National Day…
Today is the 40th national Day here in Singapore. This is a big celebration for them and of course today is a holiday kaya andito lang kami sa bahay. I am not feeling that well, my vertigo is acting up again, maybe too much tv, reading and cross stitching yesterday. Labs went to Pulau Ubin with some friends. Mag biking daw sila dun, I was suppose to go but then I backed-out last night.
So later this day we will watch the National Day parade on tv. This is always the main event of their National Day. They have reasons to be proud of. The NDP is a big celebration and well coordinated, there is so much participations from each school and the audience turn-up is always huge, such a great way to celebrate. I have written something about this already last year on my other diary. I hope I can post it here, it’s something like a comparison about our own country’s celebration and the way they celebrate it here….
Found it and here goes:
Aug 10, ‘04
So before I lose my momentum on the last National Day Parade I have to jot down my observations and comparisons to our beloved pinas….Every year since I came over here I’m always watching this national day parade during their independence year and it never fails to overwhelm me even if I just watch in on TV. These Singaporeans really supports their country regarding this event. You can actually see and feel how they love their country. Every year I think months before the actual date (August 9) celebrations will start, practices for the events will starts and the ticket short-listing for issuance will start. Preparations of give-away goodies will be seen and reported on tv. On the day itself you will see the people on the stadium all wearing red shirts, a huge crowd united on the day itself…there were kids, old people, mix culture of Malay, Chinese and Indians and some Caucasians as well. Then the celebration started with different school performing in unison, a well practiced and well executed performance. Young kids performing with colorful costumes and most performances have related ideas on the national day and how they achieved their independence. If you watched it on tv you will all see the majestic side of it since most of the view will be taken from over view camera. Last Monday’s celebration is more grandiose than the last. Around 7pm they present arms and all the entire national defense team performing their specialty like parachuting, special force capabilities, the rescue team, etc, etc. They will parade the armory that they have, all those hi-tech capabilities that they have achieved. They have fighter planes, etc, etc…they have the gun salute then all the MPs in white will enter from some part of the stadium entrance and go their respective seats, only the president and the prime minister did have the special entrance on each own. After the MPs were seated they have another performance and then the Prime Minister makes his entrance by white limousine, just wave to the crowd and went to his seat, then the President makes his entrance, same white limousine with all the escorts and went to the area to be saluted and inspect arms. After that they will all rise and sing the national anthem which surprisingly is in Malay dialect. After the arms presentation, the colorful performances will continue and the finale will be a beautiful fireworks display. Most of the performances just registered to me as big and colorful and nice since I am doing something else during most of the performances. All in all it was a great big party as all the national day parade was seen on previous years. And yap, the government provided transport to haul the massive people before and after the show.
Comparison on what Pinas will be like if National Day Parade will be done in Phils:
What can I say?. Definitely it will be the exact opposite of above descriptions. The preparations will definitely have all the media hypes, the budget for give-a-ways will be cut in half so the other half will be in someone’s pocket. The ticket issuance will be on the “who know who” basis. The day itself will have some guys selling tickets outside the stadium. The traffic will be massive. There will be no organized committee to man the crowd. The people will probably not wear whatever will be the united color…I’m sure most will scoff….During the parade itself, aside from school performances which I am definitely sure will be better than Singapore (at least in one aspect), all the politicians will have grand entrances with all their entourages including spouses and probably speeches will be a mile long for each important politician. And then what will we parade for our defense and armory?? All those outdated rifles, tanks and such. Tora-tora will fly over the stadium carrying our flag….all the second hand armory that our government likes to buy so much so that half of the budget will again go to someone’s pocket.
What really stands out on my observations was the low-key persona of the Prime Minister and the Presidents spouses here in Singapore. You will never see them on any of the government functions, and the wife of the President is not called First Lady but simple Mrs. will do. What was it like in pinas? All the spouses, mistress, escorts will be in their full regalia during government functions…..
As much as I love the Phils I cannot help but compare and be sad because Phils will never be like Singapore in the next years to come. I’m pretty sure changes will not happen in my generation and generations to come. The problem is too rooted in the psych of most Filipinos that change will be a long painful process. I’ve read so much about this and the most amazing thing is that all those who went out of the country and work in other countries or migrate to other countries now understands the situation and what to do about it. Everyone has opinions. The most glaring observation was everyone adapted to their host country as honest, hard working, helpful and a totally different individual than when they were working back in Pinas….Why can we do all this in other countries but not in our own country…the conclusion as so many write-ups is that we don’t have any pride being a Filipino and that we don’t love our country. But then what is the root of that? Is it in the system of governance that we have, all those corrupt government officials? Is it because of feeling of helplessness in our own country where only the rich can have a comfortable life? Is it because most Filipinos specially the poor have lost their hope? I guess so…..Normally when I go back for short vacation I try to do what I normally do here and make changes even if I am the only one doing it, it’s good to think that I’m doing something to improve the system back there…What do I do?? I never throw away any garbage except in the trash cans, if I don’t see any trash cans I put in my bag to dispose later. I try to never cross the streets unless it’s in the pedestrian lane and usually try to follow the traffic light. I try to be helpful to other people specially the olds. Small things I know but it matters to me and in my own small way I’m making an improvement in the system.
