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The JOURNEY
The
JOURNEY
began by listening
We were listening to the young; listening to the old
Listening to politicians, retirees, shopkeepers, lawyers,
fishermen, craftsmen, businessmen, farmers, planters,
managers, teachers and many others
Listening to those who struggle to remember
and to countless more who dare not
SPEAK
We began by listening to the
VOICES
of ordinary people
We listened to the city’s streets
as we were driving alone at night, reminiscing the good old days
searching out hidden and abandoned alleyways
LISTENED
to houses, shophouses, mansion, ruins and cemeteries
Even to the murmurs and whispers of empty spaces
We listened at every turn, at every step
To the living and to the dead. The past and the present
In the hope the story of
EXTRAORDINARY
places and its people
would be told
And we
HEARD
them speak
Our aim is to restore our
SOUL
, to reignite our local sentiments
And we shall let the process decide the outcome
Let it shaped by
DISCOVERIES
and the stories our place may share
Let our place speak first, for she has much to tell
When we embarked on this journey, we could not have foreseen
the immensity of the task ahead
It became a chase of elusive shadows,
or the wait for a statue to speak
It was a task made infinitely rewarding by our place’s generosity
and her
OPENNESS
to our inquisitive journey of rediscovering
We are dispiritingly painful by our place’s recklessness
with her past
Our parallel imagination thus defined the process
and justified the effort in attempting to
REVIVE
our place for sustainable future
We are
INSPIRED
by the experience
of discovery – of personal stories,
aspirations of our dreamers, innocent faith of our young,
untold events and vanished places;
and the experience of observing our place
with glorious
INHERITANCE
on the path to self-decline
As our place spoke, lives were revealed and history unfolded
We
HEARD
proud stories, and melancholy tales
Whispers of
HOPE
and murmurs of despair
Dreams and nightmares. Laughters and tears
We
DISCOVERED
both a fascination with and a fear of the past
A past
TREASURED
by some
As we dug deeper for answers, more questions emerged
Our place challenged us to
RETRACE
our soul, recover her memory,
restore her confidence, and revive the voices of her people
In our quest for renewed
GLORY
, we need the enthusiatic,
the believer, and the go-getter,
those who are willing to put their shoulder to the plough,
to go through the grind,
to strive wholeheartedly for the good of our place
The predicament signs are clear, the trend is unmistakable
In little over a decade – the course of this journey,
our place continues to evolve away from her true self;
changing beyond
RECOGNITION
Indeed, the peril faced by our place disheartens us,
but also urged us on
Let us as Place Champions
JOIN
our hands and our hearts
to create a sustainable place for our
FUTURE
generations
Our place
BECKONS
us with true potential and we must not fail her
Let us, the sons and daughters of our place; our hearts stirred
and rekindle our passion for regenerating our place
The
JOURNEY
of our soul and legacy has yet to end
On behalf of all
PLACE CHAMPIONS