed her hands in her lap. The guy eating sunflower seeds set his bag between his feet.
Closeup. The prime minister's head and shoulders loomed thirty feet high on the video board. A silkily amplified voice, smooth and intimate, rang from the elaborate P.A. system.
"My dear fellow citizens," Kim said.
Suvendra whispered hastily. "This shall be major, eh, definitely!" Sunflower Seeds hissed for silence.
"In the days of our grandparents," Kim intoned, "Ameri- cans visited the moon. At this moment, an antique space station from the Socialist Bloc still circles our Earth.
"Yet until today, the greatest -adventure of humanity has languished. The power brokers outside our borders are no longer interested in new frontiers. The globalists have stifled these ideals. Their clumsy, ancient space rockets still mimic the nuclear missiles with which they once threatened the planet.
"--`But ladies and gentlemen-fellow citizens-today I can stand before you and tell you that the world did not reckon with the vision of Singapore!"
(Frantic applause. The prime minister waited, smiling. He lifted a hand. Silence.)
"The orbital flight of Captain Yong-Joo is the greatest space achievement of our era. His feat proves to all that our republic now owns the most advanced launch technology on
Earth. Technology that is clean, swift, and efficient-based on modem breakthroughs in superconductivity and tunable lasers. Innovations that other nations seem unable to achieve-or even to imagine."
(Wry smile from Kim. Fierce cries of glee from the sixty thousand.)
"Today, men and women around the world turn their eyes to Singapore. They are bewildered by the magnitude of our achievement-a cold fact that puts the lie to years of globalist slander. They wonder how our city of four million souls has triumphed where continental nations have failed.
"But our success is not a secret. It -was inherent in our very destiny as a nation. Our island is lovely-but cannot feed us.
For two centuries, we of the Lion City have earned every mouthful of rice by our own wits."
(A stern frown on the enormous video-board face. Excited ripples through the crowd.)
"This struggle gave us strength. Harsh necessity forced
Singapore to shoulder the burden of excellence. Since Merdeka, we have matched the achievements of the developed world- and surpassed them. There has never been room here for sloth or corruption. Yet while. we forged ahead, those vices have eaten into the very core of global culture."
(A gleam of teeth-almost a sneer.)
"Today the American giant slumbers-its Government re- duced to a televised parody. Today, the Socialist Bloc pur- sues its hollow dreams of consumer avarice. Even the once-mighty Japanese have grown cautious and soft.
"Today, under the malignant spell of the Vienna Conven- tion, the world slides steadily toward gray mediocrity.
"But the flight of Captain Yong-Joo marks a turning point.
Today our historic struggle enters a new phase-for stakes higher than any we have faced before.
"Empires have always sought to dominate this island. We fought Japanese oppressors through three merciless years of occupation. We sent the British imperialists packing, back to their European decay. Chinese communism, and Malaysian treachery, sought to subvert us, without success.
"And today, at, this very moment, the globalist media net seethes with propaganda, targeted against our island."
(Laura shivered in the balmy tropic air.)
"Tariffs are raised-export quotas imposed on our products- conspiracies launched against our pioneering industries by foreign multinationals. Why? What have we done to deserve such treatment?
"The answer is simple. We have beaten them on their own ground. We have succeeded where the globalists have failed!"
(His hand cut the air with a sudden flash of cuff link.)
"Travel through any other developed nation in the world today! You will find laziness, decay, and cynicism. Every- where, an abdication of the pioneering spirit. Streets littered with trash, factories eaten by rust. Men and women aban- doned to useless lives on the dole queue. Artists and intellec- tuals, without goals or purpose, playing empty games of listless alienation. And everywhere the numbing web of one- world propaganda.
"The regime of Gray Culture stops at nothing to defend, and extend, its status quo. Gray Culture cannot fairly match the unleashed vigor of Singapore's free competition. So they pretend to despise our genius, our daring. We live in a world of Luddites, who give billions to preserve ugly jungle wilderness-but nothing for the highest aspirations of humanity.
"Lulled by the empty promise of security, the world out- side our borders is falling asleep.
"It is an ugly prospect. Yet there is hope. For Singapore today is alive and awake as no society has ever been before.
"My fellow citizens-Singapore will no longer accept an imposed and minor role in the world's periphery. Our Lion
City is no one's backyard, no one's puppet state! This is an
Information Era, and our lack of territory-mere topsoil-no longer restrains us. In a world slipping into medieval slum- ber, our Singapore is the potential center of a renaissance!"
(The woman in stretch pants clutched her husband's hand.)
"I have risen before you today to tell you that a battle is coming-a struggle for the soul of civilization. Our Singapore will lead that battle! And we will win it!"
(Frenzied applause. Throughout the stadium, men and women-Party cadres perhaps?-leapt to their feet. Catching the cue, the entire crowd rose in surges. Laura and Suvendra stood, not wanting to be conspicuous. Shouts died down, and the stadium rang with cadenced applause.)
("He's nasty," Laura muttered. Suvendra nodded, pretending to clap.)
"Dear ladies and gentlemen," the prime minister murmured. (The crowd settled back like angry surf.)
"We have never been a people of complacency. We
Singaporeans. have never abandoned our wise tradition of universal military service. Today we profit by that long sacri- fice of time and effort. Our small but highly advanced armed forces now rank with the finest in the modern world. Our adversaries have threatened and blustered for years, but they dare not trifle with Fortress Singapore. They know very well that our Rapid Deployment Forces can carry swift, surgical retribution to any corner of the globe!
"So the battle we face will be subtle, without clear bound- aries. It will challenge our will, our independence, our traditions-our very survival as a people.
"The first skirmish is already upon us. I refer to the recent terrorist atrocity against the Caribbean island of Grenada.
"The Grenadian government-I use the term loosely ..."
(A tension-relieving burst of laughter.)
"Grenada has publicly alleged that certain elements in
Singapore bear responsibility for this attack. I have called on
Parliament to conduct a thorough and public investigation of the affair. At present, dear ladies and gentlemen, I cannot comment on this matter fully. I will not prejudice the investi- gation, nor will I endanger our vital intelligence sources.