My City

Inspired by Adrianna’s post.

I love my city, simply because it’s the city and the culture I was born into. Sure, it has its kinks (which culture doesn’t?), but it is mine and mine to embrace and change. It struck me as quite sad that she has to consciously find something to love about this city, and it is related to a foreign culture which has always appealed to her.

What is beautiful about my city is not the foreign cultures it has in itself, but the way the country’s heritage is assimilated into a Singaporean identity. This, she has successfully discovered and loved.

What is less appreciated yet more definitive of my city, is the ugly HDB flats that provide a roof over the heads of most Singaporeans, the boring business districts that provide Singaporeans with the mundane jobs they need to put food on the table and disposable income to indulge in the national past-time of shopping. My city is about a competitive and harsh lifestyle complete with an elitist education system that puts everyone in school until the level he/she is able (or forced) to attain. It is cosmopolitan enough for one to find food which cannot be found in the foreign city it is named after.

And that, is really what we should love our city for, with all its faults and despite the misgivings.

As much as I support egalitarianism and believe that life is more than its materialistic needs, I do not subscribe to the romantic belief of keeping traditions or being contented with a simple life. There would be no progress without greed and materialistic wants. But I also acknowledge the problems that come with prosperity (apathetic citizens, sanitized media) and I see my city as one that has made many sacrifices.

True, there is much that my city needs to improve on. We now have the resources to support a more vibrant arts scene, to cultivate a gracious society, to encourage more involvement in state affairs and to preserve our cultural heritage as well as create an unique identity. In fact, we should already be doing all this.

Our pasture can only be made greener if we can, at the very least, love the city enough to stay and be part of the invisible hand making the changes. I agree that there are cities with richer and much more interesting cultures and that we should be appreciative of those, but first and foremost, we really do need to love what’s our own.