Early in the morning, I saw children going to school wearing the colors red and white. Did my students go to school today in red and white too?
National Day is something to look forward to every year. Apart from school concerts and the fact that you dont have to study on National Day Eve, you get an additional holiday from it too!
What's more, every student would be given a momento for National Day. Today I saw students going home from school with a pictorial book of Singapore's History. It must be an expensive book. I hope you will keep it properly, so that in the years to come, you would have something to show to your children when you have them =)
During my years as a student, I did not receive such expensive presents on National Day. The most I remembered of my National Day presents from the school was a book mark. And that's was all.
Therefore, I hope also that you will find the book you have in your hands now a treasure rather than just another book.
However, I love National Day not only for the presents I will get to receive but also it is my Nation's birthday.
This year, it marked the 40th birthday of my country's independence. We have ruled by ourselves for 40 great years. And we have come a long way from we were before.
These days, it is not uncommon for Singaporeans to know how to use a computer. In fact, in some kindergartens, they started to teach using computers already!
During my time, the frist computer I have got are the Apple Macintosh ones, whereby the screen is only black and green in color. I had the chance of playing some games like Dig Dug, Karate, Kamikaze and Pac-man.
Today, we play graphic intensive computer games that require you to upgrade your graphic card before you can play the game. If you are playing an interactive game, you must first get yourself a reliable internet connection otherwise you would lag behind the other players!
Perhaps it is because we have things too easy now, we never had to really work very hard for it, therefore we never treasure what we have.
When I went to a P5 camp this year in june, I saw a student wearing a particularly nice pair of shoes when we were about to go to the beach for our rafting exercise. I mentioned to her that her shoes were too nice to be spoiled by the seawater, she promptly replied me, "Its an old pair of shoes, if it is spoiled I can always ask my parents to buy me another one".
I find this behaviour appalling. Dont anybody have a sense of thriftiness now ? NO doubt it is an old pair of shoes, but there's no holes on it, it still looked so new and trendy, why spoil it? I am sure that pair of nice shoes she wore to the beach that day, costs more than a pair of Bata shoes - Shoes I used to wear to school when I was studying. Even so, I dont change my Bata Shoes, unless I wore out the sole ( that is, there is a hole in the sole) or there is a hole near my big toe.
Always remember, what we have now, we did not use to have before. Think it this way, if you weren't lucky enough to be borne a singapore citizen, but was borned a citizen of a third world country like in Africa, do you think you would still get to enjoy all these luxury items like the computers or even an additional pair of shoes?
I am always thankful of the fact that Singapore is my homeland, a place where I grew up in, a place where there is no war, there is no corruption, no major natural disaster and we have everything we need to get by our lives with.
Are you as glad as I am that I am a Singaporean?
