Home, Where My Singapore Is.

I am a Singaporean, a title conferred by where I was born, in a time when borders were highly consistent even during general elections.

Singapore was my home for 20+ years, including the first formative phase. Then, I stepped out to discover a much bigger world with fewer rules and much more chaos than the orderly home I knew. And so began my second formative phase.

I drifted from one city to another, fellow countrymen come and go – some went on drifting and some instinctively returned to Singapore, their home.

Someone asked, “where really is home in your heart?”

Of Maids and Coolies

I SOMETIMES debate with my wife over affairs of Singapore: national service, CPF, education, political system and most recently, ministers’ pay. One of her remarks is interesting and worth sharing:

“You should be thankful for what the Singapore government has provided you with.”

She remarked this in the context of Singaporeans’ basic education and linguistic ability. Meaning, she thinks we have a linguistic advantage because of our education system attributable to the government.

No, she has not been brainwashed by the government.

“I am a Singaporean” by Dan E

IS presents “I am a Singaporean” by Dan E, inspired by Mr Brown

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I was born in 1970 at the KK hospital and grew up in a kampong near the old airport. My parents stopped at 2 after having my younger sibling.

I moved from my kampong to a HDB flat in the west-end of Singapore when the government exercised the Land Reclamation Act on my kampong to build new flats.

I schooled through PSLE, O-level, A-level, and took a 2.5 years Army conscription break before disrupting to return to NUS for a degree course.

I followed the Singapore dream: study hard, serve the country, work hard, listen to the government and have a good life.