Thursday, May 11, 2006

And life goes on...; National pledge and anthem

The same sentence, of reason and rationality (under the guise of "helicopter vision"/"looking far ahead") trumping over passion and emotion.

"Let's just be friends. Going the other way will only lead us down eventually to a path of separation, heartbreak, pain and disappointment, and finally depression."

世界上最远的距离不是天涯海角,
是我就在你身边我却不能说我爱你”


The complete poem? is found here. Someone else blogged about this too.

Current mood: shattered

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At a (non-Singaporean) friend's birthday dinner yesterday, someone wanted to sing Majulah Singapura. (To impress the Indonesian chicks girls with his almost non-existent knowledge of Malay.) One problem: he only remembered the first line. For the other 2 of us who spent years in the Singapore system, we weren't any better with the National Anthem.

I could only recite the pledge by singing one of the National Day songs! Can I still call myself a Singaporean?

How many of you still remember the lyrics by heart years after leaving school? Not me. I don't even understand the meaning of the song. (Save your saliva if you are suggesting that I go read the English translation.) Our National Language is Malay, but what percentage of the population understands it?

MAJULAH SINGAPURA
Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura
Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

1 comment:

-ben said...

Chins up, pal. Take it from a veteran (hyuk! hyuk!), unless both parties are as committed to leaving the disneyland-with-a-death-penalty, there isn't going to be an amicable ending. Either one party will feel resentful at having to return like a frog to the well, after tasting the world beyond it, or the other will feel lonely and isolated in the new land.

Recycling a line I wrote more than a year ago, in the depths of despair,

"Even the master of despair, Nick Cave is optimistic, 'Sorrow has its natural end.'"

Cheers.