It has been 5 years.
I remember attending my last NDP preview with my folks and MM in 2007, a very memorable and extremely sentimental one. 5 years on, alot of things have changed, for better or worse. Whatever, but the place that I have called my home, is
still my home. Undeniably.
An article that speaks my sentiments from publichouse.sg, with parts that I feel most passionate about bold in red:
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A nation looking for itself by Andrew Loh
It’s National Day today. It’s been 47 years since we exited from the Federation. Singapore, after all these years, is still trying to know itself, trying to have its own identity. There have been several efforts – mostly government-led – to foster such an identity. Have they been successful? To some degree, yes. But mostly, no.
There are views that Singapore today is more divided than it ever was.
I am not sure if this is true. Perhaps such views have come about because
we are able to express ourselves, and hear or read our friends express the same sentiments, more clearly now, through the Internet, via social media especially.
But I don’t think we are more divided. What has happened is that Singaporeans are expressing themselves more vocally. Being divided carries a heavier meaning – like, we can't get along with each other for whatever reasons. I don’t think that’s the case, even if we’re talking about the different races or people of different religions.
What Singaporeans are unhappy with are policies which do not seem to have been for the greater good. But these have been said enough already. So I won’t repeat them.
For all its faults, and contrary to what some may say, Singapore does possess many attributes which stand it in good stead to move forward. As I have said before, all we need is leadership – leadership which is certain, open-minded, and courageous. What we want to see is a leadership which allows itself to embrace new ideas, and listen to the voices of the common man.
In short, for me personally, I would like to see our leaders embrace the things which it has so far avoided, or ridiculed, or dismissed.
I am talking about civil liberties, a level playing field in politics, the respect for free expression, and the recognition of citizens’ rights.
These things have very much been cast aside in the chase for economic growth all these years. And it is a race which has exhausted Singaporeans. Everyone can feel the strain. While the Government sets about reviewing these, as PM Lee said in his National Day message, it is time also to review these other things which have hitherto been anathema.
In short, it is about empowerment - not only of the economic kind but more so that of the human spirit.
Without an empowered people, Singapore will find it hard to engage and compete with the rest of the world. A people which is dependent on one entity (the Government) cannot be expected to have the resilience, the strength and the wherewithal to withstand the challenges which a changing world will bring, as indeed it already is bringing.
Thus, my sincere wish for National Day is that Singaporeans will – at last – be given their rights, and have spaces which were once closed opened to them to explore, to create, to express themselves in. To dare. And to do so knowing that they do not have to constantly look over their shoulders for the bogeyman.
This is how Singapore can find itself.
Our identity and the meaning to our lives as Singaporeans must be decided or determined by each Singaporean. They can only do so if they are allowed the space to do so, and not from top-down, bureaucratic decrees.
I am confident that in the years to come, we will find ourselves and finally know what it is to be Singaporean – and so will our children.
For those who feel all is hopeless, our job is not to sit and lament but to go out there and create, in spite of the odds, as our founding fathers once did.
