Today, August 9, is Singapore's 48th birthday. I would like to wish our nation a Happy Birthday and take this opportunity to dedicate this tribute post to everyone, every Singaporean past and present, local and abroad as well as foreign friends who have contributed to the building of this nation.
Today is a day worth celebrating and, being Singaporean, we should proud of what we have achieved over this relatively short time. 48 years in nation building is a short time relative to the long history of our many neighbours globally like China, India, England, France and the USA. The list can go on as there is not too many younger country around. Nevertheless, the journey arriving at what this little red dot has achieved in such short time of less than two generations is not an easy feat.
On this important day, we honour people who have sacrificed and contributed along the way to make us who we are today. We share their stories and achievements to inspire and motivate others. In their stories, we learn that we can overcome our shortcomings with the right ambition and attitude. The notion of having a short history cannot deters us to achieve beyond what other thinks is possible. Afterall, history is a record of events and achievements of people. We can write our own story and make the impossible possible.
On this day, we celebrate what our forefathers and countrymen have achieved and their stories form the story of this nation. However, this is also a day to remind everyone that this is a journey that we want to take for as long as possible and there will be no finishing tape in this journey. On the contrary, reaching the tape would not be a cause for celebration. The paths, moving forward, will become more treacherous and challenging with bigger steaks, more roadblocks and greater competitions. However, our past 48 years tell us that we can preserve and overcome staying strong together.
This is a small country with no natural resources but great people and depends on her people and the limited space to survive. Despite the limitation, we thrived and achieved what others took more than a century to achieve in 48 years. However, it is important to note that, many of the earlier generation has sacrifices their dreams and stay align as the nation fine-tune the formula along the way. They are the unsung heros that are never recognized.
Today, we celebrate our achievements but also remind everyone that past achievements are sweet memories but would not guarantee future successes. The path forward requires continued sacrifices and hard work from the current and future generations. There is a continual needs to remain vigilant and stay grounded. We need to protect and maintain what we have as we set sight on greater ambitions. As a nation, status quo is regression as we are relative to the other nations.
Personally, I am proud of the things that this nation has achieved and greatly appreciate the hard work and sacrifices from every individuals from this country. These 10 "simple" achievements, that many people sometimes overlook, make me happy:
1. This is a relatively safe place for people of all ages. Anyone can walk along the street and still feel safe at any time of the day. More importantly, there is respect, tolerant and harmony among the different races and religion.
2. There is a home for every Singapore family. This may not come cheap and not every home has a garden, pool or ranch but there is sufficient decent spaces compare to many cosmopolitan cities around the world.
3. There is enough diplomacy work to allow Singapore passport holders to go around the world with minimum visa requirement.
4. There is trust and admiration of the Singapore brand globally. This has benefited many common Singaporean and allow many to shine outside their home ground.
5. There are great greenery all over the island. The Singapore Botanic Garden and Gardens by the Bay are world-class testimonial of the country's commitment to stay green.
6. The first generation of taxpayers in this country get to experience and use the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in their day-to-day activity. Every country collects taxes from their citizen but many don't get to enjoy the fruits of their contributions.
7. There is sufficient economic activities within the small land mass to:
a. provide a reasonable standard of living for every citizens
b. aim beyond working to make ends meet but achieving dreams and self-actualization, and
c. more importantly, allow Singaporean to stay close to their family all year round.
Many people in bigger countries only get to see their love ones during festives or sometimes after once in a few years.
8. There is a good balance of cosmopolitan vibrancy, cultural and outdoor activities for everyone. This is a place where we can get the contrast of excellent food from hawker and world-class chefs within a stone throw away of each other. There are also local "ge-tai" gigs and international acts like Metallica or Jay Chou. There is not too many places in the world where one can experience of the rustic 1800s' shophouses and the modern 21st century skyscrapers from the same exact location.
9. There are sound infrastructures and systems in place that provide a peace of mind. They are our racial harmony, diplomatic policies, connectivity, defense forces, economic growth, social safety net and sufficient reserves. Economic growth because, without it, this place is still good enough for many of the 7 billion population around the world to want to "gate-crash". Even 0.1% would unimaginably congest this small island and bring about a diversity of unknowns.
10. There is opportunity for everyone to achieve what they work towards. Social mobility is important for majority of common Singaporean.
These are not perfect because nothing is. They are relative and will always have plenty rooms for improvement. Anyone can argue that I am just a common Singaporean who have not seen the world to have such views but, in my own humble opinion, most of these will only be missed when they are not there. It took us 48 years to achieve these but a few wrong decisions to lose all. Just like many take for granted the availability of potable water at relatively low price compare to many parts of the world. Nevertheless, for me, these simple things are sufficient reasons for us to celebrate this important day.
Happy Birthday, Singapore!
