On National Day 2022.
Started the day by supporting a local art show, Merchant of Singapore, at National Museum. It was by Vignesh, Darren and Muz Ghaz. Anyways, it was amazing, they did a Participatory Theatre piece where each audience is given a colour-coded character. The audience assumes the roles of the lesser-known pioneers of Singapore and have our own profile and dialogues too. Then we are tasked to do simple things like carrying the gunny sacks, to follow, and to interact with the actors. The gist is about pioneers laying the foundation of economic and social infrastructures in Singapore. This is very much in line with National Day. In the end, we've built a nation with our hands, the toil of people from a dozen land.
Coming from an immigrant myself, I truly appreciate and loved whatever this country has provided. It's intricate history, its miracle, and its progress are astonishing! This year I view National Day with an even deeper layer after watching Wild Rice's "Don't call him Mr. Mari Kita". It was about Zubir Said, the composer of the National Anthem. Amazing how much an "immigrant" contributed to this, Zubir Said dedicated his life for the better of this country despite all odds, it was so sad especially when his songs were lost during the separation of singapore-malaya, his fame faded so much that he was left with $20k on his death, and only to be raise on the pedestal loooong after his death as a National Hero.
His resilience finally got his father to reconcile with him at 101yo at padang, upon the broadcast of Majulah Singapura. Through his songs, his merantau spirit resonates through every key every melody every words in his lyrics. Through the development stage of SG, Zubir Said saw the rise and fall during the Golden Age of SG Cinema with Shaw and Cathay. But his legacy goes on in his last 20 years as a music and life teacher, to encourage the young to pursue their dreams whilst not forgetting their roots and with the right values, and wishing them divine blessings, Semoga Bahagia!
"Capailah lekas cita-cita pemudi-pemuda, Supaya kita ada harga di mata dunia." - Semoga Bahagia
Work towards your dreams, swiftly, my youths, so that we would find our worth in the eyes of the world! This line was soooooo inspirational, which is after all my passion for aggrandizing the Singapore story not only to tourists but to locals too. At the end of my life, no matter how small, how insignificant it may be, as long as 1 soul has understood and appreciated the national story of this little red dot, I guess I am contented, I guess I have proven my worth on this land.
"Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung" - 1984, Zubir Said
You should hold up the sky of the land where you live. That's what I believe. It's normal for a "foreigner" to view this country in a more positive light than the born and bred. But that's not enough for me. I really wanted to put forth the idea that this is not a perfect living but a very very very consistent effort to improve the lives of every soul in this land. As long as everyone works hard, everyone contributes, there's something for everyone. When housing, retirement and healthcare are planned, there's room for so much possibilities, so much passion stories. This is a country where no academia can pinpoint our system, as our CPF is alike socialist, our sovereignty is alike republic, our politics is alike democracy, our government is alike dictatorship, our progress is alike meritocracy, our economy is rather capitalistic, our policing systems especially to the oppositions is rather totalitarian, our borders are very much globalised, but it's all these that make up the unique jigsaw of what Singapore is today.
The Building of a Nation like Singapore is never easy, especially with land scarcity. To balance 5.8mil people into 15% of 735sqkm. Considering the needs of defence, of water security, of food security, of housing, of healthcare, of industries on the same piece of land. Then have to manage the neutrality of global politics, aware of global superpowers and happenings, with increased woke-ism, and individual radicalized terrorism threats, and virtual bullies, loud empty vessels, all these as external challenges. Internal challenges would include mental health, and sustainability, and wellbeing, and culture, and ageing population. Not to mention fake news, scam crimes, white collar crimes, blinded rebels. Also on the land utilisation and its environmental social economical impacts. Then infrastructural, the MRTs, the 140m underground labyrinth, the utility, the energy, the waste. How about the vanishing heritage, and have to invent and reinvent culture, of a global hub thats approved by East and West. Yet at the same time have to look at innovations, opportunities, nurture the young, industry 5.0 workers, forward looking and quality education, technology advancement, shortage of manpower, retaining local talents, looking into supporting arts economy. If all these comes easy to manage for u then please write in and make the difference you want to see for our homeland.
So tilted by the same joke every year. Fireworks are a celebratory display of our progress, our resilience and our pride as a nation, what is a 20 million to mark this day of excellence over 10 billion worth of tax revenue. Then proceed to compare the scale of our fireworks to Japan and Dubai and China and all those countries spending even more money on them. JOKE! One of the lowest tax in the world, do you really think tax collected from your GST, from your personal income, amounts to anything concrete? Where do you think the money needed for the grants, and the covid reliefs, and the infrastructures like MRTs and sheltered walkways and new facilities and integrated urban planning, and visionary structures, and subsidies, all these takes a whole lot of money than that puny amount you contributed, at least for the large chunk of middle classes. If you're so good at managing your money then great, teach every soul in this land and then there's no need for government intervention, perfect system where every soul strives to always produce more and more only to be evenly contributed to everyone else, and no one will game the system of to eat snake cuz everyone so smart so rational so in equilibrium no need for prisoner dilemma no need for law and order cuz everyone is thinking for everyone. Wow. How wonderfully unrealistic yea?
So to those who knows nothing but to complain, that isn't a National Identity that's glamourous to proclaim. being cynical and skeptic about everything the nation does, only to be reduced into malice propaganda and brainwashing nationalism, are like yeast of society, spoiling the good name we have worked our blood sweat tears to build. Think of the sacrifices of our forefathers, the trailblazing stories, the unjust, the unheard, the unappreciated lot of people to make Singapore what it is today. All these, because we can always do better. Stop judging the past with our current moral standards, stop comparing every aspect of the nation to the bests of the world, we are not perfect, but let's make progress by contributing ideas and to work on things that makes a different, than empty protests and mere noise. Be better.
