POETRY MODULE: MADE OF GOLD

My Notes
STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION OF THE POEM:

The poem begins with a newspaper headline – which sums up the betrayal that the
migrant workers were subjected to.

“The villagers were told that if they put their hands on the walls
of the Tekka market, money will flow out.”
– The Straits Times, 23 Aug 1998

They were evidently lied to. They are gullible victims who believed the outrageous
lies that “money flows out” from the walls of Tekka. This imagery is strikingly fairy-
tale like, which makes it something suspect except by the poor and desperate. The
Straits Times is often held up as a reliable source, and it sets the tone for the rest of
the reality that Alvin Pang wants to hit us with – (i) that we are the ingrate and
complacent Singaporeans who enjoy the fruits of their labour, and then judge them
for being different from us.

The rest of the poem unpacks these two harsh realities about us, from the
perspectives of two speakers – which are quite visibly separate in terms of the form
of the poem. There is a deliberate gap between the two parts. This gap is symbolic,
perhaps of the status or economic class and educational differences of the two
speakers which may never be closed. It is also important to note that the
Singaporean speaker is placed ahead, while the migrant worker is placed behind
(both as a second stanza and also presented not on the same starting point as the
Singaporean speaker. The Singaporean speaker may at best recognise the injustice
suffered by the migrant worker but its voice cannot match the emotions of hurt and
betrayal expressed in the personal recount of the migrant worker – who
experienced first hand his plight.

Yet, despite the separateness, the two speakers’ perspectives combine to

emphasise the ugly truth about their lives in Singapore - unified by the reference to
the walls of Tekka and the perceptions of them.

The lines in the poem do not end neatly and there is no proper rhyme in this poem.
The lines seem to collapse into the next line and this makes the poem difficult to
read. This is an intentional styllistic choice made by the poet, because it causes the
reading the poem to be laboured and not smooth; it highlights the unpleasant
subject and themes in the poem.

The first section is presented in one stanza. The second part howver, which follows
the migrant speaker is broken up into 3 stanzas. This is symbolic, highlighting how
he is broken and fractured, like his hands, his financial situation and his feelings.
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My Notes
ANALYSIS : STANZA 1

The poem begins with “This too is an image of ourselves”, which leads naturally to
the speaker going down a list of points to reflect some disturbing aspects of
Singaporean identity and character. The speaker wants to make it very clear that
these negative aspects (e.g., the exploitation of the workers) are also part of the
Singaporean identity and wants Singaporeans to face this “image” and hopefully
feel compelled to make the necessary changes and improvements.

These disturbing or negative aspects of Singapore’s identity are different from the
lies that have been fed to the migrant workers – that “if they put their hands on the
walls of the Tekka market, money will flow out.” Money is generally considered a
positive thing and walls that produce money is almost magical and enticing/ tempting.
It is an allusion to the idea of abudance or an never-ending supply of wealth.

Instead, here in Stanza 1, when the the speaker alludes to the walls in Tekka, there
is an inclusion of a disturbing detail, that the walls “bleed” money. The use of the
word “bleed” has a negative connotation because bleeding is the draining of a life force,
implying that this promised wealth comes at a very high price, perhaps even the blood
(and sweat) of people.

Note that the streets are lined with gold. This is an allusion to the mythical / historical
Golden City of El-Dorado, which was so wealthy that even the roads were made of gold.
Similarly Singapore has a reputation as a land of opportunity and this has attracted
wave after wave (waves of human migration) to the country. But like the disturbing
image of bleeding walls, the imagery of ‘dusty’ gold streets is jarring/ unpleasant and is
hinting that the country (Singapore) is not without flaws.

The reference to “wave after wave” evokes the idea of the sea that travellers cross and
also conveys how there is the surges of migrants arriving at Singapore’s shores.
However, these migrants who speak different languages are collectively referred to as
a “babel sea”. The word “babel” is made famous by the story of the Tower of Babel; it
explains how when men tried to build a majestic tower that can reach the heavens,
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My Notes
God, concerned that men should not be too arrogant or powerful - lest they become
rebellious, decided to confuse their efforts by making them all speak different
languages. In this poem, “the babel sea” is a whole lot of people who speak different
languages, coming across the sea to reach Singapore – an unfamiliar diverse land where
they can naturally become confused and disconnected.

The word describing the immigrants as “dreamers” is significant. It points to their goals
/ hopes / dreams – the desires that let to them leaving for Singapore in the first place –
the dream of unending wealth as alluded in the Straits Times heading that begins the
poem. A second meaning (literary device - double entendre or pun) also suggests that
these immigrants or dreamers will unfortunately discover a very different and unkind
reality.

The migrants “build our towers” which are tall and steep “like cliffs.” These towers are
our tall buildings, like those found in the Central Business District, which generate
wealth for the Singaporean economy. Like the Towel of Babel they claw against the sky,
in defiance of gravity and aiming towards Heaven or God, a symbol of our human greed
and ego.

