Well, Singapore’s national day is coming soon. It’s on the 9th August and on that day we celebrate the birth of our nation. Yes, we have come far and we Singaporeans have build up Singapore to what it is now. A lot of our parents and our peers toll day and night with sweat and blood to achieve what nobody believed Singapore can achieve. For that, I am proud. I would like to repeat that I am proud of what SINGAPOREANS themselves have achieved. It is not a single individual or a single entity that is solely responsible for Singapore’s success, no matter what our newspapers and media tells us. Collectively, we are the ones that make Singapore as it is today.

However, even with National Day coming soon, I don’t see many residents hanging flags. In the past, I remembered seeing a lot of Singaporeans hanging the Singapore flag outside their flats. In fact, I once saw an entire housing estate with nearly every HDB block hanging flags in every single unit. No, they are not done by the RC or by some government agency but by the residents themselves. Hmmm….what a difference a decade can make. When I came back from work yesterday, I had a look at my block and there are about 4-5 flags out of about 150 units hanging currently. Sad but true.

Perhaps Singaporeans are too busy trying to survive than to worry about hanging flags and looking nationalistic? Perhaps most of the housing units are owned or rented out to foreigners who don’t like the Singapore flag? Perhaps the cost of flags is so expensive now due to inflation that most of us can’t afford a flag? Perhaps Singaporeans feel that Singapore today is NOT what they envisioned and they are expressing their disgust by NOT hanging the flag? Perhaps Singaporeans worry that hanging the Singapore flag will somehow create another round of inflation just like raising of their wages? Perhaps Singaporeans are no longer proud to be Singaporeans? Perhaps Singaporeans are afraid that by hanging the flag, they are painting a big red cross for Mas Selemat, the JI leader whom the government allowed to escape, to target them? Or perhaps all the Singaporean women have became maids in other countries and thus there are no one left to hang the flags? Who knows?

And yes, hanging the flag doesn’t mean that you love the country. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can hang the flag, even those who seek to destroy our country from the inside can hang the flag.