blogs / 02 AUG 2021
Cartus Singapore Celebrates National Day
On August 9, Singapore will celebrate its 56th year of independence. As a small nation, we have come a long way from being a small Southeast Asian island with no natural resource to a garden city known for its world-leading airport, medical, finance, technology, and infrastructure; and more recently, our homegrown Olympics gold medalist swimmer, Joseph Schooling, at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Singapore is a popular destination for assignees, and it is not difficult to understand why. With its excellent infrastructure and English as the primary business language; plus a rich mix of both eastern and western culture, it is easy for foreigners to settle-in and feel at home. Here at Cartus Singapore, we have a diverse pool of talent from locals to colleagues from as far as Canada and France telling us how they celebrate Singapore National Day and why they call Singapore their home.
“For me, on Singapore National Day, I always feel very proud and thankful to be living in this great country. A country that is safe, well organized, and functions well. A country with a great education system, a government that does the best for the country and a country with great people. I feel thankful to be a Singapore Permanent Resident and on National Day, I remember the journey that my family and I made 11 years ago when we first moved to Singapore, and how living here has been a great experience for us as a family. Thank you Singapore for welcoming us and for the great opportunities we have had here! I will forever be thankful for that.”
- Natalie Chantigny, Senior Global Manager, Intercultural Solutions
“Not a ‘true blue’ Singaporean but a proud Singapore (SG) Permanent Resident, who has lived in the Lion City since 2008. Our National Day tradition is a picnic with our extended SG ‘family’. We will usually cycle to Bay East Garden to enjoy the Red Lions jumps , flag fly-by and, of course, the fireworks. Like SG itself, our extended SG family comes from a melting pot of backgrounds. We come together on National Day to celebrate our friendship and our love for Singapore. With 2020 and 2021 National Day Parades (NDP) impacted by COVID-19, we are keeping up the spirit on a smaller scale, and (hopefully) we will be back to normal in 2022, with a proper NDP already pencilled into our calendars."
- Marija Kraft, Manager, Global Talent Mobility
“National Day for my family is all about celebrating over local food. Chilli crab, popiah (veg roll), satay (meat skewers), and chicken rice. It’s become a tradition to always finish with a dessert of colourful traditional Nonya kueh, a typical Peranakan dessert made of rice flour, and coconut, while the little ones at home are transfixed by the sword bearer (the Parade commander welcoming the president) presiding over the National Day Parade. Happy Birthday Singapore!”
- Diana Lim, Manager, Global Talent Mobility
Singaporeans are masters of code switching thanks to our bilingual education and multicultural influences. While living overseas, my identity was more apparent to me because I was able to speak in “Singlish” with other Singaporeans, leaving others baffled as to what language we were speaking. I had a great experience in 2019 where I caught the National Day Parade fireworks at Bay East Garden. Seeing people from all walks of life coming together to celebrate this day is inspiring and the air is filled with an intense sense of identity and belonging to our motherland. Our community's tenacity has been proven by the events of the past years and has helped us become stronger and more united as Singapore faces these challenges.”
- Norainy Subandie (Rainy), Senior International Relocation Consultant
“I relocated to Singapore more than 14 years ago. I lived in Paris and London before and I could not have chosen a better home to meet my wife and raise my two children.
What do I love about Singapore? What is not to like? Coming from France, I always wished to live in a country with summer all year round, and there you go! And if you want to access a place, I was told B-M-W (Bus, MRT, Walk) is the way to go and it’s so true! We are very grateful to be able to live in a modern, cosmopolitan, convenient, innovative, and safe environment.
One of the things you will notice immediately when you walk around Singapore is how common it is to see different places of worship so close to each other, from a catholic church, a mosque, to a temple. Being able to live in a country where racial harmony stands true is a dream to many country leaders.
Both our kids were born in Singapore, they consider themselves Singaporean. They learn mandarin at school and take part in all the cultural and diversity celebrations Singapore offers.
Last year, we were very pleased to see the Singapore Army Parade near our home, we’ve never been to the National Day Parade so that was really nice, especially for the kids.
We usually watched the parade on TV and our kids would sing Majulah Singapura, and they get louder as a show of patriotism when they reach the chorus. 2020 has been very scary for most of us, but we felt safe here with all the timely measures put in place by the government to keep our family safe. Happy 56th birthday Singapore, Majulah Singapura!”
- Rudy Lepagnol, Director, Global Talent Mobility
And for myself, I am glad to have grown up in a safe and stable environment, with a good education system and strong economy, giving equal opportunity for all races and walks of life. I also love the endless food choices that our diverse and multicultural society has to offer, from Nasi Padang (Malay rice), wanton mee (dumpling noodles) to Indian Rojak, Singapore is truly a food heaven for many.
I hope you have enjoyed these narratives from the eyes of the Cartus community, bringing you closer to Singapore. To all Singaporeans and citizens, Majulah Singapura (onward Singapore)!
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Racheal Foo
Marketing Communications & Events Manager
