its national day!
i've been thinking about netional days. and i suddenly realised how i've had three great national days in a row. in primary 5 was of course the nE show...my first time in the national stadium! and eveyrone was so enthu and we felt suddenly patriotic. and for the first time in my life i saw fireworks so close!

then there was primary 6, and we were at priscilla's house. and i remember it drizzled but we dashed out to the playground to watch the fireworks from atop the slide. it was de second time i saw fireworks and i was suddenly so glad to be part of singapore.

and of course there was last year. when cedar was in ndp! it was one of the awesomest times of my life. i didn't actually dance on that day and its a long story on that one which i dun wanna take the pains of recounting. but it was still awesome to stand and root for all your frens, and wish them the best in their 5 minutes of national fame. then there was watching the fireworks from the indoor stadium....man it was the closest i have ever gone! i remember it was alethea and i, and we stood and stared at the glinting fireworks in amazement-- it was almost like magic! and then we looked at singapore, our island city, alight and dotted with glowing pinpoints. and then we felt like this was home, and this was where we would always be. part of cedar. part of singapore. part of my HOME.

and now this night. 39 years old, singapore. i'm sitting at home tapping this out while watching a tribute to goh chok tong. can't say i dun care dat he's stepping down. i've prac grown up listening to his rally speeches, seeing him on the national tv screen. i think it's gonna be strange, because my idea of pm has always been pm goh. so deres one big change. and then i look at singapore. such a diverse numbe rof races! how could i never realise the fascination and surprise that so many peoples could live together. and then i look at how i always complain...school is so stressing, the weather is so hot, singapore is so tiny, singapore has not enough anime, singapore is so pathetic and stuff is expensive. then i look again at singpore, especially in the night, and on this day, and sometime sother days, it looks so beautiful. and i feel strangely ecstatic to know that hey, look! see that tiny, cool, awesomely great little island ntion over there? yeah! singapore! thats my home!

so here's to you singapore. thank you for making me part of you/ thank you for taking half the time of the other countries to advance to this stage. thank you for what you've made me. thank you for the way you made my life cool.

thank you for being my home. jia. this is where i won't be alone.for this is where i know it's home.

Happy Birthday Singapore!