A Singapore resident was lamenting on the current “sentiment” of many Singaporeans on how they look at their country and how they feel for the tiny-state.
“Singaporeans tend to highlight and share all negative news about our country on social media, such as the faulty sprinkler incident at Jewel Changi Airport or how Singapore is the most expensive city to live in,” Calvin Sim Pheng Hoe bewailed.
“Shouldn’t we be sharing more news about how proud we are to have achieved whatever we have today instead of putting our country down? What we have today is really amazing and marvellous, and we are the envy of many other countries,” Calvin added.
“I have been observing that over the past few years, Singaporeans’ pride in the Republic has been diminishing,” and he blamed the continuous rise of social media usage. According to Calvin, it seems many Singaporeans would jump at any chance presented to them to put Singapore down.
“But why, as Singaporeans, do we not pride ourselves on our achievements? We have all contributed to our country’s success and I am proud to be part of this nation and country. Singaporeans should be proud that we have come so far in our journey, but also remind ourselves to be deeply grounded to continue to strive for greater success,” Calvin deplored.
Despite his misgivings though, he is still hopeful that the Singapore spirit will be revived in the near future.
What it means to be Singaporean
Calvin’s question why people are not proud of the country’s achievements should bring back all negative-thinking Singaporeans to that time in 1965 when the country’s one and only strongman said, “We made this country from nothing, from mudflats… But I say to you: Here we make the model multiracial society. This is not a country that belongs to any single community: It belongs to all of us… Over 100 years ago, this was a mudflat, swamp… Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear!”
Or when Mr. Lee Kuan Yew said, “Some people think that just because we are a small place, they can put the screws on us. It is not so easy… If they could have just squeezed us like an orange and squeezed the juice out, I think the juice would have been squeezed out of us… But it was a bit harder, wasn’t it? It was more like the durian. You try and squeeze it, your hand gets hurt.”
In effect, Calvin in asking his questions and in conveying his feelings, he wanted every Singaporean to reflect on the fact that when Singapore became a newly independent country, it was vulnerable because it had no abundant natural resources and was located in an “antagonistic” neighbourhood, with multi-racial individuals as residents who are completely reliant on the outside world for a living.
In addition to the fact that even the water from its taps came from a foreign country. Yet, it found a way to become open and relevant to the world, because the people tried to be exceptionally hard-working, organised and disciplined, and its government exerted much effort to provide a strong leadership in the midst of cultural diversity.
Are these not enough reasons for Singaporeans to be proud of their country?
/TISG