Letter to Singapore

by pebz

Dear Singapore,

At 43, congratulations for having come so far, being so driven for most of the way,and achieving what you had set out to do.

You may still not feel secure in all your achievements, cos you know it all can be easily taken away. I would say you have done well..enough to raise a population who have the chance to explore other realms of life and articulate their thoughts and feelings, without having to fear for their livelihood, their safety and their future, and also starting to question your relevancy.

I’m not being sarcastic. It is a great privilege to be able to do all these, knowing that the bus that you are travelling in will not suddenly explode and render you to ashes when the most urgent thought on your mind was what to eat for dinner. Though not a lot of people think that way.

But then again, there are more things than GDP, no 1 airport, most efficient gahmen systems and whatnots .

Are you still relevant? People are calling out for you to be more liberal, more vibrant, more creative. But how more liberal? What are the limits? Can creativity be taught in schools? We are the failure of our own educational efficiency – we are taught to think systematically; human expressions are not that mechanical.

I dont think it can happen overnight, although I’ll be waiting to see what you will morph into.. A patrician, who remains authoritative, following a charted direction driving efficiency? A liberal young lass, willing to take chances and allow more creative human expression?

You are still young, in comparison to many countries with much longer history. There is still much opportunities for more character to set in yet, as to what defines you.