Personally, I think the decision of whether to put up a flag is a dependent variable of one’s love for his/her country. This feeling of patriotism is moderated by the individual’s perceptions on whether the government is doing its job to help him/her. (Of course, strictly speaking we must factor in ‘laziness’ but I assume that to be moderated by strong feelings of patriotism)
If my hypothesis of putting up the national flag = a sign of positive sentiment is correct, then by observing the number of flags (minus those put up by grassroots organizations as those are considered biased ’sentiments’) we can obtain relatively accurate statistics on the general population’s sentiments. Oh, we also need to exclude flags that are inverted or upside down, as those are likely to be symbols of ’silent protests’, based on the assumption that true patriots are those who will display their flags in the correct manner.
Someone ought to initiate a survey of the number of flags hanging outside HDB flats on National Day itself (minus those flags put up by RCs and grassroot organizations) – when, logically speaking, all the flags that are intended to go up would have already been put up.
By comparing statistics over the years, we can observe how big the variance is and determine whether there is an uphill, downhill or consistent trend in the number of flags displayed, and thus make deductions as to the general population’s sentiments towards the state of governance. Perhaps opposition parties can use such information to determine which are the most ‘effective’ wards to contest in the next General Election.
To sum up:
General sentiments on the state of governance = Total number of flags displayed outside HDB flats – (flags put up by grassroot organizations + inverted/upside down flags)
Based on what I see when I look out of the window now… Are Singaporeans getting less patriotic? Where are all the flags that we used to see hanging outside windows as long as 1 month before National Day?
Is this a sign of changing winds at the next General Election? Are Singaporeans getting sick of our economy’s purported ‘progress’ and ‘growth’, that seem to be evading the common man on the street?
These are questions to seriously think about. Sometimes, we don’t need freedom of speech and street protests to understand what is the general climate and opinion of the people. Just count how many flags there are.
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I was talking about this with a friend of mine just a few days ago. It seems that we have found a way to show our feelings about the country. I find it sad that we have to reduce to such a state.
I haven’t seen any flags being displayed from where I live. The number of flags have reduced drastically each year.
The no of flags keeps getting lesser by the year. Is it an indicator of the political goodwill of the ruling party or are most people just bored with the usual fireworks, mass display etc. Personally I view as a rest day (not this yr) and cannot really be bothered abt all this patriotic crap in difficult times like now. Used to be S’poreans celebrating their birthday as a whole, now we hv a lot of guest (welcome or not)
Yio RC…i want my flag. Pls send your Bangala helpers over..TIME IS RUNNING OUT for my stand up for Singapore Inc.
[...] 43 years, from nation to multinational – This lush garden within: 2 more weeks to National Day… where are all the flags? [...]
The flag is a symbol of the nation. It is tainted with the notion that PAP is equal to Singapore. Till this misrepresentation is taken away permanently, it will remain that people will use it as a way to show their discontent with the government (= the party too?).
You can force me to pay the ERP fees but you cannot force me to display the flag.
My estimation is less than 5 percent of the population hang the flag. But that include those who are in the RC members and the block representatives. Hence the number of real flag hangers may be even much lesser, could even be zero!
Once I went to a RC meeting, just once only, and surprised (why am I be surprised) to find that going around to sell flag to the residents is part of the duty of the RC member.
So much for the people in absolute power. Shame shame.
hang underwear better… don’t waste my time
For the past few years, I have refused to put up the flag. First they tried to sell me one at $4, then they delivered one free to my mail-box and finally the RC members just put up the flag on my behalf as they had access. Understand that they knock on the doors of flats where the flag needs be br hung from inside the flat. Just wait a few more days, they flag will appear magically to create un illusion of patrotism.
[...] 43 years, from nation to multinational – TOC: The 5 stars of our flag – Princess from the Planet of Venupitarius: A made-in-Singapore movie to celebrate Singapore National Day NDP 2008 新加坡国庆日 – This lush garden within: 2 more weeks to National Day… where are all the flags? [...]
[...] 30 Jul 08 – This lush garden within: 2 more weeks to National Day… where are all the flags? [...]