National Identity

There are times when I wonder (and no, not because of the Socratic Circle Discussion) what constitutes one's national identity.



[EDIT: Thanks to Jin Yang, who has indirectly told me once more that I need to define national identity to certain extent. It is essentially what identifies you with your own country. There is no such thing as being "too young to have a national identity", because no two nations are alike, and there is certainly something distinguishing between each particular nation and ourselves.]

There have been many possible suggestions, of which I will just list a few. Firstly there is our socio-economic background. Socially, we are a brilliant country. Our education is world-class, with cutting-edge technology, experienced educators etc. Our health system caters to the majority of Singapore, and also provides the latest medical equipment and treatments. Our surrounding environment is beautiful, and we are billed as a "Garden City". The best part is also the fact that we are the most harmonious multi-racial and religious country in the world. Economically, we are supposedly outstanding. We compensate for the lack of our natural resources with the brainy produces of the education system. We compensate for size with our money, for we are a rich nation. Essentially, this unique socio-economic status of ours can indeed be out


Secondly, there is also the aspect of layman culture. This essentially means food culture, where we have the internationally recognised chilli crab, Hainan Chicken Rice, laksa, bak kut teh, many more; the "coffee-shop culture", which is the general depiction of the uncles who open their legs wide, dig their nose, drink their black coffee etc; linguistic culture, our amalgation of many different languages. These depictions of our "normal people" can be considered as our national identity.


Finally, there is of course the political aspect of Singapore. To a certain extent, we are "not very liberal". We are thus usually blacklisted on the Humans Rights Watch for "compromising human rights". But countries in the East, particularly China, are highly impressed by the stability and efficiency of our country and our government. Such a "conflicting" political system in human rights vs. stability can be considered as our national identity.


So with these three aspects of Singapore, which can serve best as our national identity? Let us try to establish a criteria to determine. The first of which, uniqueness, has already been applied in coming up with the three aspects as mentioned above. So let us move on to our second criteria: prominence, ie which of these aspects do we usually see as foreigners/Singaporeans. At a quick glance, political climate isn't exactly the best representation of Singapore. Our socio-economic climate, yes, for we see it everywhere, and the layman culture, definitely. But the political climate is only obvious to one if he/she analyses Singapore for a long period of time, for the lack of protests/explicit media is not so obvious. Therefore, using the second criteria, political climate shouldn't be considered as part of our national identity.


Let us now apply a third criteria, that of closeness to heart. How does one not treasure what one's country means to him? The answer isn't so clear cut using this criteria, but there is still a definite answer. In Scout's words, "One does not love breathing", implying the realisation of how much one loved something only after losing it. For our socio-economic climate, true, without having a clean and rich country is close to unimaginable, but we will still be able to adapt, won't we? Most people in Singapore now aren't exactly very rich, and we're still living perfectly fine. However, when it comes to layman culture, things become a little more different. Without what is defined as the social norm, how do you act? How do you define yourself? A day where there are no coffee-shops, only restaurants and cafes; a day without our famous chicken rice, only deep-fried chicken and plain rice; a day without Singlish, only perfect Queen's English and perfect Chinese; that would be a day of nightmare. So let's face it - what's closer to heart and is indeed our national identity is our layman culture.


[EDIT: Thank you to Jin Yang for indirectly telling me that I need to apply a fourth criteria, to make the national identity point even stronger, representation. The second criteria has now been rephrased to more appropriately mean prominence. Now, in terms of representation, national identity must reflect the country. It is essentially an image of the country which Singaporeans treat as their lowest common denominator, and can unite the country together. Here, the layman culture is obviously a clear representation of Singapore, as it speaks of all the common things that Singaporean can be proud of, all the things on a micro-scale that people will notice and remember.]


