Underneath A Sky Of Red

“Peace is the wool pulled over our eyes so we can all work towards our ideals of prosperity and progress. The truth is there has always been war, even during times of prosperity and progress. There has always been war… (We) just refuse to look because then we feel guilty about buying our Nike shoes and Ikea sofas while children lose their lives to mines and artillery fire. I thank the body for giving me the Prize, but the fact that I won says everything: these days, taking my finger off the nuclear button if only for a week, can be considered an act of peace. Years down the road, it will be someone else’s finger, but the same damned button. There can be no peace until we remove the button until we dismantle the triggers until we melt down the swords. Until we agree collectively that our species has no need for bullets and bombs.” —President Oleg Kerzhakov of Russia Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, 15th October 2033

- Suffian Hakim

“ DO YOU BELIEVE IN PROPHECIES ? ” asked Lestari.

“No,” David said flatly to his wife as they emerged from the cooling thicket at the foot of Mount Faber.

“I was just thinking about something I read in the news a long time ago. The writer posited that the saviour of humanity will come from one of the neutral regions, nations that were happy not to hold hard power, and worked on cooperation rather than domination. I was just thinking that Singapore was one of those nations. The saviour of humanity could come from among us.”

“I would hardly call that a prophecy, sayang,” said David. “That sounds more like the desperate scribbles of a journalist grasping at the last strands of civilisation. This is it. This is the new normal. This is us, for the rest of our lives. What is there to save?”

Eventually, they reached the ruins of what was once the harbour front.

From there, they could also see the island of Sentosa. There was clearly life there. But more than that: there was clearly order and authority. There were high ramparts manned by soldiers in uniform. A single helicopter—none of them have seen one of those in over a decade—hovered above the sea between the mainland and the island. The fact they could do that suggested reserves of energy.