A portion of the young generation is no longer able to understand the symbolism behind the image of the nation and what makes us Singaporeans.
It is not about our partisan allegiance.
It is about respect for all parties, acceptance of all views and the rational, fair and calm representation of your views for the benefit of the people, following your conscience.

As angry as people may be towards this song, this will be a lesson to reflect on – celebrate the success of our nation, not material goods, which are transient as time goes by.

In the coming Presidential Election, this will determine if we see a unifying figure for Singaporeans, someone who is truly independent, someone who does not lean towards one party or the other.

We will see in time to come, if that sense of patriotism can be instilled in us Singaporeans once again.

Living in Europe and the Middle East means having to constantly explain what Singapore is like to my friends here and having to do that over and over again has allowed me to look at Singapore with fresh eyes. A line that I have used again and again is that Singapore doesn’t have it’s own language (well, there’s Singlish) and unlike ancient civilizations like the Greeks and the Chinese, Singapore doesn’t really have it’s own culture either and it has a relatively short history compared to countries like Spain, Turkey, Iran etc. This exercise of nation building and trying to create a national identity from scratch really only started in 1965. I compare this to Slovenia and Slovakia – both countries have only been independent since 1991 and 1993 respectively, but both countries have a much stronger sense of identity because of whom their unique languages and cultures – something Singapore lacks. And unlike Australia and America (which are nations built by immigrants), well, we just don’t have as long a history to shape a national identity like them.

So for many years, the government has worked hard to try to create this national identity – not an easy process and with limited success. So the ‘Fun Pack Song’ fiasco is simply another unsuccessful attempt which they will simply have to chalk up to experience and add on their long lists of things not to do, ever again.

Can you create a strong national identity from scratch under such circumstances? That’s a tall order to fulfill in an awfully short time – so perhaps in that context, one should be gracious in forgiving mistakes like the Fun Pack Song. But this begs the question – why has this become such a focus of hate and anger for Singaporeans over such a short space of time?

This brings me on to my next point.

Many Singaporeans are angry. Boy are they angry and disappointed – especially since they were hoping for major changes after the general election of 2011. Hopes were raised, the GE came and went and little has changed. So Singaporeans venting their frustrations on the Fun Pack Song is symbolic – after all, this is the NDP, it is supposedly a patriotic celebration of one’s Singaporean identity. Yet it has turned into a focal point for people to vent their anger and frustration over what is ultimately, a stupid artistic decision (it now looks like the song will not be performed on National Day). My question to you is this: why are people in Singapore so angry over this when it’s certainly not the first stupid Singaporean “song” that has come their way?

It’ll take another essay to answer that question – I’ll let you think about that one my friends.