As the national day rally drew to a
close, the emphatically expressed slogan – ‘Hope, Heart, Home’ – rang resoundingly
in my mind. This was in part due to the fact that these three words had
elegantly embodied the three cornerstones of national development – especially for
a young nation struggling to find her national identify.
However, the main reason why this
mantra struck a chord within me was its focus on the ‘softer’, more emotional
aspects of nation building. This year’s national day rally seemed to be a
marked shift from the past – where speeches were crafted around key national
issues, such as housing woes, concerns about education, and remedying the
economic recession. I appreciated the fact that the national day rally this
year was focused on the less quantifiable, less concrete, and more personal
aspects of what it means to be a Singaporean. ‘Hope, Heart, Home’ had a very optimistic,
up-beat ring – some might say that it promised little in the way of concrete
governmental action – but I feel that the key messages outlined in this year’s
rally are highly important and relevant in Singapore.
One of the main concerns flagged out
in the rally was that Singapore was becoming insular in rejecting foreigners. Indeed,
the wave of anti-foreigner sentiment in Singapore has only risen in the past
few years, with numerous disputes between Singaporeans and foreigners. Even
among Singaporeans, there has been a rift between the self-proclaimed ‘true-blue’
Singaporeans and those who are new to the family. However, I believe that this
problem is, by far, not only exclusive to Singapore – many other societies also
experience similar sentiments. Countries like Australia, where racial tensions
led to the murder of Chinese students, and Japan, where xenophobia is displayed
openly, albeit quietly, come to mind. However, as Mr. Lee pointed out, attracting
foreigners is key to solving one of Singapore’s main troubles – an ageing
population. This viewpoint had been augmented on numerous occasions by references
to the number of jobs being greater than the number of workers available. The
hidden implication of such a statement, of course, is that foreigners are not
directly competing with Singaporeans for jobs. In any case, it seems that for
the foreseeable future, foreigners will become an irreplaceable part of our
demographic. In this case, I fully concur with Mr. Lee urging all Singaporeans
to develop an inclusive society – one that accepts everyone in the community, Singaporean
or otherwise.
Singapore enjoys an enviable
international repute, having shown stellar results at international
competitions. However, I firmly believe that what will truly determine the
future of Singapore is not how many mathematics competitions we can win – but rather,
the finer details of how cohesive we are as a nation; how we define our
national identity; and how much we feel we belong to Singapore. The towering heights
of the distinctive Marina Bay skyline were made possible only by the cohesiveness
between individual grains of sand that form the Marina coast.
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