At 40
Slightly worn, still strong
Time for counting blessings & re-commitment for a better Singapore; politics can come later. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Aug 7, 2005

THE FLAGS are out in the residential estates, banners bedeck office buildings and Singaporeans are again gearing up for the parade of the year.

Amidst exploding fireworks and screaming jet fighters overhead, flag-waving crowds will celebrate the nation's special 40th anniversary on Tuesday with a mixture of joy and worry.

Tens of thousands of Singaporeans, clothed in national colours, will turn the Padang into a sea of red. Six thousand of them will be performers.

These stirring parades have become an annual event since they were started in 1966 to instill pride and love of country and project its progress to the world.

No one really knows its origin. Some believe it may been inspired by the huge flag-bedecked rallies at Beijing's Tien An Men in the early communist years.

On this symbolic 40th year, things are bigger, better, with a few mini-parades spilling into the heartland and with related festivals spread over a week.

Traditionally, some of the region's rich and talented from Hong Kong to Indonesia are invited to attend as special guests, some of whom have eventually become investors or permanent residents.

Singaporeans who have long been working abroad have returned to catch the spirit of the occasion.

It's not just carnival, of course. It is also a time for reflection. Singapore is in a state of transition that is both painful and challenging.

This year will feature a small group of special guests. These are foreign-born citizens and permanent residents who were born in Japan, Korea, India, China, and Britain, etc. Some have been featured on local TV explaining why they opted to make Singapore their home.

They point to one of Singapore's biggest changes during the past 10 years, a large influx of foreigners who were allowed to settle here to make up for the low birthrates.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the present Singapore - and especially its future - will depend on attracting enough foreigners of the right kind.

The government envisages a booming Singapore of six to seven million people by 2030, up from 4.2 million now. It will need a sustained annual inflow of foreigners bigger than the 35,000 babies born last year.

It is a headache for Lee Hsien Loong, who became Prime Minister last August. The "foreign talent" policy has stirred much resentment from Singaporeans who fear losing out on jobs.

Others, however, agree that without it, the long-term future of Singapore, like that of Japan, will be one of decline. Both their peoples are ageing and declining rapidly

For Singapore, this has not been the best of times. It is facing the risks of terrorist bombs and new deadly diseases like SARS.

Despite a steady erosion of rentals and wages, the cost of doing business here remains relatively high.

Singaporean lives have become less rosy. Affluent and shielded all these years, they are taking unemployment a lot harder than people elsewhere would under the same circumstances.

It has undermined confidence. Horror stories - real or exaggerated - frequently appear on the Net about the new poor struggling to put their lives back together.

The latest evolves around a recent Channel 8 profile of a former bank vice president who is now cleaning tables in a food court.

Another shocker was the revelation that the four people just arrested for selling pirated tapes online included two with Master degrees and a PhD student. That all four were employed was lost to the gossipers.

There are, of course, many blessings to count. Under the circumstances Singaporeans remain financially trim, a middle-class society, which is slowly loosening up on Lee Kuan Yew's regulated past.

The biggest asset growth is the vast rise in Singaporeans' knowledge and Internet savvy. An island without natural resources, Singapore depends entirely on its people.

The government has loosened up on society's regulations that annoyed many youths.

One correspondent put it this way. "Singaporeans are seeing HBO's Sex and the City on TV. Actors may utter four-letter words on stage. Opposition parties can gather without police permission - as long as they do it indoors."

Singaporeans are among the most connected people in the world. The web has changed lifestyles and world-views on many things.

At age 40, one of Singapore's biggest self-doubts is whether its people - despite national service - are committed to the nation or treat it like a hotel. The number of people who migrate is increasing.

Others ask: What will life be 10 years from now? Can it survive for the next 50 years?

The views are mixed. Some believe that Singapore's prospect for the next decade will be bleak as it struggles to remain competitive and to mitigate against white-collar high-tech jobs shifting to China and India.

Many, however, are less pessimistic.

"We may not be the tiger in Asia, but it's not as gloomy as some of you may think!" one letter said.

Another writer declared, "Singapore needs to be a world-class innovator, not a follower. People here need to develop a sense of passion."

A national identity after 40 years? Too soon, most Singaporeans say. "It'll need at least 100 years."

Jiaw Lim added, "Singapore is unique in the world of today. It is its size and success that makes it unique."

(This article written for The Sunday Star, Aug 7, 2005)