“National Day reminds me of our recognition and global visibility. Our red passport, which gives us freedom to travel … and we do really well in global standings in a lot of things,” Tang says, referring to the country’s top ranking as one of the world’s freest and most competitive economies.

The flip side, Tang says, is difficult to talk about.

“For example, if we look at the way Singapore is governed, it actually has a lot to contribute towards where we are today, but we perform poorly in terms of individual rights, which can be viewed as a trade-off for what we have accomplished thus far,” he says.

“It takes a certain level of knowledge of our unique style of governance, or even of our history and cultural context, to understand these from a foreign perspective.”

Food is undoubtedly at the core of Singaporean identity, Tang adds, and could be a vehicle to bring overseas communities together more often.

“Recreating authentic food would be really challenging …[because] ingredients might be hard to find or even unavailable here [in Berlin], short of having someone from Singapore to bring it directly to us,” he says.

“For more community involvement, I would suggest Singaporeans get more involved in organising these celebrations and annual get-togethers, whether it be cooking the food, procuring the venue, or putting together a handful of side events during the celebration.”

For engineer Shahrin bin Abdol Salam, who lives and works in Dubai, the identity and values of multicultural Singapore are all about respecting differences and relationships. This is something he cherishes about being from Singapore and shares with his foreign friends.

“I learned that we shouldn’t be too engrossed with only one ‘right’ way of doing things,” he says. “I’ve learned to appreciate diversity and differences of opinion.”

Shahrin has also noticed that Singaporeans overseas tend to be closer to each other than they are at home.

“The Singapore spirit runs high, and [the reason we get along well overseas is] because everyone makes the time to foster close relationships. We enjoy spending time together and create opportunities to strengthen ties. This is something which I will be consciously putting an effort into back home.”

As a society that places a strong emphasis on academic excellence, some observers also see Singaporean identity through the lens of educational achievement. Others say that when National Day comes around, it reminds them of the mix of cultures and emotions they are accustomed to back home.

“Singapore is a convergence of Asian and Western forces. The bilingual and multicultural context I grew up in has prepared me well for embracing a global culture, while staying rooted to my Chinese identity – something profound, intimate, and which I hold close to my heart,” says Jiang Peicun, a symbolic systems and artificial intelligence student in the United States.

“Besides, a sound humanities education, under some of the best teachers, has prepared me well – emotionally, psychologically and philosophically – to respond to the range of feelings I experience living overseas, be it estrangement or camaraderie, hope or despair, love or loss,” Jiang says.

The bilingual and multicultural context I grew up in has prepared me well for embracing a global culture, while staying rooted to my Chinese identity

Others fondly evoke the local patois, Singlish – a mix of English, Mandarin, Bahasa Melayu and Tamil words. Each National Day, many Singaporeans abroad feel the absence of this unusual linguistic potpourri.

“Being Singaporean definitely has much to do with our lingo and way of conversing,” says Cheryl Mui, an international affairs student based in Japan. “Many of my conversations in Japanese are structured in the obligatory polite language, and I miss being able to freely speak in Singlish.

“Using honorifics is an important part of communicating in Japan, which is fascinating but very different from the casual speech I’m used to back home. When I meet and talk with my fellow Singaporeans, it feels like stretching out in bed after a long day of work.”

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