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Enjoy
Humour
After cheering on foreign talent, we're all patriots now
By S M Ong Act Blur
July 19, 2010
ON THE eve of the World Cup final, I walked by a sports shop in HarbourFront Centre and was immediately drawn to a rack of World Cup T-shirts on sale.
Should I go for Holland? But no one looks good in orange. My complexion looks sickly enough. I don't need the Dutch national colour to further bring out my natural pastiness.
Spain then - except that the red Spain shirt also had some orange on it. I recoiled from España like a vampire from sunlight. (I'm talking about a regular vampire, not those sparkle fairies from Twilight.)
Then I spotted a white tee with red trim. Ah, good old England. Sure, they were already out of the tournament by then, but there's always 2014.
But when I looked more closely, I discovered the shirt had the word 'Singapore' on it. What the...?
Wasn't this supposed to be the World Cup rack? What was Singapore doing here with countries that actually achieved their 'Goal 2010'?
So I left the shop without buying anything.
The final came and went.
In the days since Spain beat Holland, I noticed the Singapore flag popping up all over the place for National Day, now just three weeks away.
Suddenly, wearing a Singapore shirt doesn't seem so dorky any more.
I'm impressed that one day, Singaporeans could be heartily cheering on some foreign country in the World Cup - and the next day, we're hanging out the old Crescent And Stars like we're such nationalists.
And, yes, many Singaporeans are still wearing the shirts of these other countries. Of course, I'm not suggesting that they're any less patriotic because their choice of apparel shows their support for foreign talent.
By the same token, does wearing a Singapore shirt and watching the National Day Parade (NDP) make you any more patriotic?
But how considerate of the World Cup to end before National Day so that we're spared the awkward dilemma of having to choose between watching either the NDP or a World Cup match.
If ever a World Cup match should fall on Aug 9, I believe some rewriting of history would be required to avoid a serious clash in scheduling.
Or to compete with the World Cup on its own terms, we could introduce some form of legal betting for the NDP, like wagering on how many members of the marching contingents are going to faint before the parade is over.
Or perhaps one day, we could celebrate National Day by watching the World Cup because Singapore would be playing in it. Hey, I would even buy a dorky shirt for that. We can call it Goal 3010.
Enjoy
Humour
After cheering on foreign talent, we're all patriots now
By S M Ong Act Blur
July 19, 2010
ON THE eve of the World Cup final, I walked by a sports shop in HarbourFront Centre and was immediately drawn to a rack of World Cup T-shirts on sale.
Should I go for Holland? But no one looks good in orange. My complexion looks sickly enough. I don't need the Dutch national colour to further bring out my natural pastiness.
Spain then - except that the red Spain shirt also had some orange on it. I recoiled from España like a vampire from sunlight. (I'm talking about a regular vampire, not those sparkle fairies from Twilight.)
Then I spotted a white tee with red trim. Ah, good old England. Sure, they were already out of the tournament by then, but there's always 2014.
But when I looked more closely, I discovered the shirt had the word 'Singapore' on it. What the...?
Wasn't this supposed to be the World Cup rack? What was Singapore doing here with countries that actually achieved their 'Goal 2010'?
So I left the shop without buying anything.
The final came and went.
In the days since Spain beat Holland, I noticed the Singapore flag popping up all over the place for National Day, now just three weeks away.
Suddenly, wearing a Singapore shirt doesn't seem so dorky any more.
I'm impressed that one day, Singaporeans could be heartily cheering on some foreign country in the World Cup - and the next day, we're hanging out the old Crescent And Stars like we're such nationalists.
And, yes, many Singaporeans are still wearing the shirts of these other countries. Of course, I'm not suggesting that they're any less patriotic because their choice of apparel shows their support for foreign talent.
By the same token, does wearing a Singapore shirt and watching the National Day Parade (NDP) make you any more patriotic?
But how considerate of the World Cup to end before National Day so that we're spared the awkward dilemma of having to choose between watching either the NDP or a World Cup match.
If ever a World Cup match should fall on Aug 9, I believe some rewriting of history would be required to avoid a serious clash in scheduling.
Or to compete with the World Cup on its own terms, we could introduce some form of legal betting for the NDP, like wagering on how many members of the marching contingents are going to faint before the parade is over.
Or perhaps one day, we could celebrate National Day by watching the World Cup because Singapore would be playing in it. Hey, I would even buy a dorky shirt for that. We can call it Goal 3010.
