Singapore Government - Your Father

National Day Rally 2011 - August

I have just watched the National Day Rally 2011 from the LIVE webcast. The prime minister (PM) of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, was giving his National Day Rally speech at the University Cultural Centre @ NUS (National University of Singapore) this evening.

Like his previous rally speech, he updated us on what is happening around us and how it will affect us. He announced some "goodies", mentioned some names, explained some policies and also highlighted our achievement. However, I personally feel that in his speech tonight, the mood, the punch and the length of speech is quite different. I also find that the facial gesture of the ministers and the government officials were somehow quite different compared with the past rally. Well, I may be over sensitive, but I think that my observation is plausible after all we did have a watershed General Election (GE) 2011 in May; things are a little bit different now.

The overall signal I received from his speech is that PM Lee is asking for a unity of people so that the government can get the politics and policies right. Unity means 2 two-way. It cannot be always the government's or the people's way.

General Election 2011 - May

I have heard some top people as well as the people in the street commenting on the May 2011 General Election result. The one that I shared most in common is Dr Tony Tan's personal view on the watershed GE 2011, which he thought it was a WIN-WIN-WIN result.

To me , the GE 2011 result is the best outcome that Singapore can have. I will explain my view in layman's term below.

You see, Singapore is like a family. The Singapore government and Singaporeans are like Father and Son relationship. The Singapore government being the father and Singaporeans being the son. The son knows that the Father is good and can take care of the family well economically. The son still want the father to run the family and take care of him.

But over the years, the son gets fed up and tired with the father for not listening to him and for not changing. The son has his own opinion and wants to be treated differently. He wants to know what the Father is doing and to tell his father his problems. He wants some changes. But the Father keeps saying the same old thing over and over again to the son. Sometimes the son feels that the father is arrogant (think he is always right) and not caring anymore....

Then came an Uncle (the Opposition) whom the son thinks he can be trusted. The son wants to show how much he felt unhappy with the father and wants to give him a "wake up" call. But the son did not want to make any damages to the family and to hurt his father badly. The son wants the father to be able to continue to take care of the family, as always.

Now that the Father, the Singapore Government, has realised that the son needs more attentions, there are more attentions given to the son now. But.... the father said:"I know you need my attention and I will make some changes, but I also need to bring in money for the family. So you also need to understand I cannot always be only giving you attention. We still need to build the family and make it strong too, correct? You have to take care of yourself too."

The son said:"Ok, at least now you know my feelings and you are doing something about it, I will trust you again. But then, if you get carried away too far again..... I will bring in another Uncle next time."

In my opinion, family affair is somehow quite similar to country affair. They both have the financial, education, housing, relationship, lifestyle and emotional aspect.

If we can care for our country like we care for our family, it can really helps in making our Family..or our Country a better one. Not just economically but a balance of both material and emotions...IQ and EQ. Nonetheless, I think we should give economics a little bit more weight. :) After all, we should go for a better life. Others envy us and we should be grateful with what we have. We need to continue to treasure what we have and build on it. Trust me, don't start to treasure something only after you lost it... it may be too late and not worth it.

Hopefully, the father will continue to look after the son and does not lose heart in the relationship with the son. On the other hand, the son will not become too demanding, instead try to be more understanding and independent. As for the uncle, I hope he will be there to help up as long as his motive is for the good of the family and not one that is for personal interest. After all, we are all a family that makes Singapore our home. The father, the son and the uncle should show respect for each other.... not so easy and smooth, but can still try.

Well, so much for the GE 2011.

Now, with the current Singapore political situation, I think I have something to say that I will write in my next post.... our Elected President.

Happy 46th Birthday Singapore! Wishing all Singaporeans here and elsewhere in the world well!

Updated: 17th Aug 2011

Just chanced upon this video that I think is worth sharing... impressed. Keep up with the good work my fellow Singaporeans!

NDP 2011 Song - My Singapore

This is the official NDP 2011 song

NDP 2011 Theme Song - In A Heartbeat