So later this day we will watch the National Day parade on tv. This is always the main event of their National Day. They have reasons to be proud of. The NDP is a big celebration and well coordinated, there is so much participations from each school and the audience turn-up is always huge, such a great way to celebrate. I have written something about this already last year on my other diary. I hope I can post it here, it’s something like a comparison about our own country’s celebration and the way they celebrate it here….
Found it and here goes:
Aug 10, ‘04
So before I lose my momentum on the last National Day Parade I have to jot down my observations and comparisons to our beloved pinas….Every year since I came over here I’m always watching this national day parade during their independence year and it never fails to overwhelm me even if I just watch in on TV. These Singaporeans really supports their country regarding this event. You can actually see and feel how they love their country. Every year I think months before the actual date (August 9) celebrations will start, practices for the events will starts and the ticket short-listing for issuance will start. Preparations of give-away goodies will be seen and reported on tv. On the day itself you will see the people on the stadium all wearing red shirts, a huge crowd united on the day itself…there were kids, old people, mix culture of Malay, Chinese and Indians and some Caucasians as well. Then the celebration started with different school performing in unison, a well practiced and well executed performance. Young kids performing with colorful costumes and most performances have related ideas on the national day and how they achieved their independence. If you watched it on tv you will all see the majestic side of it since most of the view will be taken from over view camera. Last Monday’s celebration is more grandiose than the last. Around 7pm they present arms and all the entire national defense team performing their specialty like parachuting, special force capabilities, the rescue team, etc, etc. They will parade the armory that they have, all those hi-tech capabilities that they have achieved. They have fighter planes, etc, etc…they have the gun salute then all the MPs in white will enter from some part of the stadium entrance and go their respective seats, only the president and the prime minister did have the special entrance on each own. After the MPs were seated they have another performance and then the Prime Minister makes his entrance by white limousine, just wave to the crowd and went to his seat, then the President makes his entrance, same white limousine with all the escorts and went to the area to be saluted and inspect arms. After that they will all rise and sing the national anthem which surprisingly is in Malay dialect. After the arms presentation, the colorful performances will continue and the finale will be a beautiful fireworks display. Most of the performances just registered to me as big and colorful and nice since I am doing something else during most of the performances. All in all it was a great big party as all the national day parade was seen on previous years. And yap, the government provided transport to haul the massive people before and after the show.
Comparison on what Pinas will be like if National Day Parade will be done in Phils:
What can I say?. Definitely it will be the exact opposite of above descriptions. The preparations will definitely have all the media hypes, the budget for give-a-ways will be cut in half so the other half will be in someone’s pocket. The ticket issuance will be on the “who know who” basis. The day itself will have some guys selling tickets outside the stadium. The traffic will be massive. There will be no organized committee to man the crowd. The people will probably not wear whatever will be the united color…I’m sure most will scoff….During the parade itself, aside from school performances which I am definitely sure will be better than Singapore (at least in one aspect), all the politicians will have grand entrances with all their entourages including spouses and probably speeches will be a mile long for each important politician. And then what will we parade for our defense and armory?? All those outdated rifles, tanks and such. Tora-tora will fly over the stadium carrying our flag….all the second hand armory that our government likes to buy so much so that half of the budget will again go to someone’s pocket.
What really stands out on my observations was the low-key persona of the Prime Minister and the Presidents spouses here in Singapore. You will never see them on any of the government functions, and the wife of the President is not called First Lady but simple Mrs. will do. What was it like in pinas? All the spouses, mistress, escorts will be in their full regalia during government functions…..
As much as I love the Phils I cannot help but compare and be sad because Phils will never be like Singapore in the next years to come. I’m pretty sure changes will not happen in my generation and generations to come. The problem is too rooted in the psych of most Filipinos that change will be a long painful process. I’ve read so much about this and the most amazing thing is that all those who went out of the country and work in other countries or migrate to other countries now understands the situation and what to do about it. Everyone has opinions. The most glaring observation was everyone adapted to their host country as honest, hard working, helpful and a totally different individual than when they were working back in Pinas….Why can we do all this in other countries but not in our own country…the conclusion as so many write-ups is that we don’t have any pride being a Filipino and that we don’t love our country. But then what is the root of that? Is it in the system of governance that we have, all those corrupt government officials? Is it because of feeling of helplessness in our own country where only the rich can have a comfortable life? Is it because most Filipinos specially the poor have lost their hope? I guess so…..Normally when I go back for short vacation I try to do what I normally do here and make changes even if I am the only one doing it, it’s good to think that I’m doing something to improve the system back there…What do I do?? I never throw away any garbage except in the trash cans, if I don’t see any trash cans I put in my bag to dispose later. I try to never cross the streets unless it’s in the pedestrian lane and usually try to follow the traffic light. I try to be helpful to other people specially the olds. Small things I know but it matters to me and in my own small way I’m making an improvement in the system.
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