I grew up in the 60s and 70s, when it seemed that the Stylistics were “falsetto-ing” their way through suburban streets and shopping centres almost every day. I like the title of this song, and I embed it here from YouTube. It’s like singing about someone being a breath of fresh air.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about what it would take for my nation, Singapore, to be able to celebrate our Centennial in 2065. I’ve remarked to some people that my dream would be for Singapore to be so busy that we won’t be able to have our traditional National Day Parades and so forth. The reason for that would of course be that other nations would be hosting us to gala celebrations because of all the years we have been “Making Them Feel Brand New”. Pause. Is that something you’d like to have for the nation, the firm, the community? What do we need to do NOW to nudge us towards that kind of reality? It isn’t that far away. I’ll only be around 103 years old by then, if that helps you visualize.
Just before I sat down to write this, I glanced through the news and saw that there have been some stirrings about letting Singapore’s President hold global roles in a private capacity and to make public remarks which would be good for Singapore as a whole. The first thing that came to my mind was “Why are we so bothered with all this political talk?” Do we want our President to be a human being? Do we want our President to bring his whole self to work when performing his “official duties”? Is being our President a part-time job, an occupation, or is being our President someone of whom it is said “He IS our President”? By the same token, are you a full-time Grampa or are you a Grampa part-time? Do those who clean up after us qualify to be called Persons? Are they CITIZENS? Even if they are here on employment passes, do we not expect them to conduct themselves as if they were CITIZENS? If our President is our FIRST CITIZEN, then he is our President full-time. Does he then have such a thing as a “Private Life”? Of course! I do not want a President who does not have a private life. And I don’t mean extramarital affairs or that sort of thing. I want to have a President, a Minister, a Boss, a Consultant, who is just as human as I am but who happens to get the role because those around him think he is the best person for the job, so to speak.
Want to get to celebrate Singapore 2065? Make “You Make Me Feel Brand New” or similar your life anthem. You’re welcome!
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