Blog Battle Topic for Week 5:
What is most unique to you about Singapore?
www.flagsofworld.com/worldflags/singapore.shtml
Singapore is ... So Singapore.
Typical? No.
Ordinary? Far from it.
Exceptional? I like to think so.
Only true Singaporeans will smile and laugh while reading this entry of mine this time round. Read on fellow Singaporeans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanda_Miss_Joaquim
National Day is coming closer by the day. Soon the whole nation will celebrate its independence. What's so unique about it you may ask. Scroll down further to find the answers.
Singapore officially gained sovereignty on 9 August 1965. Mr Yusof Ishak was sworn in as the first President of Singapore and Mr Lee Kuan Yew, our Prime Minister.
This fledgling nation had to be self-sufficient, and faced problems like mass unemployment, housing shortages, and a dearth of land and natural resources. During Mr Lee Kuan Yew's term as prime minister from 1959 to 1990, his administration curbed widespread unemployment, raised the standard of living, and implemented a large-scale public housing programme. The country's economic infrastructure was developed, the threat of racial tension was curbed, and an independent national defence system, centering around compulsory male military service, was created.
All the above is not what I want to lament about.
Its the manner that we celebrate 9th August each & every year.
On a grand scale each year, the Singapore Combat Engineers organise the NDP, and may I say its execution is not an easy task. They put on display our achievements and accomplishments to fellow Singaporeans and the world. This year will be no mean feat as this year's celebrations will be on a floating platform. A first in this region.
www.ndp.org.sg/index.php?id=1
However, sadly, to some Singaporeans, this annual display have become too routine, monotonous. They described it as a ritual of some sort.
In a National Education project done by Raffles Institution students last year, revealed astonishing results. Armed with recording devices, these students went around Singapore asking citizens on how they felt with the approaching NDP, would they come & watch the parade and after a few days, how they celebrated National Day.
For some who got tickets to the stadium, only came to get the goodie bags, or even worst, sell it on eBay for a few hundred dollars. Shame on them, I say.
Some don't even bother with NDP, why should I bother? Its the same old routine, singing of the anthem, pledge & march past. Even the jets flying by, does the same routine. So boring!! They would rather do something else!
Some just treat 9th August as another chance to go across the causeway and have a short holiday.
All the above are evidence in our uniquely So Singapore behaviour.
But not all of us behave this way, hopefully. For the most of us, it is a time to reflect on our forefathers and their struggles to make Singapore what it is today.
It is a time to come together, to renew our vows for the country, to accept the challenges for the future and to hope for a better world.
I am very proud to be a Singaporean, to raise my family here, to see them grow and prosper. Singaporeans, hold your head up high this 9th August, sing Majulah Singapura to your heart's content, be it at Marina Bay or at home beside your plasma TV, shed a tear if it touches your heart. Be proud fellow Singaporeans, I say. Nothing in this world is as unique as Singapore and its people.
www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/.../
01jul01_photos.html
Celebrate it as it deem fit, with much respect, honour and humility. Celebrate it in your heart. Say gratitude to God, for all the blessings He has bestowed, upon this little island that we call home.
Its people and the way we celebrate our independence, thats what so unique to me.
A place I'd rather be. So uniquely Singapore!
Rosita
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