Our Global City, Our Home

Every year on the 9th of August, without fail, no matter how busy I am, I’ll find myself in front of the television watching the National Day Parade. This year was no exception.

In actual fact, there’s never really much that’s different every year, other than maybe the theme song, and yet every time I watch the parade, a sense of excitement rises up within me – it’s that one time each year that I feel especially patriotic.

There’s just something in seeing thousands of fellow Singaporeans gathered at the stadium (even if it’s only via satellite) and imagining the rest of them sitting at home, watching it all on television, just like you. The people at the stadium, ranging from the very young to the very old, are all smiles, waving small plastic Singapore flags, and looking genuinely happy to be there, despite the whopping crowd, extreme heat and everything else that is a contributory factor as to why we are at home and not there together with them – it’s amazing.

I’ve only been to the parade twice in the sixteen years of my life. The first time was when I was a tiny three-year-old. My parents brought me to the stadium to be a part of all the action. While the only thing I remember about that experience was, strangely enough, eating chicken flavoured twisties, it is still something I look back on as a fond memory. The other time was in primary five, when like all other primary five students across the country, I was brought to the NDP preview by the school. That was really fun – the company more than the parade itself. It being only a preview didn’t make too much of a difference, since it was practically like the real thing, sans ministers and other important people, plus being surrounded by good friends made it one of the best experiences of my school life.

Today’s parade was excellent, with the added fireworks and my four favourite national day songs (haha, just kidding). My sister and I were sounding very loyal to our country, standing up to sing every song (karaoke style, following the song lyrics at the bottom of the screen), including the National Anthem. And we didn’t forget to place our fist on our chest when saying the pledge! (: My father, on the other hand, was too busy catching up on sleep, and my stupid brother was playing computer games. Haha.

There were two parts of the parade this year that were rather bittersweet – the first being when they showed the video clip in memory of this being the last year that the NDP will be held at the national stadium, and the second being when they showed the video clip in tribute of S. Rajaratnam before the taking of the pledge.

The first video clip made me wish that I was at the celebration this year, so that I could be a part of the last parade held at the stadium. Imagine: years of holding the nation’s birthday celebrations in this place, and this year is the very last of all those memorable years. This year’s parade was definitely one to remember.

The second video clip was one that touched my heart, especially when after it was screened, the camera zoomed in on Lee Kuan Yew, who was crying. I guess it was the overwhelming nature of seeing a close friend who has recently passed on, on a giant screen in front of you, talking about the success of a nation that both you and he had a hand in building. Poignant. This probably also made Lee Kuan Yew wonder just how many more parades he’d be able to witness; how many more of Singapore’s birthdays he can have a hand in celebrating – it made me wonder too. The year that our Minister Mentor leaves us will be an unbelievably sad one. Even though our Social Studies textbooks are living proof of PAP propaganda, I still have great respect for these people, who through years of planning and hard work, have given us the beautiful city of Singapore today which we feel proud to call home.

Singapore is a wonderful country – safe, clean, with racial and religious groups all living in harmony. I love it here. Happy 41st Birthday, Singapore!