Dear Singa, where would you go?

So, we heard, that our Ambassador for Kindness and Graciousness has tendered his resignation. He is tired, feeling jaded. He is throwing the towel! He needs a break.

Image via Kindness.SG
Click here to view details to Singa’s resignation.

Since his letter was addressed to Singapore, naturally, there were many responses from people from all walks of life. Read them @ Kindness.sg/blog

I too, feels obliged to response to his resignation (although to me it sounded more like an appeal).
This is for you Singa, from a regular Singaporean born in the 80s (good God, I am writing to a mascot!) :

Yo Singa,

You seem hipper than the Singa I knew from childhood. Maybe, I am aging (darn!) but you are not (duh). Never mind, surely we can bridge that gap. Didn’t we go way back? I can still remember going to school with you in my pencil case (you were printed on my eraser) when I was little.

You see, Singa. I feel you. I am tired too! I am one busy sandwiched middle-class working mom trying to catch up with the pace of living, everyday. There were moments, I wanted to quit, grab my kids and move to another country. I thought about it, I whined, but I didn’t. Now, I am not going to pretend to be more patriotic than I actually am… I had nowhere better to go.

Of course, I love this land, I grew up here, my family and friends are here, my roots are here and this is where I want to raise my children. Akin to other human relationships, sometimes the very thing we love, hurts us most.

Allow me to draw a parallel from a chapter in my marriage. I love my husband (why else would I marry him, right?), but there are days we just don’t get along. Sometimes, and only sometimes (especially when I was younger), I would pack up and walk out of the house. I would say “I had enough” or “This is it. I am gone!”, take a cab to my mother’s house, feeling strong and independent until my anger subsides… then I would stare at my cellphone and look at the door (almost longingly), wondering when would that man come begging to have me back. You see, my ‘walking out’ or you can say ‘resignation’ was in fact an appeal for his attention and (to a certain extend) repentance.

They say you don’t know what you have until you loss it. Surely, you know what you are doing. And, if you ask me, the agency who advised this move did a good job! But be home soon, come ‘back by popular demand soon’. Consider this little letter added to the vast digital universe, my response to your appeal.

Where would you go from here? Where in this wild wild world would there be a place for a mascot (albeit a lion mascot)? Where else could you belong? Where else would be better than home?

If you needed a reason to be home. Then let home be the reason.

Here’s you and my kids on Mothers’ day. Just a few days before you decided to go. Surely you would be home soon, won’t you?

Baby, we love to see you smile!

I’ll be here waiting for you.

Warmest,
A Singaporean

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