OPINION, REFLECTIONS ON SINGAPORE

Dear Senator, Singapore is not in China

A senator’s aggressive questioning basically united most of Singapore overnight

Clifford Pier in Singapore. Photograph by writer.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or living without electricity, you would have heard about United States Senator Tom Cotton repeatedly asking a Singaporean Mr Chew about his ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

And in clips that have since gone viral, especially in Asia, Mr Chew replies repeatedly, “I’m Singaporean!”

Personally, I had to check if National Day came early (just joking).

While I’m genuinely proud of my home country, the words “I’m Singaporean” do not really come up often in international news.

There is so much to unpack here.

First, let’s start with the positives and get them out of the way. (You know it’s more in the Singaporean psyche to complain, rather than praise.)

Many Singaporeans and I love it that Mr Chew’s reply is “I’m Singaporean!”

Seriously, we do.

It’s all over Facebook, Twitter, the news here.

I think it’s great that Mr Chew’s replies have galvanised many Singaporeans in the defence of common sense, and…