It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again, and while there’s very little Christmas buzz in the air, unless you’re singing loudly and dancing to Christmas carols like I was last night, I remember that it’s not things like presents and food and family that makes Christmas what it is. Christ makes Christmas, everything else is excuse instead of reason, and I’m glad that I can celebrate what’s really Christmas anywhere in the world.
The more I meet people from different countries, the more I realise how unique Singapore is culturally. English is our functional language, we’re made to learn and master it, and yet we retain our Asian roots through learning our mother tongue. We lap up Western television, consumerism and pop-culture and balance that with Asian work ethic and conservatism. We’re a mish-mash of Western influence and Asian sensibilities.
In many ways, Singapore is just like a mixed child. Mixed kids are hot, and we literally are too with 30 degree weather. But seriously, ideally, we should have the best of both worlds and be able to associate with both the East and West, but just like many mixed kids, we just end up not truly belonging to either.
That’s what makes a Singaporean identity so important. In a world where we are misfits, it’s nice to have something to call our own. I appreciate Singlish because of it’s immediate ability to make you feel at home and to connect with fellow Singaporeans. Being able to call people atas or puzzle over cheem things together is something that shouldn’t be overlooked, cos it’s only when you don’t have something that it begins to be missed.
My 22nd birthday was a simple affair but I’m thankful that I had friends to celebrate it with.
The celebration started a week earlier in Yangshuo, where I treated Alex, Deborah and Jun to French food at Le Votre. It was nice to splurge and even then, it didn’t really amount to a lot. SGD60 for 4 people, inclusive of drinks, appetisers and main courses.
I’ve never had to go to school on my birthday before, so it felt a little strange and unsettling. A pleasant surprise was that my Chinese friend from Economic History class remembered my birthday and got me a hand warmer thingamajig which was really sweet of her.
I had got a cake myself because I wanted to invite and include more people and didn’t want something too formal. The thing was that Jun and Deborah had also bought a cake for me so we ended up with two cakes. We took the cakes down to the xiao mai bu amidst the cold wind and dripping rain… No song, just a quick lighting of candles and a fast blow-out before the wind blew it out. Ate the cake with Hanum, Alex, Jun, Deborah, Rachael, Mavis, Nasiru, Sebastian, Sean, Sebastian and Otto.. It was nice and the cake was pretty good.
We headed to Jun’s for Sin City which was interesting, if a bit unsettling because of the Yellow Bastard and Elijah Wood who’s Frodo who looked like Harry Potter who was a serial killer who ate his victims. Haha. Ee.
The celebrations continue tomorrow with sushi buffet and KTV! 