THE THIN BLUE LINE Daryl Tan ‘14 5.4 million. This figure is the delicate thread tying my Singaporean upbringing with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Approximately the population size of Singapore, it is also the cumulative death toll of the two Congolese Civil Wars, the deadliest conflict since World War 2. Yet, despite the harrowing death toll, the realities of our two nations could not be further apart. In 2012, as M23 rebels surged through the east of the DRC razing my friend’s ancestral home in the process - in Singapore, the most interesting piece of news that year had been the arrest of Pastor Kong Hee of City Harvest. So, imagine my indignation when I only came to learn about the wars and the anteceding Rwandan Genocide during my freshman year in college. Not just at the wanton waste of life but also at my own complacent ignorance. From that point on I vowed to weave this 28
delicate thread, into a robust tapestry composed of a greater understanding of conflict, francophone Africa, and our shared humanity. Thus, in search of a new challenge, I was lucky enough to land an internship at the Congo Research Group during my Sophomore year in college. Since then, I have not looked back. I have spent the better half of my college years working on a range of issues concerning the DR Congo, from interviewing former rebels, to conducting research on Chinese geopolitical interests in Congolese infrastructure, to creating maps of armed groups. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that no one can profess to be an ‘expert’ (and I still do not) in a country that they have never visited. Hence, my thirst to understand eventually led me to undertake a research consultancy in
