go click the image up there to enlarge the post angelia wrote on her blog regarding national identity . or you can click here to read it first before coming back here (: i thought it was a rather good topic to discuss and since we're doing singapore history in history lessons right now , it wouldn't hurt to think about it . no harm intended . if it is offensive , please tell me and i'll change it or something . it's all in the name of identifying certain issues (: right , so this is my take on it : What is Singapore's national identity ? Do we even have one ? I am sure that many people have heard of the not-so-recent-but-still-ongoing issue regarding the national costume Miss Singapore Universes have to wear to the international competition . We do not have a proper national costume like how other countries do , for example Malaysia's a baju kurong and Indonesia has the kebaya .What about Singapore ? Honestly , there's no denying that we do not have a national costume that immediately identifies with our country , and there was a huge debate going on a while back about how we do not have a national identity that was brought up due to the national costume issue . Also , Angelia pointed out that with the large influx of foreigners , our national identity might be slowly eroding away and whether or not we even had a national identity .Right , I disagree with the point that we do not have a national identity . National Identity does not equal to a symbol ( a national costume in this case ) that is synonymous to the country . Rather , it is a behavior or a special character we have that defines who we are as a nation . I believe that all countries have an identity because every country has their own special way of life , and of course , Singapore is no exception .So , in my opinion , our National Identity is our diverse range of people living here . Since the 19th century , Singapore has been a place where foreigners come and make a living and build a career . Therefore , I object to the rhetorical question Angelia's posed regarding our fading national identity due to the many foreigners coming here . Because they are actually the ones that contribute to the uniqueness of what Singapore is today - a country with races living together . Personally , Singapore's diverse range of ethic groups and the fact that we are able to live together is actually something that makes me really proud of . And a National Identity is something that citizens should be proud of .Some might argue that the 19th century immigrants cannot be compared to the foreigners flocking in now as last time , Singapore had no identity , no characteristic that defined us and was just a place people could come and work and make a living . It was not a home for most immigrants . But now , there are true Singaporeans born in Singapore . However I feel that there is no difference , no difference at all . The foreigners that come in this modern day might chose to settle down and have Singaporean babies . They would integrate into our society and will contribute even more to the already wide diversity of people living in Singapore .And that leads me to my next point . Diversity . Are the different races truly living in harmony here ? In actual fact , no . We may appear to , with no racial riots happening as did in the past . But there is a certain extent of discrimination or on a lighter note , differentiation . Not guilty of such an act ? Think again . Think about how you used to tell racist jokes at a point of time when you were in primary school . No harm is done , everyone forgets about it with a little laugh , sometimes quite hysterical , but the point is that no one sees the severity of such things .It goes to show that people do have an issue with the colour of the skin or the language one speaks . Everyone is human , of the same class . However, there is still quite an obvious difference and we cannot deny it . We can attempt to ignore this fact but it is very difficult . If Singapore is able to maintain her current state of racial harmony , then i think it would be quite a good thing already . I belong to the majority race in Singapore and do not know how it feels like to be in the minority ethic groups . However , what i know is that what we really need to do now is to open our arms and extend it to foreigners who come here to make a living .
okay ! i guess that ends my discussion with myself on singapore's national identity and diversity . i'm not very pleased with myself because i think i went quite off topic but yeah . currently i'm reading UNCLE TOM'S CABIN , in which abraham lincoln said to the author " So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war ! " . the book refers to the book i'm currently reading and the great war refers to no , not world war two but the Civil War , which is the war that happened in America regarding namely the blacks and the whites .
it's quite an interesting book , charting the progress from slavery to freedom of fugitives who escape the chains of American chattel slavery and other stuff . i'm not done with reading it yet but i can already feel the discrimination and anguish the African Americans feel . it's truly quite saddening .
on a lighter note , there's no school tomorrow ! (: going back to hips yay ;DD
love ,
liyin .
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