I was reading about this survey done by the World Economic Forum and I felt this surge of patriotism. We are ranked at number 5 out of 134 countries in terms of global competitiveness. FYI, US scored 1, Hong Kong 11, Australia 18, New Zealand 24. And in case you're interested, here's the link to all 500 pages worth of survey.
We, Singaporeans, sometimes don't realise how lucky we have it as compared to a whole list of other countries.
English is our first language and that automatically gives us a headstart as compared to other Asian countries. It's so safe in Singapore that you can run out for a midnight snack and not have to worry about your safety. Here in NZ, there has been a whole host of stabbings over the last few months. Just the other day, this young man was stabbed to death just a few metres from the building that I work in during rush hour. Can you beat that? Right in the heart of CBD during rush hour! In AU, it's not uncommon to hear of car chases on the radio. People who are caught speeding actually speed off in their cars when the police try to pull them over, and the police has to give chase. Try that in Singapore, they'll take away your license and throw you in jail. In AU, they'll just slap you on the wrist and tell you not to repeat the offence.
On the news the other day, a dairy owner in NZ was robbed. He defended himself with a hockey stick. (Good for him!) But now the police is charging the dairy owner with assault, saying that he shouldn't have taken matters into his own hands and hit out at the robbers. How bloody absurd. Well it happened. Not in Singapore but elsewhere in the world.
We've got good education system, we have good values where we save, we take care of our elderly, we work hard for our money, we don't live off the state for welfare. We have a competitive economy, low unemployment rates, a sensible government. We have tough laws but safe streets. They call us a fine city but hell, I can live with that if I don't have to worry about someone spitting on my foot in the MRT (China), or peeing on the sidewalk (India) or having to deal with vandalism or litterbugs. We don't have to worry about political instability (since there is only 1 ruling party! Ha!) and coups, we don't have to be afraid of the military massacring the people (Mugabe and his stupid generals).
Yes I agree that we can be rude and ungracious, we not socially conscious, not too environmentally friendly, we don't recycle, we use plastic bags like there's no tomorrow, we're aggressive drivers. We should focus more on a well-rounded education, have better work-life balance, be more aware of our political situation and what's going on in the world. But we're getting there.
We, Singaporeans, sometimes don't realise how lucky we have it as compared to a whole list of other countries.
English is our first language and that automatically gives us a headstart as compared to other Asian countries. It's so safe in Singapore that you can run out for a midnight snack and not have to worry about your safety. Here in NZ, there has been a whole host of stabbings over the last few months. Just the other day, this young man was stabbed to death just a few metres from the building that I work in during rush hour. Can you beat that? Right in the heart of CBD during rush hour! In AU, it's not uncommon to hear of car chases on the radio. People who are caught speeding actually speed off in their cars when the police try to pull them over, and the police has to give chase. Try that in Singapore, they'll take away your license and throw you in jail. In AU, they'll just slap you on the wrist and tell you not to repeat the offence.
On the news the other day, a dairy owner in NZ was robbed. He defended himself with a hockey stick. (Good for him!) But now the police is charging the dairy owner with assault, saying that he shouldn't have taken matters into his own hands and hit out at the robbers. How bloody absurd. Well it happened. Not in Singapore but elsewhere in the world.
We've got good education system, we have good values where we save, we take care of our elderly, we work hard for our money, we don't live off the state for welfare. We have a competitive economy, low unemployment rates, a sensible government. We have tough laws but safe streets. They call us a fine city but hell, I can live with that if I don't have to worry about someone spitting on my foot in the MRT (China), or peeing on the sidewalk (India) or having to deal with vandalism or litterbugs. We don't have to worry about political instability (since there is only 1 ruling party! Ha!) and coups, we don't have to be afraid of the military massacring the people (Mugabe and his stupid generals).
Yes I agree that we can be rude and ungracious, we not socially conscious, not too environmentally friendly, we don't recycle, we use plastic bags like there's no tomorrow, we're aggressive drivers. We should focus more on a well-rounded education, have better work-life balance, be more aware of our political situation and what's going on in the world. But we're getting there.
In the meantime, we should try to stop complaining so much about Singapore and what it's lacking in. Afterall, we've got it so much better than most countries.
1 comment:
poignant points.. well said. Often its ironically Singaporeans living overseas who see the nice things we take for granted back here..
NZ has its beautiful rolling hills & countryside straight out of desktop wallpapers (im refraining from the cliche LOTR reference), and Singapore on the other hand has all the awesome things you described above. Till the day somebody finds that perfect utopia & convinces us otherwise, we'll still proudly call Singapore home, no place like it..!
..now where's that plate of rojak and wanton mee :-D
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