The migrants also “build our homes and our temples”, responsible for creating places
for both humans and Gods to live in – enriching our families and spiritual lives. They are
doing such an important job yet we repay their good deeds with evil. The phrase “lead
them to our gods” implies that they are led to their doom, as a sacrifice for the gods.

“Some” are blessed (fortunate) which actually means most are not. The others are not
paid well and learn to “stretch their pay” – which suggests that they make so little
money that what they receive have to be made to last for weeks. The migrants learn to
survive on less and have a difficult existence.

The migrants have to also learn to not flinch when Singapreans look at them “oddly”.
This means that over time, the migrants have just gotten used to the odd looks and
unkind stares. This presents them as powerless because they have to accept being
looked at as if they are ‘strange’ or ‘weird’ and not given any consideration for being
culturally different. Singaporeans are presented as callous, judgemental and
insensitive.

The last line is very powerful because “To eat” is a symbolic image of the food a migrant
works has to put food into his mouth since he needs to live to eat. Eating with his hands
is a cultural idea; it is also a very humbling act to physically use hands to eat. To add to
that, the idea that he has “cracked hands” points towards his hard life, having to work
until his skin is damaged and hurting – just to survive. The migrant works and eats with
his hands, because he is a labourer.

THE SPEAKER: The speaker is a Singaporean who gives a scathing/ fierce criticism of
Singaporeans because of how the migrant workers are treated. He asserts that their
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My Notes
poor treatment reflects badly on us because if we were better/kinder people, the
migrant workers would not endure such hardships or be unappreciated for their
valuable work. The speaker has a good character because he does not blame others but
also shoulders the blame equally because he repeatedly uses the word “our” to make
it known that all Singaporeans are implicated. It is also important that a Singaporean
speaker points to this injustice because it carries more weight when even an ‘insider’
can see and accept what is wrong. The leaves no room for argument or denial.

ANALYSIS: STANZA 2

The stanza begins with “First” which points to not one but a list of negatvie things which
have happened to the migrant worker. The speaker mentions that “they” which in the
context of this poem may mean agents who may be Malaysian or Singaporean “take all
[his] money” which is the first clue that something bad is happening. Having no money
leaves him vulnerable because he now has no means to save himself or escape his
predicament.

Then, he is transported to “JB in [a] lorry” which is a vehicle meant for transporting
goods and animals. This is an uncomfortable and dehumanising experience, which
unfortunately does not end there for the speaker.

He is then trafficked into Singapore in a “tour bus” (literary device – irony). A tour bus
is something tourists ride on comfortably. Ironically he is a tour bus but he is hidden in
the luggage compartment with five other migrants. The speaker expresses his fear and
is shocked that the migrants are shoved in like that. He realised that the agents are
dishonest people but he has discovered this too late.

Ironically while the Singaporean first described the migrants as coming by sea, the
migrant was trafficked into Singapore over land – the Causeway bridge from Johor,
Malaysia.

Analysis : Stanza 3

The speaker “cannot go back” because his family possibly has gone into debt to borrow
money in order to raise the money to get him the opportunity to work in Singapore. He
now owes so much money that the speaker says it is impossible for him to pay off his
debt. He had initially ‘dreamed’ that he would be earning a lot of money when he
arrived in Singapore.

The Agent confiscated his passport so now he has no means of leaving the country,
even if he wanted to. Taking away his passport is an act which also removes his identity
from him, because he has no means of proving his identity.

The agent is the one who dumped him on the streets of Tekka where he presumably
find work as a rubbish collector or cleaner. The word “dump” is repeated twice, first to
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My Notes
decribe him being dumped and how he now cleans the rubbish dumb, which is highly
significant and symbolic – of how he has been treated insignificantly, and doing work
that Singaporeans are unwilling to do. He repeats again (literary device – repetition)
the word, “sometimes” to emphasise that his sleep and meals are not guaranteed.

In Singapore, working in the Tekka area, the migrant worker is deprived of even basic
human needs and rights, like sleep and food. The reader is faced with the stark reality
that this dehumanisation is unbelievable/unacceptable. It causes us to ask: How can
this be happening in a developed country like Singapore?

The reader is presented with his information from many different perspectives, making
it irrefutable.

The final stanza presents the reflection of the migrant worker as he registers the full
impact of his unwise, rash or gulllible decision to come to Singapore to work. At the
end, he says, “This all I got” despite woring hard and a good length of time. His words
ironically convey that he achieved little after all that scarifice – leaving his home
country, taking risks, and working hard. The unfairness of the situation hits hard and he
is regretful. The truth that “The walls of Tekka/ not made of gold” is his testimony of
the real Singapore and this makes us feel ashamed and compelled to do better.

THE SPEAKER: He uses simple vocabulary and poor grammar, which makes it feel like
we are listening to the real voice of a migrant worker – as he recounts his story. His
voice makes his situation real and the issue of mistreatment compelling. He is not just
a statistic and the reader hears his ‘voice’ which is moving and impactful.
POETRY MODULE: MADE OF GOLD