The local newspapers should avoid giving rude shocks in the morning.

One of the letters to the press, by an assignment editor with Channel NewsAsia, titled What Do I Tell My Sons? (If they ask me why they should give their lives for Singapore) talked about patriotism in Singapore. And it said "Modern day patriotism is a form of cultivated patriotism, carefully nurtured though national education programmes, National Service (NS), National Day parades and national songs on TV."

He spoke of how Singapore society being an artificial construct and that there is no nationalism or patriotism to speak of that is not nurtured, manufactured or constructed. I have to agree with him on this point. But to be loyal and faithful to the state or the nation, we have to know what it means or stands for.

With the help of propaganda, the September 11 incident united the Americans, for a while. "American patriotism has always been seen as a defence of the values its people uphold, especially civil rights."

And I have always been wondering, what does our country stands for? What values does it hold to us? And to others? And I found myself unable to answer...