Literature

Decoding Boey Kim Cheng’s “The Planners”

The Planners is a short but powerful poem by Boey Kim Cheng. In it, he discusses the increasing modernisation of Singapore at the hands of a few “planners”. These planners are figures of authority, who are contemptuously referred to as “they” throughout the poem, yet their true identities remain ambiguous. Throughout the poem, it is evident that buildings and monuments that to Cheng stand as pillars of tradition and culture are being destroyed by the planners, who view them as “blemishes of the past to be erased”. Thus, The Planners captures Cheng’s last cry for the old buildings, great monuments and local architecture that is being replaced. For him, Singapore is losing its culture and tradition to perfectly aligned buildings, road, bridges all “in the grace of mathematics”.

Decoding the aim of the planners

Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis. They have the means.
They have it all so it will not hurt,
So history is new again…
The drilling goes right through
the fossils of last century.

It is evident through this stanza that the planners are not only people with power and authority but are also masters of manipulation. By building a focus on the need for industrialisation, growth and modernity, the planners are to convince the general public into complying with their ideals of success. The public is coaxed into believing that this development will bring more jobs, aesthetically pleasing and clean areas residential areas and prosperity for the nation.

In turn, these ideas hide the true intention which is the destruction of the country’s culture, heritage and traditions and people are made to consume rational thought as opposed to a fixation with the past. The malicious intent behind this increasing industrialisation, however, is that once all individuality is lost, it would be easier to force people into the capitalistic ideas of success and growth. This allows the rich to get richer while exploiting the poor.

Instead of receiving economic prosperity, the people, in turn, realise that the value of their work has decreased with their loss of uniqueness and respect for tradition. Hence, under the garb of economic prosperity, the planners are able to manipulate the public into replacing pillars of tradition with pillars of capitalism.

Entering the medical world

Words like anaesthesia, amnesia and hypnosis refer to the planners’ manipulation of the public. The term anaesthesia explains that people are made to numb to what they are losing. By increasing their fixation with what is rational, the planners are able to quickly bring their plans to life. Cheng couples this term with the term amnesia. With the reconstruction of monuments and old heritage, the planners are able to make the public forget their old traditions and culture. They are able to control what people do, see and think, which leads Cheng to use the term hypnosis. This refers to the complete eradication of individual thought from the people. They follow the ideas of the planners after their past is completely removed from their lives and surroundings. They are taught a new way of life and the power is within the hands of the planners.

crop doctor with stethoscope preparing for surgery in hospital
Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

Cheng also uses the phrases shinning teeth and gleaming gold to refer to the false image of prosperity that is being created by the planners. He further uses alliteration (like in dental dexterity) to highlight their superficial focus on perfection. This aesthetic beauty where all gaps are plugged and flaws are erased helps the planners build the image of the perfect world.

His use of mathematical imagery similarly also helps him convey the technical jargon that is used to manipulate people. They are made to believe that the planners’ thought process is logic and well-thought-out, leading them to develop a false sense of trust and belief.

The beauty in Cheng’s poetry

aerial photography of seashore
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

The poem itself is only three stanzas and twenty-three lines long but, in it, Cheng intertwines two completely separate images. The first that is filled with technical medical and mathematical jargon and the other that uses images of nature and life. He states that Even the sea draws back/ and the skies surrender, showcasing that even the sea and skies stand in horror of what is happening. This juxtaposition of the opposing binaries- the artificial against the natural, makes it evident that his beliefs completely contrast the beliefs that the planners uphold.

Cheng’s poem is also presented as a warning. He echoes the words of Winston Churchill in the idea that-

Those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat it.