Skip to main content

Home

Happy Birthday Singapore! Although the National Day hype diminishes as I age, Singapore is too tiny a country to not feel the vibe, especially when you get those roadblocks due to the parade rehearsals in the city, fireworks on Saturdays and of course the aerial flypast. I guess partly the reason why it diminishes is because I'm no longer exposed to what we used to when we were younger. Remember back in primary and secondary school we have the sing-along sessions during assembly? And we would readily sing them? Damn, I miss those mass celebrations that succeeded in building up an atmosphere enough to make you feel you have celebrated an occasion fully. I have to give credits to the National Day songs because most of them, if not all, are really good.

A few days ago, I was present at this YOG event, and they started to play several national day songs. And without fail, I can easily sing the songs without putting in effort to remember the lyrics at all. It's amazing how words to these songs remain etched in some part of my memory. And although time and time again, I do wish that I could stay somewhere else, or when I have sudden urges to get out of the country or that I occasionally question why is it that I'm born a Singaporean, I probably would not have found comfort in anywhere else. Yes we do complain about the weather, the increasing population in an awful small, squeezy country, GST, kiasu-ism, and the string of complaints typically made by Singaporeans, this is home. Most importantly, the people I love are mostly here. And that alone can easily surpass all the complaints above.

So Happy National Day to Singaporeans out there :)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hitam Manis

This is difficult to write, but it's definitely an important one amidst all the conversations we've been having lately. Growing up being brown/Malay wasn't easy, especially when it became ingrained in me that having a darker skin tone by default, is less desired than fairer skin tones. In childhood, I couldn't recall having to endure comments about my skin colour. Thankfully amongst children, these values ascribed to lightness and darkness didn't yet come to the fore. This consciousness became more obvious since secondary school. And it was tough and painful.  I've been in a sports CCA since secondary school and I couldn't really avoid not becoming tanned. What hurts the most was even my peers at that time would make comments about my skin colour without even realising the damage caused from these words. These comments I recall, were sometimes made under the guise of humour. I was called 'budak hitam' (literally means 'black child') and even ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Free

What does it mean to be free? It is to manage expectations and to let life unravel the way it is suppose to. Managing expectations does not equate to minimising responsible behaviour. Such would be impractical as the system of this life runs on the principle of accountability. We are accountable for our own happiness, for our successes, for our future and to a certain extent, the outcome of our decisions and actions. To be accountable means to take charge of our life within our capabilities and the means we have access to. To be accountable is recognising that we are proactive actors in our own lives. And hence to be free is to understand that we are gifted with this free will. And that we exercise our free will properly to make informed choices and to channel our energy for the desired outcome. May or may not happen the way as planned, but the beauty of this is to give it all it, and then to let nature take its course. Because if we don't and we dodge what is to come and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living day-by-day, week-by-week

It has been an incredibly different year, and now we are seeing second waves in many parts of the country. The summer was great while it lasted, and now as I'm writing this, it is a gloomy, cool, rainy season. It's been raining cats and dogs for a week now, so I haven't been stepping out of my house as much. With the surge of cases, there will be stricter measures put in place as well, so it's been difficult to make plans ahead. If it is anything that defines the year, it is really about living life day-by-day, week-by-week. Taking life one step at a time. And despite so, life tries to go by as per normal. And once again I'm feeling another season of uncertainty, lack of motivation for constant self-directed behaviour and keeping up with energy. Maybe it is the turnover of season, with shortening of daylight hours, maybe it's my job, and maybe it is the effects of using social media, making me feel like my simple life is boring and pales in comparison, being awa...
Post a Comment
Read more