Happy National Day, Everyone!

Little B the patriot, as photographed by Aunty Wendy

I’ve always been pretty transparent about my love for my country and my appreciation of the systems and order our government has in place, that has enabled our 45-year-old nation to develop at breakneck speed.

(For that reason, I know some more “serious” writers have thought me a fluffy bunny in the “serious” writing department. I don’t see why, really…)

I’ll tell you why I love Singapore:

1. MEDISHIELD. Without Medishield, I might not even be blogging today, because I would have probably pawned my laptop by now to pay for my $30,000 hospital bill for my mastectomy and hospital stay. Medishield is brilliant (and you should top up with one of those Aviva or other insurance company supplementary plans that also covers you for other things like your income for the number of days you are on MC, your co-payment and all that). Medishield is the number one reason why I think living in Singapore is a real privilege. You can’t buy a smart government.

2. MY KIDS. Singapore is a safe place for kids and as PM said in his Nat Day speech last night, our school system (despite all the criticisms we parents have at one point or another) just keeps improving. Even as we grow to be more and more multi-cultural and multi-racial, we just keep improving (or at least we have every intention to, which counts for a lot in my book). My little 3.7 year old goes to a wonderful preschool called Little Big, where she experiences teachers who really love her into excelling. She is speaking more, engaging more, even making more cheeky jokes thanks to the presence of those teachers who believe that, Yes, She Can! These teachers were brought up in Singapore, products of our Singapore school system, who are making a real difference to the next generation.

3. IT’S THE BEST OF EAST & WEST. I’m not saying this because I think we’re so hot to watch American Idol while eating kimchi instant noodles and explaining why Ryan Seacrest is sexy to our mother in Hokkien. For me to get cancer here in this city is one of the most fortunate things for me, that’s my opinion. In America, the healthcare system doesn’t look after you till you’ve signed on the insurance form (that is, if you have insurance. If not, sorry…). In the UK, a friend told me that despite their free national healthcare system, people may not seek treatment for breast cancer or any kind of cancer purely because between the first visit and the next it’s forever, plus it costs too much to travel to the hospital, and there, unlike here, they don’t have domestic helpers to accompany them or to cook them meals. (My amazing ex-boss Michael Keating set up a wonderful cancer foundation in memory of his late sister, TV presenter Caron Keating, who died of breast cancer. The Caron Keating Foundation gives allowances to cancer patients to travel to and from treatments and other daily needs.)

I’m glad I’m a cancer patient in Singapore. Apart from first-class healthcare, here I can have a really good post-cancer diet, from Greek salads to bird’s nest soup — really the best of both worlds. I am hunting for a pot of aloe vera which grows so well in our climate. Aloe has such great healing value — I used to grind up the actual aloe flesh and put it over my mom’s skin after her radiation treatment. It was the only thing that soothed that horrible heat that lingered on and inside the body.

And those are my three, extremely selfish reasons for loving my country.

Hope you all have a wonderful National Day! 2 more hours to National Day Parade!