Last night, we were talking about how strange it was that when we go back home, we wanna see all these new developments (vivocity, etc) but yet most things don’t really seem to change. In fact, we seem to change more by being away than the city changes. Anyway, Shirley raised the idea that maybe they should run checks on overseas PRs to make sure they’re still ‘Singaporean’
And one of those checks would be to recite the pledge.
We tried it on ourselves. Yup. With a little nudging from each other, we could generally still recite the pledge. Although it helps if you ‘sing’ it as opposed to the normal morning assembly-type recital.
We kept on going through a medley of “Count on me Singapore” and “We are Singapore”. Then it kinda got flat ‘cos we couldn’t remember any more.
Speaking of national songs, I looked up the translation and had a read through the Singaporean anthem again.
Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success
Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore
Ya hafta admit, it’s pretty generic. But I guess they’re just words and what really matters are the feelings that they invoke.
Speaking of invoking feelings. I’m not sure what to feel after reading the EIU’s Democratic report card which lists Singapore as a “hybrid regime”. To put it in its context. The Economist Intelligence Unit categorised countries into four groups. There’s “Full Democracy”, “Flawed Democracy”, “Hybrid Regimes” and then there’s “Authoritarian”
At 84, Singapore ranks below Malaysia (81) which is in “Flawed Democracy” but just pips Lebanon (85). What was also a surprise was that the US, traditionally thought to be the champion of Democracy, was ranked 17 behind Malta (15) and Spain (16)
Anyway, cherry picking over the weekend was kinda fun. Felt a bit ‘mabok’ after eating all those cherries. Had a good lunch at Miss Marples after that. Horse riding was pretty cool too. Went up to the macedon ranges this time, trotting and cantering for a fair bit of the way uphill. Bum slightly sore. Will put up pix later.
Plus, our fridge died last week and our new one arrived yesterday ! It’s not flash like with bells and whistles and stuff but it is pretty cool for our needs, plus its energy efficient too.
Catch up soon.
