Semangat died long long ago when PAP ruled this island with an iron fist!Many became alienated and left our shores seeking happiness elsewhere. NDP is just one big annual PR exercise for the PAP to pat itself on the back. Many are unwitting participants bribed with goodies bags. Many are unwilling participants arrowed by their schools or organisations to participate.
The NDP is a waste of taxpayers' monies! Use it on the poor and the aged and get better returns!
Semangat left our shores when:
1. Fire crackers were banned
2. Chewing gum was banned
3. We opted out of Malaysia Cup
4. The government decided that a block of HDB apartments should comprise of proportional percentage of the 4 races
5. Chinatown should be upgraded
6. Haw Par Villa demolished
7. The "Stop at 2, One Is Enough" campaign
8. Malays need not serve NS
9. Massive influx of foreigners
10. Segregation instead of integration
11. The highfalutin idea that the National Pledge is an idealogy, but it is only an "aspiration" after all
12. Practising NDP as a military parade like North Korea
Bit by bit, the Singapore Semangat has been chipped away to fit the ideals of one man. Social engineering took away the soul of Semangat and that is why it left us. Only at certain occasions will Semangat return, such as what we all witnessed at the WP Rally in Bedok and Serangoon. We are a nation that mirrors exactly the character of the man solely responsible for what we became today. Pragmatic, materialistic, cold, merciless, greedy, uncaring, meritocratic(whatever that means) and finally soulless. This does not mean all Singaporeans are like that but it fits many of us.