Being Singaporean
There are only two things I’ve ever attended that have made me feel the full-bodied passion of being Singaporean, whilst being in the midst of other fellow Singaporeans:
i) Malaysia Cup Football Matches
ii) Election Rallies
(I cannot add National Day Parades to the list because they tend to give me the feeling of being rather contrived.)
It’s a pity Malaysian Cup football ended in 1994 for us.
However, election rallies are here to stay.
Tonight I went with my dad to the Reform Party rally led by Kenneth Jeyaretnam, at a stadium near my home.
The turnout was modest, compared to what I’ve heard regarding the turnouts in other venues around Sinagpore tonight.
Nonetheless, I reckon there were at least 2,000-odd people at the stadium, and once you entered the stadium you had this strange sense of unity and national pride permeating in the air…which I could only liken to the Malaysia Cup matches in the early ’90s that I used to attend with my dad at the National Stadium.
It’s as if everyone you saw in the stadium was your fellow brother and sister.
It was a very nostalgic feeling for me – both the atmosphere in the stadium, and the fact that I’m attending such an event with my dad once again.
There is nothing like being a young boy and having your dad bring you to the National Stadium to experience the roar of 60,000 people cheering on the 11 men in red on the field.
But I digress…
What did I think of the Reform Party’s rally tonight?
I thought it was somewhat lacklustre.
They didn’t really manage to work the crowd into a lather.
There was no real “electricity” in the air to speak of.
They could have done a better job in delivering their speeches, and in working the crowd.
Although some of the speakers were interesting, generally you got the sense that there wasn’t a great deal of substance in most of the speeches.
It’s times like these when you truly realise the importance of a leader having to be an orator.
Yes, Kenneth Jeyaretnam made some very good points, but he isn’t exactly the most fiery of speakers, and one does get the sense that a large part of the respect accorded to him is because he carries the Jeyaretnam name.
Does this mean that I have written the Reform Party off?
Certainly not.
I am eager to hear more from them before making a careful decision.
I am also very eager to attend more rallies in the coming days to once again feel this sense of “being Singaporean”.