And therein lies the whole irony about the Singaporean national identity: The government actually tries to get rid of it! Campaigns like "Huayu Cool" and "Speak Good English" merely serve to erode the language which we have carried on from the 60's all the way till now - Singlish. Wet markets and coffee-shops are collapsing, replaced by the brand new NTUC and the air-conditioned food court. When Malaysia comes trying to snatch bak kut teh - OUR bak kut teh, away from us, the only people who defend it is, no, not the respected government, but us, the common people. If the government wishes to connect with Singapore and not let the opposition take over, I suggest they at least provide some form of support for our national identity in our layman culture.


[EDIT: I mean no offence to the Singapore government's policies. As Jin Yang has rightfully pointed out, these policies have a purpose after all. I merely don't think that these policies should be in place for our national identity. Also, I think that the government would like us to develop another national identity, so my view might not stand. In conclusion, I mean no offence to anyone.]

Hong Kong Music for Our Youth Concert

"Providence: A Silver Lining". Well, I guess I found my silver lining after spending 3 hours at the JC auditorium watching performances by our own String Orchestra, Belllilios Public School Symphony and Beijing Military Music and Arts Academy.

Antonio Vivaldi - RV 315, The Four Seasons: Summer

The description that was provided was that this piece "mirrored the serenity of the summer heat and the slow tempo of life that results from it". However, the summer is not all still, with the piece presenting "long difficult breaths....imitations of specific birds: the cuckoo, the turtledove and the finch". Eventually, a sense of restlessness emerges as the orchestra depicts an image of a man trying to find rest in the blistering heat through strained, repeated notes and raging music. The piece ends on a wild and heavy note, leaving one "astounded at the speed it was played".

Personally, though I found the piece an entertaining one, the image in my head was not that of a raging summer day. Perhaps I didn't catch the imitations of the birds of summer, or perhaps I'm not imaginative enough, but the image that I got was that of a large ocean. From the serenity of the waves gently lapping against the shore, to the churning and frothing waves and raging winds of a storm, and finally ending with what felt like a large tsunami. However, I still sensed the seething energy in this piece, and I think that was what made the first piece succeed.

Gioacchino Rossini, Overture to La gazza ladra ("The Thieving Magpie")

After reading the introduction to this piece, I was a little surprised to realise that this was merely an overture to a long story. But who cares about what part of the story plot it was when one is simply blown away by the grandiosity of the music. It begins with a drum solo that fortells a military march, and with the tempo sustained throughout the whole piece, it ends with an "orchestral crescendo" that was beautifully done and left us all spellbound. Though I didn't really pay much attention to the imagery shown by this piece, I think that the majesty of it all was what made this second piece succeed.

Chen Gang & He Zhanhao, The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto

Just a short introduction on this brilliantly-played piece. It is an orchestral adaptation of the Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. In the story, Zhu Yingtai disguises herself as a man and attends school, where she meets Liang Shanbo and falls in love with him. After they graduate three years later, Zhu Yingtai invites Liang Shanbo home, where Liang Shanbo then realises that Zhu Yingtai is a female and falls in love with her. However, their love is thwarted by the fact that Zhu Yingtai has been betrothed to another and Liang Shanbo cannot do anything about it. As Liang Shanbo falls sick and dies due to his lost love, Zhu Yingtai, pining for her loved one at the funeral, jumps into the chasm of Liang Shanbo's death. This causes the two lovers to be magically transformed into butterflies.

The playing of this piece by the Orchestra was simply stunning.

Though it was a violin concerto, the voice of Zhu Yingtai in the orchestra was replaced by an erhu played by one of the most prominent erhu players in the world, Ms Shao Lin. Though the front part describing Zhu Yingtai's journey to school and at school was not highly significant, the love duet between the two of them was just simply magnificent. The erhu gave flesh and blood to the beauty of the love, and the cello that was Liang Shanbo's voice complimented the erhu perfectly. It was as per the story, with a rich, graceful young lady and a poor, intelligent young man. There was a palpable sense of love and peace, and had I been an emotional person, I would most likely have teared.

