Highlights of National Day Rally

It was Mr Lee Hsien Loong's first National Day Rally but it was more than what I had anticipated, frankly speaking, as he introduced many fresh and bold ideas. I was amazed at his zeal to talk for THREE AND A HALF hours continuously without much of a pause, except that to take a sip of water occasionally. His speech was tremendously entertaining, made possible by the numerous hilarious anecdotes, and it stimulated my brain to think of our future, in a positive manner surprisingly. During the rally, he brought up several critical issues for "discussion", which I think I should bring up some important ones up here for awareness.


Issue No. 1: 5-day work week for civil servants

This is a major move by the government I should say, especially for Mr Lee who confessed that he was actually against it several years ago. As part of the movement to promote an increase in baby "productivity", the 5-day work week was introduced. But, I believe it has much more implications on society at large. I predict that not too long after this is being implemented in the public sector, the private sector will soon follow suit. Some concerns had been brought up about productivity. However, I think that productivity is not directly related to the number of hours of work, but to the quality of work we do. I believe that as Mr Lee said, this move will hopefully change our society into a more relaxed one, not a more lazy one. Maybe the SDU will be put out of business as result, you never know.


Issue No. 2: Urging the younger generation to come up and serve

Mr Lee said: "I was in Korea recently and they gave me a definition of youth. They said a young man is somebody who can do an SMS with one hand with a phone in his pocket, and they should know because in Korea young men like that change the government, they kick out all the old team and they put in a totally new team with no experience. But then I came home and found out that the world SMS champion is a 23 year old Singaporean girl!"

During his speech concerning the youth, Mr Lee strongly urged the younger generation to step out and serve the nation, not wait to be called upon. His message was clear: Take ownership of the country and its problems and don't wait for things to happen. My sentiments exactly. Most of the Singaporean youths are actually reactive, not proactive(Maybe the result of the education system). Things for the education sector has changed as the emphasis is shifted to that of experential learning, besides academic learning. As a result, the new generation is slowly, but steadily, getting more involved in the community at large. And somewhere out there is the next Mr Lee Hsien Loong or Mr Goh Chok Tong.


Issue No. 3: Cross-straits situation between China/Taiwan

Mr Lee said: "If Taiwan goes for independence, Singapore will not recognise it. In fact no Asian country will recognise it. Nor will European countries. China will fight. Win or lose, Taiwan will be devastated. Unfortunately I only met very few Taiwanese leaders who understood this....I came back from Taiwan more troubled than before I went."

I believe this issue is very sensitive but impertinent to resolve. Although geographically speaking, both countries are quite far away from us, any form of military conflicts between them will definetely bring about the next financial depression, if not the 3rd World War, in the whole Asia region. Frankly speaking and unfortunately for us, there is very little we can do but wait for the leaders to wake up their ideas and hope for the best.


Issue No. 4: Olympic Depression

Last, but not the least, although Singapore's dream of getting an Olympic medal may be in ashes and blown away, Li Jia Wei had done Singapore tremendous proud. Although she lost to both Koreans in the semis and the Bronze match, she had brought Singapore one step closer to the goal. One can imagine the amount of emotions she was experiencing after her defeat, which was multiplied by the stress placed on her by Singaporeans. Kudos to you, Jiawei! You have done Singapore proud!!! Hopefully, we can get another chance at the gold at the next Olympic games in China at 2008, provided they don't go to war that is.