National Pride...

I'm making this post today because today, i felt more Singaporean than i ever have. Lets see how this day started. I left the house in my Team Aikido shirt and Aikido pants. It wasnt until i got into the cab and the uncle told me that i reaslied, the shirt is red + the pants r white = I looked so patriotic... haha. Well that was merely the beginning of my day filled with national pride. Following the kia-su nature of locally bred Singaporeans, i arrived at the meeting venue early, 15 mins early. (yes, I was early... FOR ONCE).

Following which i did the super singaporean thing, I complained about Hamzah being late, half an hour late at that. Then when the bus finally came, instead of being my usual lazy self and letting people get on first, i walked to the entrance ahead of afew people. The kan-chiong nature taking its effect. Upon getting onto the bus, i proceeded to take the first seat i found, instead of offering it to others. A classic sign of self-centeredness we Singaporeans know all too well. And through the entire ride, kept to myself. Only bothering the rest of the guys to refresh my memory of certain moves.

Skipping ahead an hour or two. We got to Pek kio CC (i think thats how its spelt). Layed the mats, did a lil warm up, and waited for grading to start. One and a half hours later, i was back to my complaining self. Shifting around as i sat there bored outta my mind. Repeating over and over again: This is taking so long, why cant they faster finish, i wanna grade n go home... Such Singaporean lines that i never expected from myself.

Again skipping ahead afew hours, grading is over, training started, and im going home. Whats the first thing i do? Msg her, so proud of myself for passing grading. Even the Singaporean Ego was showing in me today. The bus ride back, the train ride back, and the slacking around at tampines also filled with the complaining of time and boredom I've been doin all day. Then came the best part, this part of the day made me so driven to make this post.

I was going to the bus stop, then i heard car horning like mad-men. I looked over and saw this tiny ass, 2-lane road was being blocked by a bus which could not make the turn because some idiot left his car parked just at the corner of the turn. Cars began to line up, one after the other, stretching for almost 20 cars long. What did i do? What could have been the most singaporean thing to do? Yes, i walked over, crossed the grass field between me n that car, and sat down on a short stone ledge while i watched the angry drivers horn and the pissed off bus driver violently shake the car in a desperate attempt to move it. Sitting there, amused by this sight, and laughing at both the bus driver (for trying to shake a car off the road), and the idiot who parked his car there. Then the idiot came back to drive off, and sure enough he was Malay, to make it better, he was a Mat. Walking over to his car with an arrogant look on his face and a drink in his hand, acting all macho, when everyone in the area practically wanted to kill him for making them wait over 20 mins (yes i sat there for that long just to see who the idiot was). Then i started to joke to myself about how he could just park a couple of meters ahead and let everyone go. Once again the Singaporean in me shone, expressing the well known habit of acting like we know better than everyone else.

Sigh, today HAS been my most Singaporean moment. I am filled with a mixed emotion of pride, inspiration, and embarrasment. Pride for finally being a representitive of what our little country portrays, inspiration for i finally know what a true locally bred Singaporean is like on a normal day, and embarrasment for actually stooping down to this level unintentionally...

Cheers,
Don