Young men in Singapore will have to go through National Service. I will not be an exception. Many will ask why National Service is compulsory and important in Simgapore. In my opinion, National Service is very important to Singapore. Singapore might not even survive without national service in the early independent years. In the past, Singapore has a very small population and many of them were not skilled. National Service is introduced for Singaporeans to protect their own country. Singapore is a very small country and could be easily attacked and conquered by other countries. However, we can all prevent these incidents from happening with National Service. Thus, National Service and Singapore are interdependent.
In this poem, "The Soldier", Rupert Brooke express his love for his country, England and he is willing to sacrifice for England where his homeland was. However, this was not common in Singapore. The same spirit of patriotism for Singapore somethimes could not be found here. Some possess this kind of spirit but some do not. Some examples are moaning and complaining about the life in an army. This shows that this army man do not like to protect his homeland and it goes to shows that he does not even love his country at all. Another example is the previous article that shows an army men goes to army with his maid carrying his backpack. This shows that his attitude is wrong. One should be willing to sacrifice for his homeland and not do it reluctantly.
I feel that I will not follow in their footsteps. I should be happy to sacrifice for my country as Singapore is the country who shaped me and watched me grow up. So, I feel that I will have the same spirit of patrotism for Singapore like Rupert Brookes because it is my honour to protect Singapore from any attacks.
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ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI am colin.
I agree with you that some people in Singapore do not have the patriotism spirit. However, you might want to consider the time span difference between the time the poem is written and the society today. That time, the poet was in the war period and he was in a war himself. He would definitely be patriotic as the saying goes " A war brings out the best in man". However, Singapore is a peaceful country now with no wars nor conflicts. It is natural that in times like this, there is not really a need for patriotic feelings. However, i do not believe that it does not exist in all singaporeans and i believe if a war ever arises, these feelings would also come.