Happy Birthday Singapore!

41st birthday.. wasn't an easy journey thus far.. here are my best wishes for the country that i swore by oath to defend even at the cost of my life. may there always be peace and prosperity, wise and caring leaders, independent judiciary free from political interference, and (i hope) one day may there be fair and free elections.. hee..

had a mixture of emotions as i was watching the NDP on tv. the forming up of the guard-of-honour always reminds me of my commissioning parade, and the march past of the State Colours and various Ensigns is a proud moment. and the masculine display of raw military power when the F16s zoom pass the stadium in a presidential salute, the maiden appearances of the ultra-cool Apache choppers and the less noted SAR21 rifle in an NDP, the grand precision of the "fire-of-joy"..

nice to see the MPs walk in too. singapore has a unique system, where even though one-third of the voters voted for the opposition, there are only 2 out of 84 MPs from the opposition.. hmm.. anyway, as i was watching them, i realised that the new Parliament has not convened yet, cos apparently they want to wait till the major renovations are done, so that they can start on a good note. which is real convenient, cos there won't be any troublesome debates abt transport fare hikes, ERP fee hikes, blah blah blah...