National Day Rally Speech

I missed out on the National Day Rally Speech due to my current location in Australia and the Olympic games in Beijing where our Singapore women's peddlers contest with China for the gold medals. No matter, i went online to read the transcript of our Prime Minister's speech today.

When i was young, i have never liked to listen to what our PM has to say. I would often run off to play games, watch movie or even read a book. It is until i was forced to listen to one of the speech and write a reflection about the speech in secondary school days. That speech was given by the previous PM, MM Goh. I have to say his speech changed way of thinking about Singapore and about my future. About what i want to do and what i can achieve with the help of the government. The next day, i started writing my reflections. It was suppose to be a 500 words essay but i submitted an essay that equates to four copies of the required word limit. My teacher said she was amazed at my reflections. But she warned me not to write that much the next time. Haha...

This time, i would not write that much about the speech. I have decided to keep my reflections to myself and remind myself of the goals i have been aiming for. It took me about one hour to complete reading the transcript. The only part that will drill deep inside me is this ending conclusion to the speech.


Ours is an improbable nation. We are a small country in an uncertain world, we always worry about the future, we never take anything for granted. Many people have put heart and soul into building what we have today. And through hard work and clear thinking, we've created something unique and something precious in Singapore, a home for all of us. Our forefathers have planted the trees which now provide the shade which we now enjoy. It's now our duty to plant trees and grow them, trees which will give hope and strength to a new generation. And you should do this not because you happen to be born here or because you happen to hold a red passport but because you believe in this mission, you believe in this ideal, you believe that Singapore is something special and worth fighting for. As Mr Rajaratnam said once, because "being Singaporean is not a matter of ancestry but of conviction and choice".


I know National Day has passed more than 9 days ago. But i have to say, being proud of my nationality is not just on that day itself, it is everyday of the year. Nothing comes closer than that...