I’d never really thought about what it meant to be Singaporean. This was where I had been born and raised, sure, and I knew all our stories and founding myths.
But I didn’t think of it as being a part of my identity. After all, this landscape of HDB flats and skyscrapers and air-conditioned shopping malls was the only world I’d ever known.
In the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to study abroad, to travel and live and meet people in a host of different places. Invariably, I’d be asked the questions, “Where are you from?” and “What is it like there?”
What could be my answer? What could I tell people who had either never heard of Singapore, or only knew about our tough drug laws, chewing gum ban, and Michael Fay’s caning?
To be honest, I didn’t really have a good answer at the beginning. I would speak of the things you’d read in a travel guide – how modern and clean Singapore was, our busy air and sea ports, our self-given moniker of “garden city”. All these things are true, yes, but none of them really get down to the heart of being Singaporean.
But as I learned to adopt new ways of life and saw how other people lived, I began to understand what a special place Singapore is, and by extension, what it means to be Singaporean.
I think one of the interviews screened at the National Day Parade said it best – “I don’t judge other Singaporeans for being kiasu anymore, because I realised how kiasu I really am”. It’s only when you’re away that you learn that the things that seemed so natural in this environment are actually the things that make us instantly recognizable to each other anywhere else in the world.
To be Singaporean is to listen to announcements being made in four languages - English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, but to speak in a fifth: Singlish.
To be Singaporean is to complain about everything while still waving the Singapore flag above your head with pride.
To be Singaporean is to look at the dancers at the parade wearing traditional batik dress, or white singlets with coolie hats, or three-piece suits, and be able to say, all of that is us, all of that is Singapore.
To be Singaporean is to have queuing be a way of life – whether at the MRT or at the newly-opened H&M store on Orchard Road.
And of course, to be Singaporean is to love your food, to always be on the lookout for the best chicken rice and nasi lemak, to argue over the best place for Katong laksa, and to closely follow the harvest season of Mao shan wang durian.
Singapore isn’t perfect. Going overseas has made me even more aware of the problems Singapore still faces: lack of political and social freedoms, institutionalized discrimination, and an increasing stratification of society, amongst other things. But on the whole, I’d say we’re doing pretty well.
Last year, I couldn’t wait to get out, to leave this stuffy city-state behind with its stringent rules and draconian laws, to start a new life in the land of freedom. But more than ever, I’ve realized that it’s important to know where you’ve come from. The experiences I’ve had over the past year, travelling the world, culminating in attending the National Day celebrations back home, helped me figure out what I really mean when I introduce myself as being from Singapore.
Happy 50th National Day!
Singapore