It was an exciting build up to the climax of the piece starting from the love duet. The cellos angrily moaned like how Liang Shanbo was angry at Zhu Yingtai for being betrothed to a rich man, and at Fate for making him a poor man. Eventually, however, as the orchestra mournfully played, we felt the cello and the erhu become softer and softer, and as the erhu continued playing, the cello silently faded out. Then, as the orchestra played on, the erhu's voice was soft and it eventually became louder and louder, with the orchestra diminishing into silence as the erhu seemed to scream in pain and sorrow. The erhu then crescendoed into a higher pitch before climaxing and creating a nearly tangible tension with a long, high-pitched note. The orchestra then comes back in with a triumphant finish as the lovers are reunited in love and death.

One could feel a deep sense of emotional satisfaction throughout the whole concerto, as my heart rose and fell together with the ups and downs of the couple's love. Undoubtedly, this was one of the best pieces in the concert. In fact, Ms Shao Lin, conductor Dr. Yip Wai-Hong, and the orchestra itself received an ovation for 3 minutes and performed a short section from the orchestra as their encore.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No.5 in E Minor Op. 64

This piece was played after a short interlude of 15 minutes, most likely to give the members of the orchestra some rest before they commenced on this opera. And this rest proved to be necessary, for the opera was a long 45 minutes with four unique movements.

It might have been due to the late hour or maybe also the concentration I had used for the past 1 and a half hours, but I soon lost focus in the whole symphony, and instead started wondering about my Secondary 2 life. As the music played on, I was mainly lost in my thoughts regarding future plans of all my commitments, and also how I would manage my time. After a long thought process, I emerged slightly refreshed to enjoy the triumphant closing chords of the symphony.

Afterwards, when I read the description, I realised that this whole piece had the theme of Fate and Life. Coincidence? I prefer to think of it as this piece being very successful in provoking one to think about Fate and Providence while listening to this music.

Climax

Following the symphony, the emcee thanked the orchestra for their piece, and just as he said "Due to time constraints", the conductor of Tchaikovsky's symphony, Dr. Gordon Siu, founder of HKMOY, interrupted in Cantonese, "Wait for a while!" Then, he passed the conductor's baton over firstly to a girl from Belilios whom I think was the leader of the orchestra, and conducted a nice and short little piece. Following which, she passed the baton over to another girl from the Beijing Military school, who conducted a stirring little melody.

Clueless about what these melodies were, I watched as the baton was passed over to whom I think was the leader of our own String Orchestra. It was only when the introduction to the school song was played did I then realise that I had been listening to the other schools' school songs, and I stood to attention and sung my school song.

Personally, I found the take on the school song quite lifting. Not exactly stirring like China's national anthem, but it gave a light and lyrical touch to the school song. However, what made me even more pleasantly surprised is that despite the cavernous auditorium and the loud orchestra, one could still hear the lyrics of the school song being sung. I think that gave even more meaning to the whole night's performance. What made it even more meaningful was the fact that we managed to raise $80 000 for the needy pupils of our school. Though the remaining presentation of souvenirs was a little draggy (a necessary formality of gratitude after all), what remains most clearly in my mind is the great music, the great imagery, and all in all, a great sense of pride.

Introduction

Hey there :)

I'm Darrel Long and this will be my ACE blog. Just for your knowledge, I'll be mostly giving my take on current affairs and some songs that I love (rest assured, there are no Chinese songs that you will dislike). Do comment on the opinions that I've provided, for I view them as assignments of critical thinking to be marked, criticised and then corrected.

Of course, a few basic rules before you go on commenting. I believe (to a certain extent) the sanctity of human rights, which essentially means that everyone is granted the freedom of speech. However, basic courtesy and respect should be in place, ie watch out for the choice of words employed. I trust further elaboration is unnecessary :)

So in between balancing commitments, let's hope I survive this year, and you survive my blog journey :)

Cheers,

Darrel