What makes you a Singaporean

What does being a Singaporean mean to you?

Being Singaporean, to me, means making the choice and commitment to give and contribute to society, imbued with a sense of purpose, and to build the future of Singapore together, in order to help Singapore prosper as a country.

In just 50 years, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, one of our founding fathers, transformed Singapore greatly from a third world country to a first world country. Without him and the other forefathers of Singapore, Singapore would not be the beautiful nation it is today.

Today, Singapore, despite being the “little red dot” is famous for many reasons.

Singapore has a great variety of food. You name it, we have it. Cuisine around the world, Michelin star restaurants to our very own hawker centers in the heartlands — there’s a huge variety of stalls there at dirt-cheap prices. Despite being simple dishes, the food is definitely authentic, genuine, of amazing quality and full of flavour.

This year, for the third year in a row, Singapore’s very own Changi Airport has once again been voted as the World’s Best Airport by air travellers at the 2015 World Airport Awards. Don’t you think it’s an amazing feat for such a small country?

Singapore is also a very safe country, where crime rates are low all year round. There are three main modes of public transport in Singapore, namely the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), buses and taxis. The MRT is mostly used by students and office-goers commuting to and fro from school and their offices. It is certainly an inexpensive yet efficient mode of transportation in Singapore which offers commuters a more convenience, comfort and a shorter travelling time.

Singapore, a multiracial country is also famous for having its own unique language, Singlish. It is a mix of English and other languages, and often sentences can end with funny terms like ‘lah’, ‘leh’, mah’. Singlish is a common lingo, also links our various races together. The Chinese sometimes use their own dialects to communicate, and, as such,  inter-dialect groups may not understand one another’s language, as the language is vastly different. The Malays use the language among their fellow races and the Indians speak Tamil. But whatever the race or religion, Singlish allows the country’s community to unite as one nation, where most religious or racial gaps are being bridged.

Being part of this country makes me feel very honoured. I am proud to be a Singaporean and I hope to be able to contribute back to society one day in order for Singapore to prosper continuously for many years to come.

Laura Zheng (3 Unity)