Happy 41st Birthday, Singapore

this national day, i would like to highlight the gap we have between the national anthem and most singaporean citizens.

at least those not possessing a knowledge of malay.
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The national language of Singapore is Malay, for historical reason given that Singapore is in the middle of the Malay hinterland for a large part of her existence, even after the British landed here in 1819.

I do believe that more than about 70% of Singaporeans do not understand the national langauge.

And that our national anthem is sung in Malay, and most of us have problems singing it, let alone understanding the significance of the lyrics.

For many times, I have heard singaporeans singing the national anthem awkwardly, with wrong pronounciation of many words.

taken from Bao,

this is a rendition by Olivia Ong, a Singaporean singer based in Japan. She's a professional singer, so I can safely assume her pronounciation ought to be accurate

(i digress here, but I think she has a very sophiscated kind of chio..heehee)

when I hear her sing, i find many phrases seemingly unfamiliar.
Thats because my classmates, and most probably a large part of my schoolmates who have sung with me for the past decades, have not been singing it correctly.

whoot.


And then, how many of us understand the significance of the anthem?
I asked a good number of Singaporeans, and most of them are clueless.
At the very most, they know it means "Progress Forward, Singapore" or something like tat...

Actually it is "Onward Singapore", read the translation and meaning here.
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It may be true that in history, a large part of Singapura (the malay name of Singapore) was rooted in the Malay hinterlands. However that was a long time ago, and a vast majority of the population now do not understand Malay.

I do speculate that Malay was chosen as a national language due to historical as well as political reasons.
It is so much easier to promote relationship with your 2 bigger neighbouring countries when you can point out that you share a history and the same national language.

But as we mature and approach 50years of age, shouldn't we ponder our "roots"?
I am not too sure how other feels, but I don't feel a great sense of linkage with Malaya history.

I feel that Singapore has a stronger linkage to Britain or China, given that the trading post was started by British, and the population was filled by Chinese. But I would be appalled if our national anthem is in Mandarin. We are after all, not a mere colony of China.

But to feel so distant from our national language, and its anthem, the citzen in me just don't feel right.

I would have been more comfortable with English as the national language, given that it is understood by majority of the population. It is the true universal language of Singapore, and ought to be ranked as national language.

What is the use of a national language/anthem if the average nationality does not understand it?