Happy 43rd National Day___Saturday, August 09, 2008
Today, Singapore celebrates 43 years of independence. This is a day that marks her continued growth, maturity, and strength. A day where Singaporeans remind themselves of the sacrifices made by our hardworking ancestors and renew our commitments to protect the varied interests of our homeland.
We have come a long way from a tiny fishing village, to transform into an urbanised city state. Along the way, we encountered many problems such as our weak economy, racial riots and shortage of water resources. Older Singaporeans would vividly remember the days where they had to work long hours under the hot scorching sun in order to earn miserable wages that could scarcely feed their families. They would also be able to recall the terrifying images of the conflicts between different racial groups and the bloody fights that ensued. But such problems do not exist anymore. For that, we have to thank our government and leaders who exercised vision and strong leadership as well as those followers who believed in the leaders' audacious dreams. With their hearts and souls, they helped to create a better future for the later generations. A future characterised by peace, prosperity and progress, which we now enjoy.
Although Singapore is currently doing very well, there are still many daunting challenges ahead.
There is the dreaded brain drain, with talents leaving Singapore's shores for other 'greener' pastures. It is often emphasised by national leaders that Singapore has no natural resources, thus making its human resource the sole driving force behind its success. However, with increased competition for skilled labour, Singapore is losing a significant percentage of its "brains" to other countries and this would adversely affect the future of Singapore. Even though we try to compensate this problem by attracting some overseas talents too, it is not entirely effective as it raise another problem- the abuse of Singapore as an utilitarian platform. Perhaps many of these overseas talents (including students) are only using Singapore to gain access into other desired countries, and hence the option of attracting other talents would not be a viable long-term solution to imminent talent crisis in Singapore.
An aging population and related socioeconomic problems would also be a potential stumbling block for Singapore. It remains unclear whether Singapore is well prepared for the silver population but news of increased suicide rates of the elderly people will surely discourage policy planners. Then there is the lack of Singaporean identity resulting in apathy and lack of patriotism. It would be extremely negative to call broken forms of language (Singlish) or lack of civil manners (kiasu-ism) as parts of Singaporean identity but this is often the most cited answer from Singaporeans. Perhaps we could also take a lesson from the PRCs regarding patriotism, after witnessing how its citizens protected their country amidst criticsims during the Olympic torch-run.
Of course, Singaporeans have nothing to worry. PAP will DEFINITELY have solutions to all the problems mentioned above. RIGHT? RIGHT? Okay lah, let's not worry awready and go see some fireworks to cheer us up.
About the writer:
I am born and bred in Singapore. I love my country very much but there is no national flag hanging outside my HDB flat. I am not going to the NDP parade because I am poor and cannot afford the exorbitant prices of the tickets as sold in eBay. The last time I sang "Majulah Singapura" and recited the pledge was on the last day of flag raising ceremony in JC. Nowadays, I wear 2 green Singapura epaulettes on my shoulders (for Monday - Friday) but I would preferred it to have some traces of gold.
