finished watching the parade,
and totally enjoyed it.
the concept was nice and i like the fact that it was linked to the mv, with scenes that was not included in the mv which means they took the trouble to film extra footage, which is great.
but while watching, i realised and reflected on quite a number of things.
1. our mr president
many thought he didnt do much, including me. i mean, we dont "see" him doing things as a president.
but recently, through interviews and from the commentator for the parade,
i realised that he, or our presidents, actually do a lot and participated a lot in meetings and decision-making, it is just all behind-the-scene.
also, take in account for the many decades before his terms as a president.
he contributed a lot to our country, and
actually volunteered to be held hostage by the JRA to secure the release of civilian hostages.
now, THINK, before you criticise him.
he deserves the position.
so, i am very thankful for the past 12 years, and good job, mr president. :D
2. our generation and the few to come
it then dawned on me that my generation is the cut off point.
it will be the last generation to witness the transition into modernisation.
it is counted as the third singapore generation, and being that, all three saw singapore through hard times, with the first witnessing independence and instability,
the second growing up with singapore and having the most "singaporean" childhood,
and the third catching that last bit of retro, kampong spirits on tv and from their parents.
and then it is sort of lost.
dialects, patriotism, the singapore spirit.
more people are getting tired of saying the pledge, or singing the national anthem, or the national day songs.
more people are wanting to migrate overseas.
though i cannot deny that there are still a big group of people who love singapore a lot, the number is not as big as before.
so i want you all, to unite,
all singaporeans, the youth, the young,
to carry on the singapore spirit,
because i want us, to be able to still tell the stories of singapore to our next generation.
the tough job is on us, because everything will be different in their eyes.
they have to rely on us to tell them the history of singapore, the kampong spirit, singlish, and everything about singapore. it can be how our primary school days used to be like, our the singapore slangs we use in secondary schools, etc.
jiayou, singapore.
3. our country
the culture, the unique cultural background.
this is something i truly love about singapore,
it is really the kampong spirit.
i am really proud to be a singaporean.
traditions in the parade, like the parachutes, the marching, EVERYTHING.
history, journeys we've made through as one singapore.
every year, we focus on the beginning, the past, on the history of singapore, how everything and everyone came together, and then how we brave through the storms and how we managed to become who we are today.
this repeats every year, for a reason.
because this, is what makes us singapore.
and what makes us singaporeans.