National Day

Mom's back from her Europe trip! Mmm lots of Swicc chocs, and new age Swiss Knices called Swiss Cards, which you can fit into a wallet so you'll have no excuse not to be prepared for anything from now on =P Many souvenir-worthy things, like magnets and teaspoons with place names engraved on them and a Russian doll and of course, hundreds of photos! Switzerland is a beautiful place indeed. Their urban planning rocks...blending a village into a backdrop of sheer cliffs was a striking achievement. And Mom managed to go on a white-water rafting expedition in Switzerland, which looked uber cool!

And of course there were pics of Stratford-upon-Avon. I need to make my way there someday...go on a sort of pilgrimage. I want to see that park with the Shakespeare statue and all his characters surrounding him! I have a feeling that there's a really profound meaning behind having Shakespeare looming over his creations on his stone pedestal, but right now I'm not inspired enough to work it out.

And London! It's such an inviting place, every time I see it in photos. Seems like it's impossible to have a bad photo angle in London, because everywhere you turn there's interesting architecture, a statue or someone doing something weird. It's a world away from Singapore...modern, yet not cramped. Seeing the pictures of the park outside Buckingham Palace, the one with the column that Thong gushes over, I'm struck by the sheer amount of space there is in that city. And the clear blue sky, and the bright sunshine. I guess the tour group struck it lucky by touring the city on a perfect day.

I want more than ever now to go to London. You know that moment when I imagined myself in Yale and tears welled up in my eyes? Well, I had another epiphany moment when I imagined myself on the Thames. Hehheh I really hope I can have the chance to go there...

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National Day yesterday was surprisingly good. By a strange twist, I did end up hosting someone...somewhat. On a lark decided to ask Soph whether she'd like to watch the fireworks live, and as things would have it we ended up at Esplanade at six something waiting for the air show to start. Hehheh, watching Soph getting all hyped up over the tanks trundling down the road reminded me of that year when the whole family staked out Changkat Changi Sec Sch to wait for the army procession to roll past as part of the National Day celebration - that was five years ago, if I remember correctly.

In the end I do think we were extremely lucky last night. As it worked out, my getting lost on the way to the Arts House two weeks ago paid off, since I knew the whole sequence of the air show, and was able to time our arrival at Esplanade. Was pointing out the planes to her as they soared overhead, and she was positively spinning around trying to record everything on her camera =P And then after the planes had finished showing off their afterburners and maneouvres, we went to Marina Square to grab some dinner. Found a food court at the top of the building totally by chance, and decided to call in there.

The Food Loft of Marina Square has an outdoor terrace overlooking the mouth of the River, which meant it had a perfect view of where the fireworks would start to go off. Which meant that the terrace was stuffed full of people half an hour in advance. Which meant that there was no chance of getting in there. But when I was helping her to buy a drink, happened to walk past the glass doors, and just as I was passing in front, the first of the fireworks spurted up from the Padang. Naturally I was disinclined to deliver the drink, having found myself in the perfect spot totally by accident =P

After that first bout of fireworks, we quickly abandoned our table at the food court, intent on heading outside to the big flight of stairs leading up to the shopping centre to get a better vantage point. And as luck would have it, we ended up on a raised outdoor walkway thing outside the shopping centre. We didn't manage to make it to the stairs before the fireworks really started pouring up. The cool thing was that where we happened to be standing at the moment gave us a perfect view.

The fireworks were very nice. The golden shower was really pretty...as if there was a golden cloud in the sky. And they reused the nifty star-shaped fireworks this year. And there was a real whopper of an explosion that created a huge red fireball with a deafening bang that drew shouts from the crowd around us. And after the two bouts of fireworks ended, the crowd burst into cheers and claps, and I couldn't resist whooping along with them =P

Yes...the crowd is very infectious. At Esplanade, when the planes roared past, there was this family behind us who had two little kids who were waving and yelling goodbye to the aircraft. And when you're pounded by the roaring jet engines, you also feel like screaming back at them. Soph remarked that Singaporeans are more patriotic than many people she knows, and I'll have to agree. It's strange, really, given all the griping that we do normally. You'd expect to see fewer people wearing white and red on National Day. But the whole city area was flooded with people in national colours. Granted, most of them were families with small children, but still, you get the feeling that they really do feel proud about this little island. It may be that they're easily taken in by the National Day propaganda and pizazz, but seeing all of them enjoying themselves last evening, I can't say for sure that it's a bad thing at all.

Me...I let myself be taken in by the spirit, even though I know quite well that it's all propaganda, even though I know that Singapore has lots of defects behind the shiny glitzy National Day facade. But knowing it is one thing, you can still believe in life on this little island regardless. This is still my home, and this is still a good place to live, and the whole setup is definitely constructed to rouse a people that is predisposed to be roused in this way. Tanks, planes, red and white, songs, fireworks exploding directly ahead, and above everything hangs an actual crescent moon in the clear night sky (though we counted only four, not five, visible stars). How can anyone not be affected by such a display?

Hehheh, maybe part of it is also because Soph was so obviously delighted, especially by all th boy-stuff, the military hardware =P It's always like this...when I have someone to introduce to the city and to National Day, I feel more patriotic and proud. Because there actually are things worth being proud about. When the fireworks were bursting over Marina Bay, and the colours were reflecting off the towers of Shenton Way, and the dome of the Supreme Court gleamed serenely to one side, and in front you can see the spiked roof of Esplanade and beyond that you know there is the bold white sweep of the Esplanade Bridge, how is it that you don't feel proud? One needs to be proud of what one has...to take a reasonable perspective, before one can properly work towards something that we don't have yet.

Later, hanging about at a cordoned-off traffic junction waiting for the crowds to clear, we could hear the Singapore Swing party getting under way with Gurmit Singh again safely and solidly at the helm, and we could see the spotlights playing off the towers downtown and the Swissotel (those people who had a room in that hotel last night must have had a first-class view! All through the parade the tower was repeatedly lit up by camera flashes). And it struck me...there was a kind of symmetry between what we were discussing (universities, and London in particular), the splendid scene in front of us, and the National Days of the past. On some level I expect that there will always be that same thrill. No matter how far I go (and I do want to go to London), I expect every 9th of August I will have some kind of patriotic surge. Maybe this time next year I'd be calling it "homesickness".

But yeah...all in all a wonderful night. Things have a way of working out on their own...

pondered by phoenican @ 10.8.05