I heart SG...
An article from
today rekindled my passion for a long overdued piece on why I love Singapore;
sure we complain about the education system, price hikes in transport, one party government but I believe that like most Singaporeans we realize that we have it made here! Everything works- almost seamlessly n instantaneously, crime rates are low with an occasional murder now and then (
which seem always involve foreigners anyhows); Education, food and transport is really cheap and maids/nannys are affordable/accessible, with our government being the most humble and powerful of all our caretakers- guiding us through the best and worse of times & never once failing us.. so i can't help but smile, beaming with pride, when i chanced upon the following article:
OH, YOU LUCKY SINGAPOREANS
BY KATE SMITHLAST Saturday, I found myself in a Japanese restaurant in Pattaya, Thailand crying like a baby. My husband groaned with embarrassment as thick, lumpy trails of black mascara made their way down my face. The locals looked at me as if I were an escaped mental patient (very astute people, the Thais!).
The cause of my uncontrollable grief? My husband's company recently relocated him to their plant in Pattaya. After three years of living in my beloved Singapore, I found myself in an environment as alien as the moon’s surface, and so began the most bizarre conversation
between my husband and myself ...
“I’ll stay in Singapore and you can work in Thailand,” I offered. I was not swayed by the look of horror on his face. “You’d rather be apart than leave Singapore?” he groaned. I ignored the hurt look on his face and continued: “You could fly back on weekends.”
His head now in his hands, he slowly and patiently explained to me that my green card in Singapore was dependent on him actually working there.
Not one to let legal trivia stand in my way, I told him I would claim political asylum. I would claim refugee status. I would chain myself to the Merlion until I was given permanent residence. I would ask a local family to adopt me. I would ...
"Enough!” he shouted.
The waitress then approached us rather gingerly and asked us to leave as I was putting people off their sushi. And besides, my mascara was staining the white, linen tablecloth and would be very hard to remove.
In his brilliant and profound bestseller The Art of Travel, Alain De Botton gives some insight as to why I sat crying in front of an incredulous hoard of raw fish eaters. He highlights French novelist Gustave Flaubert’s philosophy on nationality, which is that nationality should be determined by where your heart feels at home, not by where your body happened to be born.
For him his native country is “the one that I love, the one that makes me dream, that makes me feel well”. I read that passage alone in a restaurant on Beach Road, here in Pattaya, and once again the tears began to fall.
As heads turned towards the sound of sniffing, I casually explained I had allergies and dabbed my eyes dramatically with the napkin. A waitress approached and asked if I was going to pay for the white linen napkin, as mascara was very hard to remove.
Singapore is the country that I love, the one that makes me dream, the one that makes me feel well. It is my native country. The fact that I happen to be English, of Irish parentage, is just a small technicality ... an accident of geography, a joke on God’s part.
Sometimes, we find it hard to appreciate what we have and I just wanted to tell you how lucky you all are to be able to live in one of the best countries in the world.
I want to say thank you for three wonderful years and ask that if anyone is thinking about adoption to, at least, consider me ?
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Although she never really says why she loves Singapore (i doubt it's because she got into NUS or that the boys are too cute for her mother's liking- *puke*) i bet it's because she knows that everything we take for granted -- lack of corruption/natural disasters, freedom of religion, political stability, outstanding infrastructure and the obvious -good cheap makan and shopping can't be easily found elsewhere (which is
bloody impressive for a soon to be 41 year old nation)
It's funny how some ignorant* travellers can think of Singapore as this
anal country where one could be prosecuted for carrying one stick of gum (consuming gum is perfectly legal btw only selling is prohibited), where the PAP is some sort of BIG brother, or some ex-british colony that "
somehow or rather" managed to get great MNCs to invest in them.
Given that we don't have certain liberties of speech-
a byproduct of a system designed to protect and promote multi-cultural harmony - so that the likes of a holocaust or genocide are unlikely to occur;Gum
(which means whole lot less chance of you stepping on used gum);Guns (
have you seen -blowing for columbine- well we'll never have tt problem here*smirk*)or even the right to go on strike
(you would only have to stay in places like italy-no offence- to experience what an inconvience that is- a regular singapore uncustomed to this will probably freak out and ---- write to the newspaper forum*roll eyes*)but all these little trade offs/sarcifices make for a clean, safe, properous & green city.
And FYI our govt worked
hard to
seduce MNC's to set up shop in Singpaore and Singporeans have also, upon the government coaxings, been known to take wage cuts & freezes during recessions to allow them to remain here.. pls note that Singapore growth rates for 30 years averaged around 9% - a feat uncomplished by any other --though China is fast rising to the mark..& we went from
in the words of LKY Third world to First..
It's obvious, that given such a rapid paced transformation, that the mindsets of most Singaporeans (
over 40s) have yet to evlove to that of the typical developed countries but they're learning --hee a another of the govt's projects: Life Long Learning..hence there is culture shock i guess & a lot of adolesense angiush btw liberal gen X,Y ,Zs & their tradition-bound parents
Still it's a great city-- one that i'll sorelt miss while on exchange..
I'll round up my overly sentimental rant with the top 5 things i love about
darling Singapore:
- Food: Chilli crab, roti prata, chay kway tiao, chicken rice, nasi bryani, hokkien mee, kueh lapis, ice ka-chang, laksa, oyster omelette, Satay, BBQ sambal stingray, steam boat (aka fish & meat fondue haha)--need i say more
- R&R: Which other country do you know with a sub-urban malls equiped with hypermarts, departmental stores & some with cinemas 15 minutes apart...urban planners once scoffed at the govt citing a wastage of resources by continually replicating facilities like swimming pools, stadiums, community centers (with the country only 45 km long and 42 km wide) but i bet we can't imagine living without them!
- MRT: Zip from one end of the island to the other effortlessly with each train scheduled only a max of 7 mins apart-- being half and hour late is a travesty!
- Friends: A chance to interact with a diverse pool of people who have been taught different values and beliefs- only to find out that you're not so different after all -& feel connected to the rest of asia ( China/Malaysia/India/etc)
- Library: Free books - even current best sellers- up for rent for 3 weeks at a time- electronic borrowing stations- island wide book drops - modelled after Barnes & Nobles only without the paying part - gotta love it!
*Author's opinion may be slightly biased-cos she loves her country- and does not represent the beliefs of everyone (that disagrees with her lah! duh)
not quite the happy gelato stained postcard.
--12:12 AM--
