Shalyanna Hassan
Definitely proud to be Singaporean. I'm proud of how far our country has come. A country with no natural resources yet we became one of the world’s leading financial centers. Our government is stable and might I say, honest too. Our country is safe, clean and transport is efficient (well, most of the times..).
Another reason that isn't so common would be that I feel that I'm treated with more respect by Singaporean Malays compared to Malaysian Malays. You see, I am a non-hijabi not-so-religious Muslim girl, and I wear short sleeve blouses and short skirts sometimes. I have often been given dirty looks by Malays in Malaysia, especially outside the city, and its not such a great feeling. Here is an example: Me and my mother went to visit a surau (a room for muslims to do prayers in) in one of the lesser known shopping malls in JB. As you know, I don't want to wear the hijab. When I was inside the surau, I received some dirty looks from the older Malay women. As I was exiting the room, I heard one of the Malay ladies said ‘solat tapi tak nak pakai tudung’ which loosely means ‘she prays yet she doesn't want to wear a hijab’. I felt embarrassed of course, and I felt bad because my mom probably heard it. These days, I usually try not to visit the surau as I don't want to relive that experience again. In Singapore, non-hijabi Malay women are thankfully much more commonly seen, hence I don't receive any bad treatment from other muslims, which is one of the reasons I'd rather stay as a Singaporean Malay instead of being a Malaysian.
