Coming Home

My spouse is a Malaysian and we often have to travel over to Malaysia to spend time with her parents.  I used to hate it as I have to drive for many hours and stories abound about accidents, staged accidents where robbery follows, corrupt cops, etc.  Over the years, I have come to accept and even welcome these trips.  At the very least, it gives me a period where I am out of touch from the office and need not do much beyond vegetating at my in-laws house.  Nevertheless, it is always a joy to reach back to Singapore at the end of the trip.  For some reason, it always revitalizes me to cross the checkpoint and get back on to Singapore soil even though it may have been a really long and tiring drive back.

My spouse being Malaysian however, always gets a bit upset over how happy we are at leaving Malaysia and would exercise her right to be in a bad mood for a day or so.

The Power of Music

Singapore’s National Day is round the corner once more and all the national songs are being dug out again.  I recall a time when people would make jokes about how Singapore is the only country that needs to commission National songs.  These days, no one bats an eyelid about it (“There was a time when people said that Singapore won’t make it, but we did”).

Oft times, we are cynical about our country, government, etc (just ask any guy that has served NS).  Listening to the songs, however, reminds me that this is indeed my homeland and it is worth defending and sticking with when all is said and done.  The songs somehow possess the power to move hearts and minds and stir the kernel of patriotism that is buried deep within our cynical hearts.  Many countries rely on their national anthems to remind their people of this but I suppose it does not work for me as Singapore’s National Anthem is in malay and that is not a language which I can absorb and take into my heart.  Instead, I will have to rely on the songs commissioned each National Day to remind me that this is my homeland of which I am proud of.

Creative

Just found a video clip on Youtube showing Hossan Leong.  The clip is two years old and I only saw it now!  It plays to the tune of Billy Joel’s ‘We didn’t start the fire’ and hits the highlights of Singapore history / culture.  Remember the Hello Kitty Craze at MacDonalds?

What strikes me is how he was able to note all the little cultural points and weave it together.  Wish I could be as creative