home is…
Posted on: August 13, 2015
soundtrack:
travel far and often enough, and you know what home truly is.
you may fall in love with the beauty of strange places, the kindness of new people, and the thrill of fun experiences everywhere else in the world, but you know home is where your heart is set in stone. this is where you will find something you cant find anywhere else…
family.
friends you’ve known for practically your whole life.
all your loved ones, basically.
be it huddling around a warm, nice meal…
watching a musical together…
or simply running wild in the fields.
doing it here at home feels different from doing it anywhere else in the world.
after all, home is where you build your dreams…
where you build your life…
with love and support all around you.
eventually, home is also where you build your family.
life may be hard, or short, or mundane, or unpredictable, or all of it at the same time. but living life knowing that i belong to somewhere, that this place stays within me wherever i go, a place i feel safe, and loved, makes up for it all.
so this national day, i rushed home from london to be with my fellow singaporeans.
and while i couldnt celebrate with my parents who had to go to the states to visit my brother, who is in his last leg of training in RSAF…
i’m proud of them for wearing their national colours even on their flight out. i’m even prouder of my brother for completing his two-year stint, and for serving our country, even if it means he has to be away from us all.
and then i spent the night celebrating our country’s golden jubilee with my friends.
and i would say that’s the best national day i’ve ever had.
while many of my friends find sg50 lame or propaganda or whatever, it matters a lot to me because i think all things considered, there are many things about singapore worth celebrating. national day is nothing to do with politics, it’s about the nation and its people. it’s a celebration of how we have come so far in the last 50 years, from mere survival to the current prosperity and security that we enjoy. it’s about the shared memories, the culture, the people, the food and the lahs, lehs, lors – everything that you find yourself missing after spending enough time away from here.
we arent old enough to celebrate the nation’s first birthday, and who knows, we may no longer be around when it celebrates its 100th. so since we are so lucky to be here for its 50th, i think we should treasure this opportunity to show our appreciation and love for our country, and all those who have contributed to its success today.
may we continue to progress and prosper. and may we become like what this eight-year-old artist has envisioned us to be after another 50 years.
majulah singapura.
lemonbarleystrawberry 
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