Patriotic Reflection

As I muse over the Romeo and Juliet text set before me, mind set on the focus texts and the IOC that is to come, my mind can't help be drift to three hours before, when the air was filled with the sounds of National Day...my dad says that the songs all have a strategic significance in some way or another, a fact that we cannot overlook, yet, sometimes we really have to look beyond such views, to find a very pure and simple form of patriotism.

Love for the country is so hard to come by, it is difficult, more so in Singapore. Always complaining, always pointing fingers at the government, always looking at the dust on the window (when there are rainbows outside), Singaporeans sometimes forget how privileged they are to be in Singapore. I wonder what it takes to love a country? There has to be some kind of link between a person and his country, a link that is made through experience, through culture and definitely through time.

Time is always important, surely we can't force the forging of an identity, lest we create an empty eggshell, a false identity that is hollow on the inside, and that crumbles under pressure. It's been a whole 41 years, how far have we come? I guess, if we compare the current Singapore to that of 1965, it's identity has grown over the years, albeit very slowly. But slowly and steadily, we are making a name for ourselves, and every person, in his own time, will discover something dear to him that he can identify as distinctly Singapore.

I guess one such experience would be that of going abroad. Or perhaps such an experience is may have two different results. Either one grows to love going abroad and becomes further distanced from Singapore. Or one realises the comforts of Singapore, absence making the heart grow fonder.

NS is another such experience. Quoting my dad: "Every hole i dug, Every bullet i shot, Every gun i loaded, Every shit I shitted in the jungle, was for Singapore!" There must be something about getting your head shaved and embarassing oneself that increases one's loyalty to the country...

That aside, I think I've always loved Singapore...for what? For the life that she has allowed me to live so far...peaceful, stable, a great environment just to work and play...i don't know if you can get there anywhere else, but it seems so natural in Singapore. And there's something about being around with Singaporeans that make us so special...something, that i have yet to grasp...but i hope to in the future. Perhaps i have not been disillusioned by the world, perhaps i have not yet seen the other side of this country, perhaps i'm just being my usual naive self. But i love Singapore.

Fellow Patriots, one day our loyalty may be tested, or perhaps never. But let's all discover for ourselves an identity that can only be found individually, over time, over a long long time. but it's worth the wait.

NDP is always a spectacular sight to behold, a patriotic brainwash perhaps, and i come out feeling refreshed and touched...by what? by love i guess.

This is my home
She's everything to me
Grace and beauty
In all that you see

My island home
Wherever I may be
I never will forget her
Nor will she forget me

Chorus ^
And I will sing
A song of home
A land of peace
Where dreams are born everyday
My home
Wherever I may be
I believe
You will always be a part of me ^

My island home
Home of my family
This is my future
Where I want to be
(This is my future
This is my home)

Repeat Chorus x 2

My home
Wherever I may be
I believe
You will always be a part of me
A part of me