The power of the National Anthem
It is 2008 - Wishing one and all a Healthy and Successful Year ahead.
As we move into our daily grind and slowly forget the parties of the past few weeks, I would like to bring some attention to a bit of National Pride.
Please refer to the article by Mr Adam LeBor that was published in The Straits Times on 20070619.
Here is link to the article on another blog - http://ramblingcitizen.blogspot.com/2008/01/let-all-israelis-sing-anthem.html
In a year which will see lots of changes - USA is an election year, Taiwan is an election year, China hosts the Olympic, North Korea will hopefully finally arrest their nuclear ambitions ... we, as global citizens, will continue to witness pain and suffering. Either physically through natural calamities, economically through the fall out of the so-called sub-prime crisis, or mentally through the ever present conflicts throughout the world brought about by political contests of will.
The articles previously mentioned discusses Israel and how changing a single word in its current National Anthem may create an environment that is more inclusive to all citizens within its boundaries.
This led me to reflect on how our "little red dot" took the path less travelled and from the very beginning included everyone in the Anthem and the Pledge. The Anthem was written by Encik Zubir Said - a Malay, and the Pledge was penned by Mr Rajaratnam.
Fast forward 40 years since independence, we have new Citizens and even Permanent Residents claiming to get goosebumps when they hear the Anthem and recite the pledge. While Singaporeans may feign indifference - it is a unifying force when we as a nation stand together on August 9 each year (for those who don't know - it is Singapore's National Day aka Independence Day).
So a new year wish of mine is that all that are affiliated with Singapore: citizens young and old, Permanent Residents and anyone who loves Singapore, to remember that we are working for an all inclusive country and love your neighbour as your own family.
Cheers!
As we move into our daily grind and slowly forget the parties of the past few weeks, I would like to bring some attention to a bit of National Pride.
Please refer to the article by Mr Adam LeBor that was published in The Straits Times on 20070619.
Here is link to the article on another blog - http://ramblingcitizen.blogspot.com/2008/01/let-all-israelis-sing-anthem.html
In a year which will see lots of changes - USA is an election year, Taiwan is an election year, China hosts the Olympic, North Korea will hopefully finally arrest their nuclear ambitions ... we, as global citizens, will continue to witness pain and suffering. Either physically through natural calamities, economically through the fall out of the so-called sub-prime crisis, or mentally through the ever present conflicts throughout the world brought about by political contests of will.
The articles previously mentioned discusses Israel and how changing a single word in its current National Anthem may create an environment that is more inclusive to all citizens within its boundaries.
This led me to reflect on how our "little red dot" took the path less travelled and from the very beginning included everyone in the Anthem and the Pledge. The Anthem was written by Encik Zubir Said - a Malay, and the Pledge was penned by Mr Rajaratnam.
Fast forward 40 years since independence, we have new Citizens and even Permanent Residents claiming to get goosebumps when they hear the Anthem and recite the pledge. While Singaporeans may feign indifference - it is a unifying force when we as a nation stand together on August 9 each year (for those who don't know - it is Singapore's National Day aka Independence Day).
So a new year wish of mine is that all that are affiliated with Singapore: citizens young and old, Permanent Residents and anyone who loves Singapore, to remember that we are working for an all inclusive country and love your neighbour as your own family.
Cheers!
posted by Global Citizen at 5:27 AM
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