I refer to an article in the Straits Times today(Saturday January 21 2006) on MM Lee's concerns about loss of our national identity. In it, MM Lee feared that if more Singaporeans worked abroad and their children forget their roots, there will be "no Singapore node to send them out". " They dissolve and disappear and there is no Singapore...

With regard to this issue, i beg to differ. With due respect to our Minister Mentor, i will rebuke his views and present my very own views on our national identity.

In the 1st place, why is the Minister Mentor talking about a Singapore identity when the 3rd generation of Singaporeans does not even have a national identity??

That's the basis behind my opposition to his comments.

Let me state a few examples over the years to bring across the point that young Singaporeans lack a national self identity.

1. The breaking of government bonds by our very own scholars.

2. The reluctance to sing our national athemn and recite our national pledge during our school days.

3. Ignorance of our young in their understanding our our nation's history, politics, society.

4. A Singaporean male's reluctance to serve national service(In the 1st place, there won't be any debate with regard to draft doggers and AWOL personnel if Singaporans have a strong national identity).
- more often than not, somehow or another, any serviceman who have served in the SAF will definitely know friends or people who had attempted AWOL before and this speaks volume of the level of committment of our servicemen.

Why is this so ? I will now offer 2 main reasons behind this phenomenon which will threaten our nation's very own existence and survival if this blatant lack of national self identity is not stemned out.

a. Our government's flawed education curriculum.

Ever since independence, our leaders realised that in order for our citizens to survive and compete with the international community, our students must be equip with the necessary skills required; and this means the active pursuit of the sciences and mathematics. Over the years, this have led to the neglience of the arts and humanities. The introduction of national education in the mid 1990s is a subtle admission by the PAP government that it had failed to cultivate a sense of national identity and awareness among our students. This in large provides one of the main reason behind this faltering ignorance among our young.

b. The confortable environment that our young have been brought up in

The third generation of Singapreans(citizens born after the year 1980) have never been through the toil and hardship of nation building. The moment they arrived in this island, everything have been "catered" for them; from infrastructure to their daily lives. In a sense, they have failed to experience the actual process of starting the process of nation building from scratch. They indulge in the successes of this island-state and more often than not, take our successes for granted. Thus, this has over the years created a vacuum into our young's identity development. This is totally different from our parents who aappreciate the fruits of their labour and fighting for what they called home.

In short, our young do not have a national self identity, contrary to the views of MM Lee. This is a serious problem and it must be eradicated with vigour and determination or else Singapore faced dissolution and collapse in the event of a national crisis, in which Singaporeans will flee at the smell of any danger.