I love family traditions, and one of them was having a BBQ every national day. We've since stopped it, although now and then we'll do it when we're in the mood for it. I remember the funny thing about family BBQs was that every time, usually on a Sunday, we got out the grill and started igniting the charcoal, it would start raining. Thankfully, we could still have it under the sheltered porch. There would be chicken wings, hot dog buns, potato salad (one of the rare occasions my family has salad), mash, and steak that would never cook completely. My favourite part was helping with the mash because of the heavenly smell that fills the kitchen the moment hot potato meets butter. And tasting it to get the taste just right.

Around 5 or 6pm, the television would already be on even though it was mostly the hosts getting the crowd hyped up at the stadium and the television hosts discussing some new feature or other to the annual parade. Half the excitement is in the anticipation, so it was always nice to sit down to this and get hyped up along with the crowds in the stadium. And hyped up for dinner too!

When I was young, I read a lot of books by Enid Blyton (Famous Five and all), and I always assumed I would one day live the kind of life I read about. I never knew that the things in those books - 4 seasons, living in gardens with toadstools and fairies - either didn't exist, or happened only in places like the UK. So when I found out, I set my heart on moving there when I grew up. Singapore always seemed like a rather dull and commonplace country to live in.Over the years though, I've come to love this sunny island and with each overseas trip, I look forward more and more to returning home. Learning about the histories and problems of other countries in school helped I suppose, as did building my own memories and relationships that make Singapore worth coming back to.

Praying for Singapore
I went for my church's prayer meeting for the first time in a long while on Tuesday, and during the meeting we prayed for Singapore. It was quite cool because as we prayed, I thought about a few things:

(1) the wonder of Singapore's birth
As we thanked God for seeing Singapore through the years, it reminded me to think about the wonder of Singapore's birth. After all, that's what National Day is about right? Celebrating Singapore's independence, and the miraculous change from a problem-plagued country to the Singapore it is today (not without its problems definitely, but we've come a long way). Or even further back, how this island first came to life with villagers and lions roaming (according to myths), and then a bustling sea port. Just imagining how Singapore began from nothing.

(2) Diversity 
I can't remember the exact prayer pointer for this, but it made me see our multi-racial and multi-religious culture with new eyes. Seeing with fresh joy what a privilege it is to be part of this culture, and how remarkable it is to have people of so many different races and cultures (including the increasing number of foreigners) live together. Consider how elsewhere, sometimes by no choice or fault of their own, people live with their countrymen waging wars against others from the same country, same religion. Even as problems surface, I think we can take a moment to see what a remarkable nation Singapore is by virtue of its existence and its current culture. 

As national day draws near, I'm kind of glad to be spending the day with my family. Minus the BBQ. I think the atmosphere will still be around.

Happy National Day!

With love,

Labels: author: stella, family, themed entries