National Day(!).

Happy National Day Singapore!

Well, apart from the fact that i had to read through tons of newspapers because of sleeping prematurely these few days. And so i have to stay up late (hopefully i'm able to!) to do homework. Status of PW EoM: Untouched. CRAPPPPP.

National day, in my opinion, is a day where we put down our differences and celebrate this nation; celebrate having the privilege of being Singaporeans and revel in the atmosphere and feel a renewed vigour to want to give back to this nation whom has given us so much.

This is apparently all idealistic drivel. I was quite disillusioned by the rampant grumblings of netizens on The Online Citizen (TOC), which i now try to sieve through every day. We have become increasingly polarised and we feel displeasure towards the PAP ('affectionally' referred to as Pappies, Papayas, or MIW: Men In White. Notwithstanding the fact that there are those of the fairer sex in the party, too.) and support the WP unconditionally, it seems. We go to the NDP for only the goodie bags. We hail fireworks as a waste of taxpayers' money. We claim that the best part of the parade was when President SR Nathan left... and that it would be his last time waving to the audience from his post in the military vehicle. Not to mention slamming NDP songs as uncreative, etc. (I find that remixing old classics and reusing Lady Gaga's songs is utterly nonsense, but anyway...)

Is this what we have become? Now I may be young and idealistic, but when people don't celebrate National Day for what it is- to celebrate our sovereign independence, instead choosing to grouch, to criticise, to complain about everything under the sun, be they CPF, housing prices, public transport, ...

Is this how a country is supposed to act? Have we become so apathetic that we reject everything else apart from the very best? Are we not content with what we have? If the current generation of baby boomers and younger parents are like this, how will their children turn out? Who will hold the country together? These Singaporeans would do well to look to to other countries and realise that they are blessed.

Speaking of CPF, I just read through two articles. One says that Singapore is the only country in the Asian (or was it Asia-Pacific?) region with an AAA credit rating. The other talked about how Singapore's public debt is 9th in the world, just behind Greece and Iceland (both bankrupt, or near there, anyway). This incited a debate on how the PAP has actually caused this huge public debt, held by the CPF (and thus arguing that we, the citizens, have been deprived of what was rightly ours; helped by longer retirement ages and inflaton causing the devaluement of the money over time); how there is a conspiracy that Dr Tony Tan seeks to be elected to the position of President in order to cover up this huge scandal. I grew up thinking that the Government ran smoothly, with well oiled cogs and the works. The ordinary Singaporean, i fancied, was just like me: largely ignorant, accepting the current state of government as long as things appeared to be well. This revelation has caused a paradigm shift in my ideals... but to what? What do i believe in, now that my previous beliefs have been crushed to nothingness? What is the truth behind the facade?