singapore behaving like communist countries?
Stirring Peoples passion
A grand party to rally a rich but increasingly divided society that
is constantly changing.
By Seah Chiang Nee. littlespeck.com
Aug 12, 2007
Singapore not only marks its National Day on a grand scale but has
also evolved it into a national icon that stirs the nations
emotions.
EVERYONE loves a parade, they say, but few embrace the idea more
passionately than Singaporeans when it comes to celebrating
National Day.
In fact most Western nations which have never been conquered do not
observe their National Day as actively as this young republic had
done over the past four decades.
The US marks July 4 or Independence Day with plenty of fireworks,
family picnics, concerts and baseball games, but like Canada and
other nations outside the communist world it has no mass
parade.
One reason is they may be too big to allow for one big rallying
point, so the important holiday means little more than a marching
band, political speeches and flag-bedecked buildings.
The Swedes, who have not fought in a modern war, have a guarded
attitude towards celebrating a national day. They say theyre proud
of their country but dont feel any need to show it.
New Zealand does not even have one. The timing is right for us to
actively and positively advance our national identity starting
with a new national day, said United Future leader Peter
Dunne.
Tiny Singapore has gone the other extreme. During the past 41
years, it has not only celebrated it on a grand scale but has also
evolved it into a national icon that stirs the nations
emotions.
On its 42nd birthday bash on Thursday Aug 9 it was on a more
imaginative scale than before.
For the first time it was held on the worlds largest floating
stage at Marina Bay watched by 27,000 Singaporeans decked out in
patriotic red-white shirts.
As I watched the televised parade, my mind recalled pictures that I
have seen of a million-strong people marching in Tiananmen after a
new China had emerged and wondered if Singapore had copied the
concept.
Nothing beats the communists, including North Korea or the former
Soviet Union, which used it to flex their missiles and rockets and
accompanied by goose-steeping soldiers.
Singapore, too, occasionally showed off its military prowess
(including jetfighters screaming overhead) but Thursdays parade,
like all others, was mostly of a softer, cultural nature of dancing
and songs.
The show was put on the Internet for the 150,000 Singaporeans
living abroad.
Inspiring songs in four languages filled the air. Discovery Channel
ran a documentary about how the nation came into being.
From early independence, the ruling Peoples Action Party had
realised as the Chinese communists did in 1949 that mass public
rallies and patriotic songs could instil a sense of pride and unity
in the people.
The marching contingents, the roaring crowds and waves of exploding
fireworks amplified by loudspeakers have, I am sure, served to
quicken the process of nation building.
The PAP saw a special need for the expensive party. Singapore has
been through war, communism and communal strife and often feels
vulnerable to threats of one form or another.
Countries like this will use their national days to arouse
sentiments of nationalism and rally their citizens, one foreign
journalist said.
Singapore has another crucial objective: Promoting racial
ties.
The efficient way the parade was organised reveals much about
Singapore and its people, and explains why it has collectively been
successful.
Next to cities like Beijing, New Delhi or Pyongyang, which hold
much bigger parades, Singapores capability for clockwork
organisation is the most telling.
Hardly a month or two passes at the end of one parade before
planning begins on next years, a foreign journalist observed.
Thousands of children would stand in line waiting to do their
bit.
In our own country, these kids would wander all over the place.
Its not easy to get nine-year-olds to stand neatly in line and
obey instructions, said one South-East Asian visitor.
This years rally was held amid a strong economy and high
employment, but also widespread price increases that are hitting
the pockets of the broad middle and poorer class.
It was fuelled by an increase last month in the Goods and Services
Tax (GST) from 5% to 7%.
The spirit of Singaporeans is dampened by rising costs of almost
all their daily necessities, including housing, food, public
transport and health-care, making life hard for salary
earners.
Above all, this is a widening economic gap. In the past five years
the wealthiest 20% got richer while the income of the bottom
one-fifth shrank.
The worst sufferers are poorly educated senior citizens who find it
difficult to find work in Singapores modern economy.
In his National Day message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said
his government would adopt measures to help them find work and
increase their retirement savings.
Lee unfolded a string of sterling news about strong growth (7.6% in
the first half) and other achievements that could match those
during his fathers golden era.
Yet the reactions of their respective followers differed sharply.
Lee Kuan Yew was widely praised during his time, while the son is
finding it hard to rally the younger generation behind him.
Blogger Aaron Ng wrote of the parade: The amount of euphoria
generated ... temporarily suppresses the unhappy feelings of social
groups left out of Singapores rapid economic development.
Other critics are unhappy with the governments refusal to allow
opposition MPs to hold outdoor National Day dinners in their own
constituencies.
The PAP could field a marching contingent and display party flags
at the parade, but not the opposition.
They promised to build an inclusive society that leaves out no
one a cynic remarked. The parade does not show real
inclusiveness.
