Why I am not ashamed to be from Singapore

I did a google blog search on my original title of 'Victims turned Villains' and found that it came up first on the list. Had to change it to be more inconspicuous. It's not my wish to have the public discussing my blog and judge my character based on my blog.

Of course it's nice to become xiaxue the second ie. have sponsors for trips and facials and even ROM, but I'm not ready to have my marriage and kids in tow and even myself to be under public scrutiny. I'm not a professional blogger and I hold a full-time job. It'll have repercussions, and definitely negative ones, on my full-time job should my blog undergo public scrutiny.

I was just looking at the list of the blogs under the original title of my previous post and going into a few to take a look.

Something struck me and I thought I needed to blog about it.

The post is about being ashamed to be a Singaporean.

I'm not a Singaporean. But I am bred here. Grow up here.

I may sound mountain-tortoise or I have been living under a rock, but I like Singapore. I don't think I will ever change my citizenship to 'Singaporean' - that's another issue, but I have enjoyed Singapore in many ways.

I am thankful for the education she gives me. I am thankful that my father decided that Singapore was the place his children would be educated and grow up in. I am thankful of the meritocratic system. I suspect it does discriminate foreigners to a certain extent, but I am really quite sure it's not a big deal unless you want to climb the governmental corporate ladder, and it's only right that a country discriminates foreigners to give her citizens more opportunities.

I enjoy the stability it provides ie. economic stability, social stability and political stability. Yes, yes, I know. It's dictatorship, not democracy. But looking at some countries that are really democratic, I feel that there are dangers lurking in some corners of democracy as well. Look at America, do I want young kids or crazy people running amok the streets with guns in their hands? Do I want people defaming or discriminate others outrightly out of free will and give rise to protests and strikes every other day?

Some people will say that I'm trained to be small-brained, as a result of being cooped up in this tiny island, and being educated as such. That I admit, that it's true. But as a weak woman with no ambition to become big, I really don't mind being bossed around and being told what to do. I just want to be safe, like what our education system has always trained us to be, and lead a peaceful life.

Like I've said before, I am grateful for the bilingual education system. I feel empowered to have at least two (actually there are only two) languages at my finger tips. I think it's ingenius to have this bilingual system.

I am grateful for the job she offers me via the route of her education system. That said, I am not sure how I would fare if I had remained in my own country and be educated there. I might have 'achieved' the same thing, but growing up and living in Singapore has been a set of experience I would never have if I had stayed in my own country.

I like the people in Singapore. Most Singaporeans are civilised, polite, helpful and nice (read: warm). I feel that we are moving towards the direction of being Japanese, who are all of the above. Our culture (note that I keep using 'we' and our') is brought down only by the influx of foreigners who are mostly not as civilised or trained in the same culture. In recent years, I found that Singaporeans don't seem to be as helpful as compared to previous years and I greatly suspect it's because their behaviour is influenced or affected by foreigners who have been rather unkind or uncouth. However, there is still a good number of Singaporeans who still make the effort to be kind, especially on the MRT ie. giving up of seats.

When I travelled to Taipei, I found myself saying with a tinge of pride that I am from Singapore. They asked me where I am 'from', not where I am born. So it's only right that my answer was 'Singapore'.

So all in all, I am not ashamed of being someone who is 'from' Singapore.

The only thing I am unhappy about Singapore is her men.

Women being small-brained, petty, calculating - that's forgiveable. Men being small-brained, petty, calculating - that's unforgiveable. I quote out of quote from what I once read on a female magazine: 'Fats on old women are forgiveable but fats on young women are not", obviously quoted from a man's mouth.