By: Jazz Chong Yu Xuan (24j07)
“Wah, Singapore is so hot!”
“The buses can be so crowded sometimes…”
“I wish the education system would go easy on us.”
These common whines and complaints are agreeable. There is validity seen in the constant trickling of sweat down our backs, the awkward struggle of squeezing into a bus during rush hour, and the undeniable stress we all carry in our school bags. But for how long have we been complaining ?
Upon interviewing a 70-year-old grandmother, she conversed, in Mandarin, "We didn’t go to school. We lived a simple life in our kampongs. As long as we looked after each other and stayed alive, we were happy.”
What most households looked like in the past
Apparently, not for long.
Pre-independence, a time remembered by our grandparents, was filled with a myriad of troubles that took the nation by storm. My own grandmother once told the story of how she escaped the Japanese when they first attacked Lim Chu Kang, thankfully unscathed. Now, we are blessed with the comfort of our air-conditioned bedrooms, with no need to fear invasion by military personnel of a foreign face.
Everyone has their flaws.
But with every flaw, there is excellence. Reiko, a River Valley student of 24J08, thinks that Singapore should pride itself on its people. “We have nice uncle(s) and aunties, they’re so wholesome.” As a small society, people are interconnected in unpredictable ways. This may be why we often meet with the warm, welcoming smiles of older aunties and uncles in our daily lives, whether they are taking our order in the canteen or simply looking for someone to chat with at the void deck.
One of our many canteen vendors! (When there’s a chance, pick up a conversation with them and make their day!)
On the other hand, a Year 1 polytechnic student studying Communication Design in Temasek Polytechnic, Chloe Chen, points out that Singapore’s society is overly competitive. “Everyone is so busy chasing the dream of being perfect, making things a bit stressful,” “not everything has to be about being on the grind,” and Singaporeans should “enjoy the small things in life.”
As a constantly developing country, the expectations that are introduced to us as children can be daunting and impact us negatively. Shouldn’t we then take every chance we have to experience the positive?
From personal experience, my father used to stop along the street home at an old snack shop, “Peh Soon Seng Trading,” located along upper Bukit Timah Road that always had its doors open.
Peh Soon Seng Trading Pte Ltd
Now, the entrance is a lot emptier, and nostalgic snacks sit in just a few big gold-painted tins, waiting for an eager customer to slip in through the crack of the door to its warehouse. Those snacks were only a small part of my childhood, but my brothers and I still revel in the joy of fighting over conjoined iced gem biscuits, creating precious memories to treasure. Don’t the little things truly matter?
“Singapore is safe,” report both our interviewees. Singapore provides physical safety, where our low crime rates allow both tourists and locals to feel at ease and rest assured that their valuables will not be stolen.
In addition, Singapore also provides emotional safety. Each Singaporean is almost guaranteed opportunities to find a community, a group of people who have the same experiences and/or interests as them, simultaneously offering individuals emotional support throughout their lives.
“Singapore is diverse,” says Chloe. Other than the stable racial diversity that we all know of, Singapore is diverse in its acceptance of varied age groups, talents, and personalities. Singaporeans can definitely appreciate the mass of platforms for them to show off their strengths, examples include our system of meritocracy and different events held at community centres.
After 59 years of development, Singapore has made significant progress and deserves some love! Singapore provides a comfortable home for all of us, our families, and our friends, giving each citizen common experiences to bond over. Singapore may be small, but we are mighty! This year, may we all show some love to Singapore 💗.
Happy birthday, Singapore! 🇸🇬
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