1. only if only the old man were here to see this, his fiftieth national day parade, the jubilee of our independence. city hall looked stunning tonight, with its red banners, with ‘majulah singapura’ high on the parapets.1a. nice touch, the proclamation of singapore broadcast for the first time island-wide this morning, the words coming over the airwaves as it might have in 1965, people waking up and hearing for the first time on the radio and television sets that we have parted ways with malaysia. recorded 3 years before his death, his speech is badly slurred in places, the rhythm is off, without the punch and clarity that we remember him for, and yet, that voice still carries great power, still moves.
2. when it was announced that all public trains and buses would be free today i had thought it would mean tapping in but that the system would make no fare deduction. instead the fare gates were simply left open, with only green/red direction indicators — and people were walking through in perfectly orderly fashion, unhurried, observing directional flow. i like that very much.
3. it was potluck at addy’s: the girls went all out with their red and white desserts.
4. i think the most interesting part of this year’s do was the “vintage parade”; it could have turned out cheesy, but it never was as soon as the old soldiers — they must all be in their 60s now — came out to march in their old uniforms. in the very stance of their body you read that they were so proud to be remembered, and proud to have served in independent singapore’s first army.5. kit chan is like our julie andrews isn’t she? i bet anything that when she’s 85 they would still be wheeling her out out to sing ‘home’. (there is yet another cover this year, by the sam willows band, but i think my favourite non-kit version was the chorale arrangement for the singapore combined schools choir in 2004.)
6. the cat saw his opportunity: we had all got up to sing the national anthem and were standing to attention with our backs turned. in a detective novel a well-organised murder takes place now, the one moment where everyone is focussed on something else. kitty’s crime was not so foul as murder; he got on the dining table and helped himself.
7 and this is us.
me: do you think we’ll still be here for sg100? it’s possible, isn’t it? we’ll only be in our 80s.
various: provided we’re still compos mentis to remember to turn up.
cindy: let’s just aim for sg75 first.
Best of the Transparent Hummingbird
