Wednesday, August 05, 2009

We the citizen

In another 4 day, we will be marking our nations 44th birthday.
one of the event is to get every citizens at exactly 8:22pm to recite the national pledge together.

For those who are unfamiliar or forgotten the pledge, here it is
We the citizens of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people
Regardless of race, language or religion
To build a democratic society
base on justice and equality
So as to achieve
happiness, prosperity and progress
for our nation
In case you are wondering, that was reproduced through sheer memory and thanks to 10 yrs of reciting this every morning.....Sorry, I digress

But the question here is that,is it still relevant to the Singapore Citizens, those that pledge to themselves and the nation, day in and day out... in fact, how many still remembers it by heart, and even more so, fulfilling the pledge?

I have no answer to that.... What I have are only questions....

Pledging ourselves as 1 united people, but how shall we unit with those people that comes to our shore offering cheaper wage and take our jobs?

While we tend to be colourblind, how will you feel if you can only buy your prata if you speak tamil or coffee only if you speak mandarin. And people telling you that Kopi-O is wrong.......Do you still go about the regardless of reace, language and religion. As for religion, how will feel as a parent to have a kid coming to tell you that it is all about Adam and Eve and that 1 should no longer offer prayers to ancestors and the dieties and eschew all the time honoured rituals as they are all hethen practices....

To build a democratic society, will mean that we are more democratic then before, pray tell how many actually saw a ballot box and paper. I am 35 and Ihad seen neither. Nor Have I ever seen a referendum being carried out.....

To based on Justice and equality will mean that we are all equal, pray tell that why some people gets off with nary a fine when running down a pedestrian or motorist?

We are supposed to achieve happiness, look at where we stand as a country in the Gini coefficient.....

Prosperity? whose? asked those who got retrenched? or those who are paid million dollars a year by raising GST.

Progress? besides the changing skycrapers, have the society progressed? we may have first world infrastructure..... but do we have or are even allowed to have a first world mind-set?

While I will be reciting the pledge at home at 8:22pm this Sunday, not out of patriotism but rather as an example as a father to daughter, so that she will not grow up cynical.... I am pondering, as we push past 44yrs of national building and edging to half a century, are we building a new national identity or are we tearing up the fabric of nationhood to exposed the fact that we are probably a company being called a nation incidentally as we are on the same island....