Which one of these two scenarios is worse than the other, you decide:

To step on/ burn/ tear the national flag

OR

To use the national flags as a form of decoration. you know, whereby the phrase "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and "40" is made up using the Singapore flags?

"KNN! of course the first one lah! show no respect at all!"

before you get enraged even further, i suggest you go to your common corridor and check if you have hanged the Singapore flag. 'cause if you haven't done so, you're no better than those people that are categorised under the first option - showing no respect to the nation at all.

(Hello people, if you think singing a 'Happy Birthday' song to Singapore is dumb, the very least you can do is to show that you're celebrating its birthday right? the 'present' is easily available in stores and marts and costs less than 3 bucks. must we really adopt a culture of complaining?)

oh you have hanged it up even before you flipped the calendar to the month of August, you say? i'm so sorry to have hurt your ego. but are you sure it's facing the right direction and not inverted - vertically especially?

i don't mean to have any personal attacks or whatsoever, neither am i trying to stereotype but the attitude that Singaporeans display towards this national flag really sucks; it turns me off completely. the first time i saw any kind decorative purposes done using the state flags was when i was in bus no. 88, on my way to J8. the word 'creativity' only flashed in my mind once but the phrase "oh please, get a life...", i lost count of it. the national flags were used to make the number '40' and hung up somewhere visible to many. i thought that was the worse but i was totally wrong!

as i was going back today from Pasir Ris, aboard the bus no. 88 ( yeah, yet again. i don't know if there's a link here...), there was this beautiful piece of artwork that nearly made me go "whoa..." but as i said, it NEARLY made me go that way. the limitation was, once again, the use of numerous state flags to make this huge sign that reads "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE"

it would be romantic if your partner wishes to you in such a 'big' way. but what if he did it by making use of all your clothes in your wardrobe? would you rather acknowledge it or throw your best knowledge of vulgarities right onto his face for embarassing you?

Singaporeans have already done plastic surgery on Singapore to make it a better place to live in, or rather a BIGGER place to reside. This time round, I think it deserves a much better present from its citizens for its 40th birthday. Something not as cliche as acknowledging its big day by using flags to inform everyone of the special day. i mean, who doesn't know that August 9 is our nation's birthday? spare a thought for the toddlers of course and those who consider yourself as foreigners, be it whether you sincerely are or not.