B, I'd question how constructive that sentiment is - it goes
back to the "quitters" issue. When that speech came out, the people
I know who had left Singapore were pissing themselves laughing - it
only served to reinforce their belief that leaving Singapore was
the right thing to do. The unfortunate bottom line is that the
"quitters and stayers" framework was an extremely childish way of
viewing the situation - imagine a government saying "fine - I don't
want to play with you either!".
Before we answer the question "Are you proud to be Singaporean", we
first need to define exactly what "a Singaporean" is. Some may see
it as being resourceful and hardworking, while others may focus
upon the kiasu side of things. Obviously, the answer would come out
differently in each of these cases.
After ten years overseas, I don't know if your question could be
answered with a simple "yes" or "no".
There are certainly advantages to being Singaporean. As fraught as
it is with flaws, the education system has served me well. Then
again, coming from SJI, where we influenced by Irish and Australian
brothers, I suspect that my education was more cosmopolitan than
that in government schools. National service is a concept that I
certainly support - being in countries without national service, it
becomes apparent that Singaporeans are more resilient than people
in other countries. Without a social welfare system (at least until
recently), Singaporeans are more independent.
That said, Singaporeans do have their shortcomings. The average
Singaporean could certainly stand to be more socially and
politically aware. Singaporeans also tend to be excessively
conservative, and in being unwilling to explore and experiment,
they do not make the most of their potantial. The "keeping up with
the Joneses" mentality typical of the kiasu Singaporean has also
done a lot of harm - by using other people as a benchmark,
Singaporeans tend to be somewhat misdirected in their personal
development.
