the roads are getting nearer

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

` Tuesday, August 09, 2005

(you have been warned: for those who cannot tolerate the following outpour of national pride, please skip this blog)

I've come to realise that I am more than happy to declare myself a Singaporean. Over the few years of travelling across several cities, I've been asked ad nauseum if Singapore belonged to China or Malaysia, by clueless natives of countries I would rather not mention (bear in mind, these were not citizens of developing nations). After one too many of these Believe-It-Or-Not questions, I often wondered if being born in a tiny island barely the size of an amoeba on the world map had its privileges, when it came down to having sufficient general knowledge to maintain an intelligent conversation. By the way, having a passport that allows an unprecedented level of travelling ease without the need for a visa doesn't hurt as well.

People are always complaining about how little there is to do in Singapore, as compared to vibrant metropolitan cities like New York, Tokyo or London. I agree, to the extent that one has the energy to keep wanting to explore different places every weekend. Even though I pack my bags in eager anticipation of the next overseas holiday, I've been out-ed as the type that revels in familiarity, in my comfort zone of good friends and family. No surprises there, of course.

While on a discussion of the possibility of migration years back, Vieee and myself came to this penultimate conclusion: the best scenario might be to literally ship the entire enclave of loved ones to wherever the desired destination is and live as a self-sufficient mini-community. As a matter of fact, I've never in my life entertained the thought of forsaking my citizenship (Switzerland being the only potential exception, equipped with a Swiss bank account nonetheless). It is not because I'm fanatically nationalistic, but because as much as there are layman issues to be griped about back home, other pressing issues abound in other countries that we'd never have to grapple with in our daily lives. I'm convinced that the grass always looks greener on the other side, but I'm more than happy to stay on my current turf for now.

In any case, the country's been through 40 years of independence, which makes for a relatively young nation constantly threatened by competition from our neighbours and the lack of natural resources to sustain the population. Even though I'd probably be unable to name all the states in America, I'm pretty sure that I won't be asking someone if they still lived on trees (this actually happened to me while touring an European city).

It's good to be home when a country's celebrating its birthday and it's a public holiday. Many happy returns!

Comments:

My stand still remain. Esp after my recent trip to the totally relaxing and laid-back city of Perth, where the sales staff are ever so courteous and helpful.. and where the winter weather was just so pleasant that it made wondering around on the farm such a joy... but.. still.. home is here, where one need not worry about rushing to the malls before 530pm or having to endure the cold bathroom floortiles at the end of the day..nor about having to whip up dinner for oneself after a day's work.. sigh.. think we all been spoilt by the conveniences of life on our little island in the sun. The farmer made a remark :" If there was an olympics for shopping, singaporeans would win bronze, silver and gold". Well, I'm not sure if that's true, having never been to the shopping mecca of new york city before, all i can say is that that farmer has not known the joys of having endless shopping options .. from el cheapo heartland mall shopping to super high end aka unafordable but still nice to look at super luxury brands (and more to come, as i've read VS might be coming to orchard rd).. and the endless sales and gimmicks that retailers dish out to tempt us to part with our hard earned cash.. =)) Vieee

# posted by

Anonymous : Wednesday, August 10, 2005 1:36:00 pm

apologies for the bad grammer and the spelling mistakes..

# posted by

Anonymous : Wednesday, August 10, 2005 1:38:00 pm