Celebrating the Singapore Spirit. Slogan for the 43rd NDP celebrations. Well, once again we have reached August 9, Singapore's birthday and its 43rd one at that. Like any other patriotic Singaporean, I here wish Singapore a happy birthday. Yeah. But after reading this year's slogan, I could not help but do some reflection over the slogan.

Celebrating the Singapore Spirit. So what exactly is the Singapore Spirit? From all the posters and advertisements, one can see our diverse culture and what-not as part of our Spirit, but that's the usual NE stuff we learn in school. Oh what our unique diversity, our melting-pot culture, our harmony between races...blah blah blah...all which while quite valid and indeed something to be proud of, do not really represent what I perceive to be the true Singapore Spirit.

According to dictionary.com, which has over 11 definitions for spirit, spirit, in this context, most probably means: an attitude or principle that inspires, animates, or pervades thought, feeling, or action. So the Singapore Spirit would be a spirit that inspires, animates, pervades thought, feeling or action throughout the whole of Singapore.

Now for those of you who know me, I'm a heartland kid. I may live in a condo, but just like any other heartland kid, my dad took me to kopitiams since I was young and I grew up visiting the shops, smells and sounds of the heartlands, which occupy 3/4 of Singapore? I'm not sure, but you can go check out the statistics. So what has this got to do with the Singapore Spirit? Well I think, that the Singapore Spirit cannot be found in advertisements, posters or what not. In fact, what the government demeans as a ugly part of Singapore in our strive to be a global city is actually part of our Singapore Spirit.

Racial Harmony? Fitting but not everyone embraces it, as can be seen from dozens of racist jokes in the educational institutions and therefore cannot be considered our Spirit. Global Citizen? Try explaining that to the older generations of Singaporeans. Striving to speaking proper English? Go to any heartland neighbourhood and listen to any of the conversations going on. Embracing the many diverse races and unique cultures that form part of Singapore? Idealistic but ultimately not representative.

So basically, what I feel truly represents the Singapore Spirit, is a desire for competition(You can call it kiasu-ism) and a good dose of realism and endurance for hard work to realize that competition and carry it out. You can see it in the mad rush for buses, the primary school registrations, etc. You can see it almost everywhere in Singapore. Even when your grandparents haggle over 3kg worth of fish's price you can see the desire to triumph over the other. Is that any surprise though? We were born into a chaotic time with little resources and of course, such demanding times would have molded us into a people less concerned with idealism and more concerned with realistic, economic issues and a strong desire for competition over such issues just in case we aren't accorded our fair share.

So, Happy Birthday Singapore! Celebrating the Singapore Spirit. 43 years of competition, realism and counting!