No, this is not a post about a movie of the same title by Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen. Though personally, I would recommend the movie and suggest to anyone to pick up a copy and watch it if they can find it in a DVD store.

This is a post inspired by an article on Today by the same name – to imagine what our island nation could be like 20, 30 years from now. And I realised, I have much to dream about, and perhaps it is too much to ask. But we are all entitled to our dreams, aren’t we?

Firstly, I dream of a Singapore where the leaders are more down to earth and closer to the people. A nation where our leaders would no longer justify their high pay according to their alleged talents. Frankly, just what does a surgeon know about education and a former Brigadier General about diplomacy?

I dream of a Singapore where decisions are not always made based on monetary cost and benefits, but always for the betterment of our collective lives. If a decision has to be made that way, at least we will be shown the bill, and be allowed to decide whether we want to pay it. I dream of a Singapore where Singaporeans do not sell themselves short and are not treated as daft and incapable of making their decisions by an old man who refuses to step down and go when all his contemporaries had.

I dream of a Singapore, where her true history would be told. A history where everyone’s contribution in our struggle for Merdeka will be told in full. A history where the story of David Marshall, Lim Chin Siong and even the now defunct Barisan Sosialis can be told without bias.

I dream of a Singapore where there is greater accountability and people who has failed will take responsibility and go. From failed investments in town councils to Temasek Holdings and the GIC, and also the failure of the PUB into taking account of the effect of landscape change in Orchard Road on their two decade old drainage system – Singapore would like to see some integrity in owning up to failures when one has the cheek to demand a better and a higher pay compared to the private sector.

I dream of a Singapore where public housing is truly affordable and truly subsidised. The subsidies should not be based on how much ‘losses’ suffered by the goverment gahmen had that same plot of land be sold to a private developer. I dream of flats that will no longer diminish in floor area while prices continue to soar. I simply dream of a Singapore, where a new generation will not be a slave to own their homes.

I dream of a Singapore, where public projects are above politics, where no part of our city-nation will be turned into slums because their residents have a different opinion in how the country is run and the direction our nation is taking. Surely, even opposition voters pay their income taxes and they are also subjected to GST and property taxes?

I dream of a Singapore where we will not have to squeeze like sardines on trains, where the operators of our public transports will be less rigid in their schedule. Service improvement should be always ongoing and not an annual affair. After all, does the SMRT not know after all these years that there will be an increased load when SunTec holds conventions? Yet, it continually stick to a dead schedule and run trains at shit intervals simply because it is a weekend. (I certainly don’t have to be an Oracle to predict that the City Hall MRT Station will be jammed pack after the National Day Parade today either.)

All in all, I dream of a country that I can really call my own.

Happy Birthday, Singapore. Here’s a toast to your true father – Dr Goh Keng Swee.

May our country remain strong and free, resolute in doing what is right in the eyes of God, forever and ever until our Lord Jesus returns. Amen.

Recommended Reads:
My Queenstown: Alexandra Hospital Part 1/3: The Origins
My Queenstown: Alexandra Hospital Part 2/3: Pre-1971
The Itch To Write: Love your country, fly the flag!