I stumbled upon this site yesterday: Stories.sg, a Singaporean site based on Fray.com.
The first issue is themed Letters to Singapore. Creator/Editor Lucien Teo asks, since Singapore’s National Day is coming up (August 9), what letter would you write to Singapore, if she were a person you knew?
Not surprisingly given the way the question is framed, the letters take the form of love letters or breakup letters. They range from the bittersweet “I love you, but I can’t do this anymore”, to the ambivalent, to true love (the hard kind), and the hate. More than what it says about Singapore, the letters are a reflection of who writes them. (I need to think about what I would write, actually.)
But what do these letters say about Singapore?
Mainly, that the small sample size on stories.sg feel strongly enough about Singapore to write to and about it – which is a good thing for a country that seeks to be a nation. All the love, hate and ambivalence speak strongly about how we are still engaged in the process of birthing a nation.
Singapore is unique as probably the only country which gained its independence through secession, but cried tears of sorrow upon gaining independence rather than joy. We do things backward around here – other nations seek independence from their rulers (think Kosovo, think Tibet), we get kicked out and become a nation before our people are properly one. No wonder we have songs like “One People, One Nation, One Singapore!” and mass events like the National Day Parade to celebrate our independence! It’s something like just working your muscles into a smile, and hoping before long you are smiling for real, sometimes.
I like to think however, that the first stage of nation building, of identity building by the government is almost done, and the second stage where the people figure out what Singapore means, what we mean together as Singapore is beginning – reflected so poignantly by the ambivalent letters that surface on stories.sg.
