Dear reader,
Happy National Day! I’m writing this from Malaysia, the land where my father was born, where the word jom first emerged, and from which our country separated on August 9th 1965. It feels like an appropriate place to ponder notions of belonging, identity, and citizenship. Wherever you are, and whatever you’re up to, I hope this week’s issue facilitates your own meditation on these things.
“Singapore This Week”. In our weekly digest, we discuss the hack that has left thousands of students floundering without their study notes; Singapore’s relatively poor showing in a measure of income that incorporates hours worked; an AI-generated ad by the Ministry of Finance; a new Singaporean restaurant in Mumbai; the parallels between Google and the East India Company; the Casual Poet Library in Bukit Merah; and more.
Essay. In “A National Day baby reviews ‘National Day Charade’”, Corrie Tan, Jom’s arts editor, uses the new Wild Rice show to discuss the complicated feelings Singaporeans have about the occasion—from the catchy ditties we sing to the grand militaristic parades our little red dot believes it needs to assert itself in this big world.
“Decades of ideological cultivation have moulded our call to worship at the liturgical church of the NDP. The parades immediately post-independence were, tellingly, themed ‘Rugged and Vigorous Singapore’ (1967), ‘Rugged Society’ (1968) and ‘Youth and Discipline’ (1969)—all fulfilling then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s vision of a singularly hardworking and pragmatic populace that would endure hardship and sacrifice for their country.”
You may recall that in Jom’s editorial philosophy, where we describe our craft and approach to journalism, one of the questions we ask ourselves is, “What is the writer’s positionality and attendant biases, and are they the most appropriate for this story?” We spend time looking for the writer best positioned to tell that particular story—and sometimes that writer just falls into our laps. The fact that poor Corrie was also born on August 9th makes her a uniquely Singaporean writer for this piece. And we, the readers, benefit from the intimate interweaving of the personal with the national.
“I’ve lived my whole life shackled to National Day. When’s your birthday?, a Singaporean might ask. And then, after I reply, always some version of: Wah, the whole nation celebrating, just for you! Even as a child, I chafed at this. My birthday was never my own. Exactly what were we celebrating?”
Dear Jomrade, what will you be celebrating this National Day? I hope you find both a personal joy within yourself and a communal one with those you love. For me, a hopelessly romantic Malayan in an era when many are questioning the nation-state model that governs our lives, there is some comfort in the words of Zubir Said, a composer, most notably of our national anthem.
“Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung”. Where our feet touch the earth, there we hold up the sky. The deeper meaning of this peribahasa is that we should respect the customs, the ways of being, of whichever place we are in, an idea that predates any concept of nationality.
Finally, if you’re going to be singing Majulah Singapura, and want to know what the words mean, here’s a translation by Alfian Sa’at that I like.
Jom nyanyi,
Sudhir Vadaketh
Editor-in-chief, Jom
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