What makes me proud to be a Singaporean?

Many a times I question myself as to why I am still in this small little red dot on the map, what with its overbearing stance on an education based on examinations, soaring GSTs coupled with ministers’ payroll being on the hike and so on and so forth. Why stay here, when there’s greener pastures elsewhere?

But when I sat down and thought about it, I realize that even with such situations present, I have always been proud of Singapore. When I find myself on holiday over at our neighboring countries, I find that deep in my heart, a voice is saying “Walaoeh, why is xxx country like this? Singapore is so much better lor, so clean somemore!” or “Eeeyer! So unsafe man this xxx country. I stand in the middle of the street at 3am back at Singapore, confirm plus chop won’t kena anything except maybe Pontianak as company.”

In the span of less then 50 years, Singapore has fast progressed from a sleeping fishing village into a country where billions of dollars exchange hands every single day, allowing the country to progress at an extraordinary level. Within this time, the government has structured our country in such a way that everything is in order, there was no reason for chaos and we can have our peace.

Some say that our country is ‘too structured’ and that we as Singaporeans are all ‘lifeless drones’ routinely churning money for our multi-billion economy and for ourselves, but hey, if the exhilaration, that feeling of nirvana upon tearing open the wrappings of a new Mango shirt or surfing the internet makes me a ‘lifeless drone’ then so be it! Hahaha!

But seriously, why can’t we be proud of what Singapore can offer us? Our children get to go study their ABCs everyday, we can step outside anytime we want without much risk of getting shot at, we can have access to any information in the world anytime and anywhere, and most of us have a roof over our heads!

In fact, I can safely even add here that we are very much free to choose whatever big life decisions we have. For example, if you are born in one religion, you can pretty much choose to stay or convert if you believe that that religion is not right for you. The government does not force you into certain religions and does not carry out punishments for those who do not carry out certain ‘religious rituals’, unlike certain countries.

Knowing myself, if that scenario really occurs in Singapore, I’d be… erm… let’s say, no longer safe wakakaka.

I am also proud of the fact that in our country, the old and the new are able to stand side by side. Here, western influences are around, but our Asian roots can still be seen. Besides the prominent example of our old and new ministers all having the same idealogy and direction leading to a concise, certain future, a rather simple example would be our building constructions; it is not that hard to find a HDB flat or an office skyscraper erected next to a row of shop houses. This, I feel, provides Singapore with a unique feel and experience to it.

It’s like a spoilt time machine, you know. Press a button, zwingzwingzwing *18th century*. Press another button, zwingzwingzwing, *21st century*. Press another button, zwingzwingKEDEBABO! You get the best of both worlds ahahahhaa!

The same goes for food! Wahahaha, sorry about the pictures overload. I can’t help being over excited when it comes to food (thank God for skinny genes). I tell you, if i could upload all my pictures of food, I’d probably crash your computer hahaha.

In Singapore, you can practically throw a stone out of the window and it will land on a stall selling some kind of food, and less then 10 steps next to that stall you will surely see another food stall selling a totally different kind of food. If that’s not heaven, I don’t know what is. Yum Yum!

And with Halal food joints sprouting all over Singapore, I again have to thank God (and smart businessmen), as dining is never a tough experience. I recall when I was in Bali, almost every stall sells Babi Guling (roasted Pork) and we had to resort to eating fish and chips, Mee Goreng and donuts almost every day. Haha…

As for the skeptics who whine that Singapore is boring,

[ Click on picture to expand ]

I believe that what makes Singapore “boring” is one’s own inability to seek for things to do. See, its not Her, its YOU! WAHAHA! I mean, ok it’s a given that sometimes I too lament that Singapore is so small, that I have run out of exciting things to do. But in the past few weeks, I have proven that as small as Singapore is, She has a lot of surprises up Her sleeves, available only for those who seek.

The map above showed the distance covered by myself and 2 blogger friends in one day, all by foot! The things you can discover when you walk instead of taking a cab everywhere haha. On that day, I went to Fort Caning Park for the first time, went to the Botanic Gardens for the first time, visited the new mall at Chinatown for the first time and experienced MANY other things on the first time.

But the story of my adventures is not what’s supposed to be here, so if you want to know more, you can read about it here :)

For all that it’s worth, I really am proud that I am living in a country recognized by humongous economies (the mention of Singapore appears quite a number of times in the economic-y books I’ve read), that I don’t wake up to the sounds of bombings, that our public toilets are spankin’ clean, that I could easily leave my home without worry of curfews (except one by the parents haha) or riots, amongst other things.

I guess, it is the small little things that we have come to take for granted that makes Singapore all She is. We have so much beauty in our garden city, so much experiences that we’ve yet to divulge in, so much culture and technology all happening at once. And I am proud to be a Singaporean for all the rojak-ness we offer.

I recall once, when I was on holiday at xxx country, one of the locals asked me where I was from. Hearing my nondescript “Singapore, pak.”, he gave me a sad look, and said in a resigned manner, “Oh, Singapore is good. Here, in my country, so many problems. We have not much money, jobs are hard to find, and our economy is very bad. Very bad. If only my country is like Singapore.”

Will I stay or will I go? That, I can’t conclude for sure. But whatever it is, I know that deep in my heart I will forever remain proud to be a Singaporean, for all it’s pros and cons. For this is where my heart is :)

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