As I stood at attention in the hall ready to sing my new school anthem, it dawned on me that this was the first time that I will be singing one in English.
My primary and secondary school anthems were both written in Mandarin and I even had to sing in Malay during my junior college days! Add to that, Singapore's national anthem was also written in Malay, so after many years of singing school anthems in two of our nation's most spoken mother tongues, it felt most unusual to be mouthing English lyrics during flag raising ceremony at 7.45 a.m.
The only group of people I know who have a more bizarre experience are the grandparents in Singapore who have stayed in Singapore since the 1930s. I realised that they are the ones who would have learnt how to sing 3 different national anthems, when Singapore was once a British colony, part of Malaysia and later as a sovereign state.
The significance of this thought patiently warmed up in the back of my mind as I gradually learn to appreciate my unique identity as a Singaporean.
