Home

"Home" (1998) written by Dick Lee, and sung by Kit Chan is a perennial favourite for Singaporeans.

Why?

Singaporeans like "Home" because we are NOT "rah-rah sis-boom-bah" jingoists. 

Yeah, for NDP, for National Day, for National events we will "Stand Up for Singapore", and Singapore can "Count On Me" to do our best and more, but when the fireworks are over, and the buzz calms down, what binds Singaporeans are not slogans, and jingles, and catchy tunes, that capture a momentary feeling.

What binds Singaporeans together is our sense of vulnerability and perhaps insecurity.

Singaporeans are by nature a melancholy bunch. Or if not melancholy, grouchy, cantankerous and irascible. 

Sort of like Lee Kuan Yew. 

I hope Lee Kuan Yew had good days, but most of his public appearance (at least those I remember) "cheerful" and "jovial" were not words I would used to describe his demeanour at those times. He might be in a good mood, or he might be take an opportunity to allow himself to be an "interfering grandpa" (as he did with Joan Sim, PhD candidate 10 years ago) in a good-natured way (subject to personal perception/ interpretation. YMMV). 

But most of the time, he was deadly serious, and irascible. He did not rest on his laurels. He did not consider Singapore to have "made it". He did not consider Singapore to be safe and untouchable by the vagaries of the world. He still saw Singapore as fragile and vulnerable. 

In truth, he scared me. 

"Home" reminds us of our vulnerabilities. Reminds of our humble beginnings. Reminds us that we have NOT made it - that in truth, we will never make it. "Home" is how we remind ourselves that in our good times, in our BEST times, that nothing lasts forever. That Singapore is a creation of one man's will, and we owe this man (and his ilk) our home. And we honour his legacy by keeping Singapore going.
Singapore is the "accidental nation". 

Where others have had to fight for independence, we had independence thrusts (unwanted!) upon us. 
We were not meant to survive, let alone thrive. We were cast out of Malaysia not out of the goodness of Tunku Abdul Rahman's heart. Not because he wanted only the best for Singapore and Malaysia. We were cast out to suffer privation and indignities and insecurities. We were meant to wander the economic wilderness - a city without a countryside, a state with no hinterland, a nation without water, with limited land, and no natural resources to exploit. We were supposed to realise how weak, vulnerable and exposed we were, suffer privations and lack, and after some years, crawl back to the Federation of Malayan States and BEG to be re-admitted into the Federation on WHATEVER terms the Federation deem appropriate. We would have been whipped and there would be no more questioning of UMNO's "Malay Malaysia" principle.

We were not meant to survive.

Yet we did. 

And we thrived. 

"Home" is a reminder of that. That we thrived against all odds. And a reminder that it can all come crashing down. That the odds can turn against us at any time.

So we remember our achievements with humility. We have achievements, and people may praise our home, and praise Singapore, and wonder at how all these has been done. And yes, we can all be a little proud, vicariously of our achievements. As long as we remember that it was not built in a day. It was not built for one man's glory, let alone our glory. 

In this, our natural inclination to be kiasu, kiasi, and kiaboh helps us. Those "values" keep us from being complacent or smug.

Home is a work in progress. We owe what we have to those who came before us, and we have a promise to build better for those who come after us. 

"Home" is a reminder of our debt, and our promise.

Happy National Day? We'll just be cautiously optimistic.