Stand Up for Singapore…Who? Me?

Even as Lim Yau raised the baton, and the orchestra went into overdrive on the encore, the familiar strains of Stand Up for Singapore filled the air.  The late afternoon sun glowed a fiery vermillion as it hovered between the branches of the trees, drinking in the sight before it. Hundreds scattered all over the lawn, little islands of rugs and mats, with kids, teddy bears and golden retrievers (and some yappy schnauzers as well) in tow, drinking beer and sipping sauvignon blanc as they indulged in what the Singapore Symphony Orchestra had to offer – a picture of idyllic copiousness on a lazy afternoon in the Botanic Gardens on an island in the sun.  

Singapore – the red dot of hope in a region persistently hammered by natural disasters, poverty and hardship. The region east of India and south of China, unwilling recipient of the unwelcome Tsunami of 2004. Choked in thick haze for months on end every year as forest fires rage, and home to the most populus large island in the world, Java. 

Yet on this Sunday afternoon, not a hint of any of this desperation that plagues its neighbours. Secluded, protected and blessed with every good thing, it continues to thrive, even as the nation celebrates its 41^st year of nationhood. 

Stand Up for Singapore – a befitting piece to commemorate the occasion. Yet looking around, more than half present are not of Singapore. Yes, we started as an immigrant nation – we thrived on diversity, we have grown to be a cosmopolitan, global city – comfortable with rubbing shoulders with anyone in the world. The Singapore passport holds weight, representative of organized, educated, articulate people; “safe, efficient, green” – the sometimes under rated qualities that have contributed to our  success as we  play host and is home to multi-nationals and a multitude of nationalities .  Foreigners of every kind have given us flavor and continue to educate us in the ways of the world. They keep parochialism at bay. They teach us tolerance. We love them dearly; we want them to stay. (well… some of them anyway) 

And surely the landscape will change as more internationals are encouraged to make this their home. And while a concert in the park may attract a select few, this same scene is not unlike a  microcosm of the possibility of what Singapore will look like in the future, with just as many ‘non-natives’ as there are sons of the soil each claiming their patch.  

Even as I stood to the pop anthem, the pepper crab and chicken rice Singaporean in me felt the inevitable pang of nationalistic pride as the orchestra played on, but then, also the disquieting “who will stand up for Singapore?” How can the  ‘other half’ embrace the same sense of belonging when  Stand Up plays? How do we continue to ‘pledge ourselves as one united people’?  

We are standing at the end of an era – and we, its people, who are the nation, are about to enter into a new one –  how do we morph gracefully as we enfold those we open our doors (and arms)  to?  

How will our chicken rice taste then?? =0)