Flag Day.

06 April 2008 @ 10:49 am
 
Flag Day = Cheap labour.

That was what I was thinking to myself at the start of yesterday’s Flag Day CIP. We were supposed to meet at Newton MRT to receive our flags and donation bags. There were so many people there and we had to queue out in the hot sun. I was in a bad mood, further aggravated by the fact that my friend was laughing about the incident at Plaza Singapura and telling everyone about it.

After receiving the stuff that we needed, we traveled by MRT to Little India station, where my classmate and I walked to the crossing in front of Sim Lim Square. There, we commenced the selling of flags and we were done in an hour and a half.

There was a man who donated money and asked me, “I’m needy too! Who’s going to take care of me? You?” He was joking, of course. And so was I when I said “Er… the Government!” And he went “You bluff me!” It was really funny.

There was another old woman who came up to me to donate money. She was really friendly and she said to me, “I have grandchildren who do this too. So I know how difficult it must be.” and even “Remember to ask the Chinese to donate as well ok!” I did! And the Chinese aren’t totally stingy anyway.

While there were many people who pretended not to see us, or pretended not to hear us by wearing headphones, there were certain others who would stop by to donate money. I was quite satisfied by this. Really. Singaporeans are still pretty kind, despite the NKF incident a few years ago. Of course, there were people who would glare at us like we were criminals.

I believe that Singaporeans are not totally a lost cause. They may not match up to the world in terms of politeness, competence and civilized behavior (e.g. not spitting onto the road), but we’re not too bad. If we can teach the younger generations to behave properly and make the older generations set good examples, it just might work.


Current Location: At home
Current Mood: Cheerful
Current Music: "The Best is Yet to Come" (Metal Gear Solid Original Soundtrack)