So, a particular video has been circulating around social media websites and it has ruffled the feathers of many. 

For those who don't know what I'm referring to, it's a video about the Singapore representative of Kpop Starhunt 2013 dissing Singapore. sorta.

Here it is

You know what? I agree. Some of the things she's said, I agree. Singapore, occasionally, feels like a very suffocating place for me. Why? Simply because I am not particularly academically talented. I'm not bad. I'm in a respectable course, in a decent school. My grades aren't perfect, but I'm not failing. But still, I feel suffocated sometimes. I feel like if I don't do well, then I won't 'go far'.

But the points she brought up.. Some of them can be refuted. Vehemently. 

Singapore is no place for an artist. 

Let me ask you something. How old is Singapore? How many generations ago was it, that the founding fathers of Singapore and to work so hard just to help the country survive? One. That's the answer. We had a single generation since the founding of Singapore. Our parents and grandparents toiled hard to make Singapore what it is. (my own parents were born almost 10 years before Singapore's independance) And let me tell you something, our forefathers, they had a hard time just surviving. Of course, naturally, they'd want more people in respectable jobs, high paying jobs, jobs that could help in Singapore's progress as a nation, politically, economically and in many other ways. 

She says it's no place for an artist. Yes. At the moment, the mindset in Singapore is still more of "oh, you should be a lawyer, a doctor or engineer". It isn't common to see parents say "you can study music if you want, or painting or arts. whatever you want." But we're improving. We're opening up. Media academies are coming up everywhere. We have arts schools, regular schools encouraging the learning of music and art amongst the younger children. As a child, I remember having both music and arts lessons in school. And no, I was not from an arts school. I was from a regular, government funded school. 

Singapore is no place for an artist? Let me tell you why she said this. Because her idea of an artist, is different. Singapore is growing, learning. If you're not willing to grow and learn with us, then you'll eventually find yourself with the idea that Singapore is no place for you. That's not Singapore's problem. That's yours. 

Singaporeans are narrow minded.

She talked about the Singapore pay system, and compared it with the Australian one. Nothing against Australia, of course, I think it's an amazing country. But here's somthing she failed to notice. I'll not go into details for this, because I'm not one for economics of a country. But my friend did point this out. 

Sure, a Singaporean may earn less than an Australian doing the same job (using the example shown in the video). But have you considered the taxes the Australians pay? The standard of living in Australia is higher than Sg. But considering the fact that she isn't Australian, tax rates would increase for her. And you know what? Your sudden urge to splurge on a shopping trip does NOT decrease when you go to Australia. So, no. Your earning:spending ratio is no different. You earn $X here, buy $Y and $Z goes to taxes here. And the SAME THING applies there. You earn, you pay, you spend. It's the simplest fact of life. That's how we live. It doesn't matter if you're down under, near the equator or up in the North. You earn, you pay and you spend. 

Singaporeans are not creative. Singaporeans are submissive.

I'll refer back to my first point for this. You say that in Taiwan and Australia, people are allowed to be more creative because their education system allows them to be so. Singapore's education system is rigid. You do well academically, you succeed. I've mentioned, right at the beginning, that I feel suffocated by this. But think of it this way. Singapore is a small country with no natural resources. The only resource we have is humans. And with these people, we need to maintain Singapore, and possibly, push it to greater heights. We need people to enhance Singapore. And to do so, we need book smart people. We need people who succeed academically. Sure, many have talents that are very useful, and perhaps, they aren't very much recognised. But that's just how it is. I would think, that most people want a comfortable life. They want a job that pays well, a nice house, a family (not everyone, but hey, some do).. Things like this. That is what we want. And in Singapore, the demand is in the more 'atas' sectors. (atas kind of means higher in malay). What do I mean by that? To get a good pay, we need a high paying job. And the high paying jobs here are lawyers, doctors, engineers. Jobs that require people who, basically, succeed academically and go to a good university.

Not everyone can do that. I, for one, doubt I can. I don't know if I'm in that sector. I study law. But to be very honest, I wouldn't survive a day in a law firm. I'm not built for that. But many people are, and these people succeed. Does this mean I won't? 

No. I wouldn't be here, writing stories and enjoying reading other's stories if I felt that I would never ever succeed in life in Singapore. I would probably be out there, doing something about it, because, as silly as it seems, my dream is to have a job that pays well, with a nice house and be respected. I don't have to be famous, but I want a 'respectable' job. And respectable to me, is not being a doctor or lawyer. Respectable is doing what you really want to and being able to hold your head high as you tell people what you do.

Now, I realise that for the past few paragraphs, I've been on the fence about the topic, and I've digressed quite a bit (I have the tendency to do that..) Do I think Singaporeans are creative? Not really. We stick to societal norms, and follow the specified route that everyone else does. But does that mean that as a Singaporean, you cannot be creative? No. You can. Why not? Your life, your goals. If you think the education system restricts you from being creative, then I don't know if you're actually that creative in the first place. 

If you want something, you go get it. Don't blame anything else for preventing you from doing it. Being creative is not something school can hinder. A creative mind may not be very useful in our standard school system, but there's more to life than school.

As for Singaporeans are submissive? Refer back to the fist paragraph for this point. We want an easy life. A comfortable one. Is that so wrong? Singaporeans may be 'submissive' as she puts it, but we are NOT stupid. We follow what we THINK is good for us. She may not agree on what's good for us, but who's she to decide for us?

Singaporeans are not happy people.

You know what? I agree. Yes. We aren't a very happy lot. What do you expect? We work our butts off, study like crazy, focus on things that sometimes, we don't have to focus on. You want us to go around smiling like we're high? Of course not. We have to change, if we want to be happy. But here, I'll relate this to something I learnt in psychology class. Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Singapore's already pretty high up on the needs pyramid. We've had to work from bottom up, first, trying to feed the people of the country. We've grown, giving the citizens homes, safety. We're sheltered people, and I, for one, am very grateful. Singapore is a respectable country. She talks of happiness? I think now's the time we strive for happiness. But before this, we had to aim to survive. Happiness wasn't something we cared for. It was a privilege, one we could not afford back then. It took us years to get to where we are. You can't expect us to make a complete change from the people we've been shaped to be, just so that we can be 'happy'. We'll get there, slowly, but surely. We'll begin to lose out 'kiasu-ness', our 'kiasi-ness' (for those who don't know what that means, it's 'afraid to lose' and 'afraid to die'). We'll lose our 'we must do this, this and this in order to survive' attitude. It'll take a lot of time to get us out of that mindset, where everyone's competing for a better future. And to be quite honest, I don't know if we can ever fully lose that. It's what makes us Singaporean. We don't want to lose, we don't want to die. We survive. We're fighters, in a totally Singaporean sense. 

And eventually, we might grow out of it. We'll find our happiness. One generation may not be able to change that. Could take several, and perhaps, by then, she might not even be around to see how we've grown. 

There are a lot of other things she mentioned that I could talk about, but I don't want to make this any longer, and I really want to get on with my own work, so I'll stop here.

So, after this lengthy explanation, I find it fitting to say this: I am a Singaporean. I love my country. And as much as I say I want to leave Singapore, it's still my home. It always will be. I leave, because I want a change. For personal reasons, and also, to experience new cultures and lifestyles. It interests me, to see how people are in various countries. And I like to travel. I don't see myself settling down in any one country at this point in time. When I do, I'll re-justify myself and state my reasons for staying/leaving Singapore. Till then, I'm just a curious individual who wants to explore.

BUT I AM PROUD OF MY COUNTRY AND HOW FAR WE'VE COME. AND I DO NOT APPRECIATE HER DISSING MY COUNTRY.