SYDNEY - Singapore Day 2013 @ The Royal Botanic Gardens (The Domain) - Held on 12 Oct 2013, It is the first time where Singapore Day goes to Sydney! Singapore Day 2013 is themed "Heartland City" where it aims to reconnect with Singaporeans living or studying abroad by bringing a slice of home to them. This event is exclusively held for all Singaporeans and their families and pre-registration is needed on their official website to gain entry. I brought along my printed electronic ticket and Singapore IC for entry.
Specially organized by the Overseas Singaporean Unit together with strategic partners that include Makansutra, Mediacorp and Satsfood, Singapore Day 2013 celebrates all things Singaporean! Inaugurated in 2007, the first Singapore day was held in New York where more than 6000 Singaporeans attended. This event was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Minister Grace Fu from the Prime Minister's office. More info can be found at https://app.singaporeday.gov.sg/
This is the 6th Singapore Day and the event attracted more than 6000 Singaporeans where they were treated to free performances by home grown artistes such as the famous Phua Chu Kang, Dick Lee, Mark Lee, Hossan Leong etc. The favorite part of the event was that all Singaporeans could taste delicious hawker food which included chicken rice, fried hokkien noodles, fried carrot cake, chilli crab, satay, Old Chang Kee curry puffs and many more. The entire event was free. Free flow food, YEO's drinks and awesome performances on stage despite the really hot and sunny weather.
I arrived early for the event around 10am in the morning together with my girlfriend Stefanie to attend a dialogue session "Conversation with Grace" who is from the Prime Minister's office. It was an interesting session where Grace tries her best to answer all the questions raised with regard to housing, infrastructure, healthcare etc. After which, a sumptuous buffet spread of local food were served to all volunteers for the dialogue session in the air-con tent!
It was an excellent event to mingle with fellow Singaporeans residing in Sydney and I did meet and made some new friends. After the dialogue session, we took out our picnic mats and sat on the grass to enjoy the sensational performances by home-grown talents and to check out the experiential exhibitions that feature the latest developments taking place back in Singapore. Overall, it was a wonderful event and I enjoyed myself tremendously.
Singapore Day 2013 has received criticism in Australia after a caucasian man called into a radio station to complain that he and his father were turned away because they were "not Singaporeans" and it raised questions on discrimination. Full story at http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/singapore-government-funded-party-which-banned-whites-at-botanic-gardens-event/story-fni0cx12-1226739873207 and http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/singapore-day-draws-criticism-australia-20131015
Below are some of my personal thoughts:
1. I don't think Singapore Day 2013 organizers are discriminating against non Singaporeans by not allowing both men to enter as clearly they have not registered themselves online and do not have any printed electronic ticket. This is especially crucial for crowd control purposes as it is a free event and if anyone can enter freely, there would surely be chaos. Even I took extra effort to register early for the event on their website, printed out my electronic ticket and brought along my Singapore IC to gain entry to the event.
2. Singapore Day 2013 is organized as a private and exclusive event which specifically targeted Singaporeans and their families to attend and re-connect them back to Singapore as stated clearly on their website at https://app.singaporeday.gov.sg/
3. Singapore as a country is highly welcoming to people of all races and nationalities. We are a highly tolerant country and do not discriminate against others. This can be seen in Singapore where they are many people of different races and nationalities living together in harmony. Singapore also welcomes many foreign talent into Singapore to work. Furthermore, this Singapore Day 2013 event was attended by people of all races. Singapore as a nation celebrates diversity and learning from different cultures!
As a conclusion, I believed there is a huge misunderstanding. I hope this small issue would resolve overtime. I thank the organizers of Singapore Day 2013 for the wonderful event as it was indeed a very heartwarming event! Below is a cute snail photo to end off this post in a good and positive note!
♥ Lora Christelle Lim ♥
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