Today is Singapore's 41st National Day.

The infrastructure is world class, the defense system sophisticated. The governmet may not be the most progressive, but at least there is no rampant corruption. Even the spoon-feeding education system is being revamped gradually.

However, most people forgets that when the other world leaders praised Singapore, they were referring to the relative political stability and infrastructure, and NOT the quality and sophistication of its people.

I hope the young people would not just take this day as another public holiday, and the retailers not just use this day as an excuse for promoting discounts. Instead, we should reflect on how we can contribute to the lack of soft skills, common sense, basic courtesy and kindness to one and all.

There are no wars, famines or civil unrest to distract us. All the more reason we should take a step back and look at ourselves, be humble, and tell ourselves that we really have no reason to be proud of the achievements which we had taken no part in.