8 August 2008
- August 8th, 2008
- By Samuel Ma
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As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games’ opening ceremony will be held tonight, I am more excited than ever. After hearing opinions from various people such as my seniors Hewlett and Simon and some of my peers such as Kia Wee, I decided to wear the Chinese flag T-shirt to school today. They could understand that as a Chinese, I am proud of my country for hosting the Beijing Olympic Games.
Some may feel unhappy about it, but since both the Singaporean and Chinese flags have red colour, so I have actually “killed two birds with one stone”: celebrated both the Olympic Games and Singapore’s National Day (9 August). Therefore, my choice of T-shirt should not be deemed as an act of “disrespect towards Singapore”. Some students in the College Section even wore the Vitenamese flag and Che Guevara T-shirts.
Kia Wee had earlier asked me to help him take photos of the parade in which he is the commander for Scouts. He has worked hard to attain this position and today’s parade is his last parade before passing out. I understand that he hopes to retain his fond memories in Scouts. From my observation today, the Scout band has high standards under the leadership of Kia Wee.
After the parade at the terraces, everyone went to Kah Kee Hall and Lecture Theatre 4 to attend the National Day concert. Some of my classmates were astonished by the T-shirt I wore, and commented that it was cool. Then I requested Ivan to take a photo of me. Both Kia Wee and I felt that this is the best shot ever.
No one was sensitive towards my choice of T-shirt worn today except those NCC people, who not only jeered at me but also made xenophobic remarks such as “Hey! It’s Singapore’s national day not China’s!” at the bus stop and on bus 74 on my way home. Such an outcome from those NCC people is, I’d say, expected. They are merely being too “loyal” to Singapore.
After boarding the bus, Elffred Toh, one of those NCC people, talked to me in a sarcastic manner and took a photo of us using his handphone. After taking the photo, other NCC people laughed. Due to their xenophobic mindset, by doing so, they somehow felt good.
I don’t know what’s driving them, but no matter how xenophobic they are and what they do to humiliate China, it’s simply pointless. Will China’s dignity be tarnished just because a few jokers did such acts? They are not very important people after all. They are merely a few naive individuals who think too highly of themselves.
Tonight, I shall watch the Beijing Olympic Games’ opening ceremony on MediaCorp’s Channel 5. A few hours to go. =)
