National Day Letter 2024

A Singaporean letter on national identity

Forever

When I lived in Texas during my teenage years, I watched this old TV show called Friday Night Lights. It was a show that centered around a high school football team and included many coming-of-age themes.¹ I didn’t finish the show, but I remember a scene where the group of high school friends gathered around a fireplace, leisurely sipping on bottles of beer while hashing out their divergent futures. One character goes on to say the lines I remember: Texas forever.

Having been fortunate enough to live there, his fireside declaration is largely representative of how some Americans and most Texans view the great state of Texas.² It’s a huge state, larger than France and twice the size of Japan. It’s a similar story when it comes to economic heft. If Texas was an independent country, it would top the charts to become the world’s eighth largest economy, ahead of Canada and Russia.³ Other than the numbers and number of beans, there’s the distinct Texas culture and reputation. There’s the Southern hospitality, wide open spaces, and (the image of) rugged cowboys roaming under deep blue skies.⁴

If a Singaporean said “Singapore forever”, would she be laughed at? Would we be confused on what she meant? In Friday Night Lights, the character who declared “Texas forever” had briefly talked about God, football, and friends living large in Texas. Not a lot of specifics shared, but the character was underage drinking, so I’ll cut him some slack.

Staying on the topic of an actor delivering a memorable line, former US President Reagan spoke of a letter written to him in January 1989. As part of his last speech as President, he shared the contents of the letter: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”⁵

Before my family and I moved to Texas, we went through a cultural training session.⁶ The instructor presented on American culture and told us what to expect in Texas. I remember her warning us about hurricane threats and what we should do if one was forecasted to head our way. The other thing I remember was her recommendation to not conflate race and nationality. She didn’t put it like that, but she reminded us that people of many different races can be American and it would be inappropriate for us to refer only to white Americans as Americans.

Singapore is not America, but that letter and that line of reasoning rhymes. Like America and unlike most of our ASEAN friends, the Singaporean identity is not dependent on race or religion.

If you start a society on the basis of “I am the majority. This is Chinese country or this is Malay country,” then we are going to run into very serious difficulties.

PM Lee Kuan Yew in August 1966

The great experiment and the improbable nation

America has often been presented as an experiment. With their declaration of independence, their founding fathers signed what could have been their death certificates.⁷ Choosing to openly defy Britain and brand yourself as a traitor against one of the most powerful countries on earth.

For America, that spirit continues to live on today. Self-evident truths printed onto 200 copies in July 1776, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” continue to reverberate today.⁸

Former US President Obama, while still a senator in March 2008, made the defining speech of his presidential campaign with words first printed on parchment in 1787. Words that he would eventually swear an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend” as US President.

“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union…” — 221 years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars, statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

Senator Barack Obama in March 2008

My point is, theirs is a nation where citizens can draw from a overflowing well of ideas to articulate what it means to be an American. Reaching 60 years of nationhood, what can Singaporeans draw from? What are the ties that bind us?

I don’t have an immediate answer. But I know what cannot be the answer. We cannot rely on the ancient, unalterable binds imposed by our race. Most Singaporeans agree. Only 19% of Singaporeans answered that being part of the majority ethnic group is very important to being truly Singaporean. Significantly lower than the 80% in Thailand, 78% in Cambodia, 75% in Indonesia, and 69% in Malaysia.⁹ Neither can we turn to the divine. Many religions espouse a comprehensive doctrine and provide guidance to its followers in this life (and for some, the next). Followers of the same religion would therefore share similar worldviews. In many countries, this creates a natural foundation which to build a national identity upon. Singapore cannot do this and should never try to do so with any one specific religion. It cannot be that to be Singaporean is to be a follower of X or Y religion.

For a country to make progress, we must have a strong sense of belonging to one another, of caring for one another. We cannot separate the communities living in Singapore, say Malays in Geylang Serai, and the Chinese in Chinatown, Indians in Serangoon Gardens. If we do that and the communities do not mix, each community will be isolated from another. There will be no sense of relationship. That will spell for big trouble for Singapore. If we are not careful, over time, tension will even build up between the communities and the country can even break up.

PM Goh Chok Tong in 1991 National Day Rally

That’s the easy part done. Knowing what does not and cannot bind us. The hard part now. What ought to?

Some people might bring up the fact that Singapore’s passport is often ranked as the world’s strongest and then try to include that as part of our national identity. While the strength of our passport is an impressive feat, I don’t believe it’s a suitable addition to our national identity. If this is something that binds us, it’s a fickle and thin thread. It’s a ranking that fluctuates monthly and surely, using administrative papers to define us is far from inspiring.

Maybe it’s our food? I love Singapore’s food as much as the next Singaporean, but that answer instinctively doesn’t sit right with me. I prefer to define the Singapore identity using my mind and not solely with my hungry stomach. At most, it’s a part of the Singapore identity, but not the core. What then is the core?

Tropical living

A few weeks ago, I was walking with a good friend on a sweltering hot July afternoon. With beads of sweat accumulating on his forehead, he remarked to me that Singapore is a tropical country. Feeling the sun beat down on us and the humidity suffocate my shirt, I saw no reason to disagree. He went on to explain that everything grows in the tropics.¹⁰ And he said this in a resigned manner. That our ancestors chose Singapore because they had nowhere else to go. I heard him, but I countered that we can reinterpret his observation. It’s possible to grow anything in the tropics. There’s plenty of rainfall and enough sun for everyone. Anyone can choose to sink roots here.

True, loyal and faithful

At the start of this letter, I described a scene where a Singaporean says “Singapore forever” and then explored how we might react.

A few years ago, I raised my right hand in a windowless room with a Singapore flag draped in the corner and said: “I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Republic of Singapore, and that I will observe the laws and be a true, loyal and faithful citizen of Singapore.”¹¹ The Commissioner of Oaths seated in front of me, as for her reaction, she seemed rather unimpressed.

Happy National Day Singapore.

Comments? Text or email me.

I wasn’t planning to write this much about America, but one slides down rabbit holes when researching. I have more to write about Singapore. Like what I would like to stay the same, what I would like to change, and to dig a little deeper on our Singapore identity — to have a fuller answer to the question of the ties that bind.

7 minute read. Writing time: not tracked. Editing time: 58 minutes.

First published:

August 17, 2024

Last updated:

August 26, 2024

Footnotes

1
Even though I’m no longer at a coming-of-age age, I still find myself drawn to these themes today.
2
While every other US state can try to preface their state name with “the great state”, in my mind, it only feels natural for Texas. The great state of South Dakota doesn’t have the same ring to it.
3
Accurate as of June 2024 and sourced from the Texas Comptroller.
4
While living in Texas, I attended one rodeo and one NASCAR race.
5
Sourced from his Presidential Library. Debatable whether the claim is accurate, but I would say it doesn’t matter for the purposes of American identity.
6
I’m not sure how else to call it.
7
While writing this, I found out that some delegates had refused to sign the Declaration.
8
Sourced from US National Archives. There is beauty in how the “unalienable Rights” are given. As I was taught, since these Rights are given by their Creator, no man can ever take them away. They are powerless against their Creator to do such a thing.
9
Sourced from Pew Research Center as reported in The Straits Times.
10
It was either this or he said that everything rots in the tropics.
11
Sourced from the ICA.