Tuesday, October 09, 2007

National Identity.

Again, taking time out from doing the million and one things I have to do (and still have not done) to write on something which I care about.

Taking a leaf from mrbrown, whom I read almost once every two days, there was an interesting article that was published in a Malaysian newspaper defining what a Singaporean is. Full article can be perused here.

So what is a Singaporean? I'm no longer surprised at the way the government engages in statistics wordplay; I think it's a given norm and so SG-gahmen for them to do that. It's like you expect them to do something like that already.

But rather, instead of getting angry at the "manipulation", I just wish to remind everyone of one thing. Singapore has its roots as an immigrant society. Although all of the current generation are born and bred here, just 2 generations ago our grandparents traversed the great south china seas, the straits of malacca and the Indian Ocean to come here and sink their roots.

Two generations ago - now that's not very far back. The Americans had their European roots at least 5 or 6 generations ago. And you still hear Americans proudly proclaim when they meet European people - "Hey! Where are you from? Oh, Italy? Yeah that's where my great-great-great-grandma was from! Cool!" But you seldom hear a Singaporean say "Oh, you're from China? That's where my grandma is from! Cool!"

Instead, we identify ourselves as being Singaporean, and Chinese. And then we proceed to explain (if we were talking to foreigners) that Singapore is made up of 4 big races and English is the common language and we grew up bilingual (that fact always impresses them, hahaha). Sometimes we forget that 2 generations was not that long ago.

My point is, yes, Singapore needs the foreign talent to keep the engine of the economy chugging along. However, the concept of national identity which the government has so painstakingly built up along the way and tried to inculcate in our young through song and dance, fireworks and, a rather harsh word - propaganda - will inevitably be eroded away. Soon, being a Singaporean might mean merely a geographical reference - "I work in Singapore, so I am a Singaporean." It's like saying you're Asian when actually Asia is such a vast geographical area that the term "Asian" is so difficult to define that it's hard to speak of any so-called "Asian pride".

I'm sure that all our foreign talents love Singapore and would contribute to the economy (and they also pay their taxes because they are Singapore tax residents and Singapore taxes on a territorial basis! muahaha). However, maybe we should re-write our social studies textbook and say that now, Singapore is still an immigrant society. The 4 big races of old are replaced by an amalgamation of people from all over (although the Chinese and Indian bits still stay strong). As easily as people can come in, Singaporeans themselves can also easily leave. What then, will become of national identity?

I guess that is not the concern of the government - national identity. After all, it is only a vehicle to promote social cohesion and racial harmony. Since we have both, as foreigners probably don't give two hoots about other races to bother conflicting with them, we naturally have social cohesion and racial harmony.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, who will call Singapore home? The one who grew up here? Or the one who works and lives here now, but has his family and friends in another country? Many foreigners I speak to always say "oh, i'm going home for the holidays". Hmm, now where does that leave Singapore? A very precarious situation, at the same time sad.

Maybe next time I travel, instead of saying "I'm Singaporean", I will say "I live in Singapore."

Mrs Brightside at 9:45 am

{xoxo}