A S'PORE GATHERING ON THE WEST COAST

For one day, San Francisco's historic Dogpatch neighbourhood was transformed into a mini Singapore-town. Wafting from an old port warehouse (now an multipurpose space) on Pier 70 was the fragrance of sambal stingray, Hainanese chicken rice and curry, Dick Lee's heartfelt rendition of his hit song Life Story, and conversations peppered with peculiar lahs and lohs.

On 24 Sep, Singapore Day (SG Day) was held there, the first time it was brought to the West Coast of the United States (US).

Rotated among the major cities around the world with large concentrations of Singaporeans, SG Day is an annual event that brings together Singaporeans living or working overseas for a day of local food, performances, and updates about the latest happenings back at home.

"It's good to see such a wonderful crowd," said guest of honour Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean of the Singaporeans who had come from as far as Canada to be a part of the inaugural San Francisco SG Day. DPM Teo was joined by Senior Minister of State at the Prime Minister's Office Josephine Teo.

In his opening address, Mr Teo updated attendees on the latest plans by the Singapore Government with regard to the economy, security and the terrorism threat, as well as political stability and leadership succession in the Government.

"But most important of all, today, I think what we have been able to do, is to bring you together to enjoy some fellowship and comradeship as Singaporeans together," he said.

Mr Teo also launched a panel discussion co-organised by the Bay Area Tech Singaporeans and Action Community for Entrepreneurship on the sidelines of SG Day.

Beloved favorites and new features

This year's SG Day saw many old favourites, like local hawker fare such as satay, chicken rice, Indian rojak and laksa, as well as performances by popular Singaporean artists. Hosted by Mr Hossan Leong, audiences had a ball of a time at the Concert by the Bay, with performances by the likes of Dick Lee, The Sam Willows, the Dim Sum Dollies and the cast of the Noose.

Over at the SG Day showcase, visitors were taken on a journey through three different zones. "We the Citizens" celebrated Singaporeans and the Singaporean way of life; "Our People, Our Possibilities" featured the nation's culture of innovation and entrepreneurship; and "Your Dreams and Future" invited all to imagine the Singapore of the future and play their part in building their dream home.

Many Singaporeans living abroad stepped forward to volunteer at the event. One of them was Lieutenant (LTA) (NS) Jerry Hu, an undergraduate at Boston University, who travelled 5,000km with three fellow Singaporeans from Massachusetts to volunteer.

"SG Day only takes place in the States once every four years, so I wanted to take the opportunity to help out," said the 23-year-old, whose 10-hour flight took eight hours longer due to a delay. Nonetheless, he remained upbeat and looked forward to seeing The Sam Willows onstage.

His college mate, 24-year-old Private (PTE) (NS) Ryan Ranjiv Singh agreed: "It's very rare to see thousands of Singaporeans coming together, especially in the States. It's very nice to see. I even met someone from my secondary school at the volunteers briefing, and I haven't seen him in six or seven years! It's a good platform to reconnect with people."

Despite living abroad and having their In-Camp Training sessions deferred, they continued to keep abreast of the latest National Service (NS) updates, such as the changes to the Individual Physical Proficiency Test format, through social media and the news.

LTA (NS) Bernard Chao, a PhD student studying in Los Angeles (LA), had also been keeping up-to-date with NS matters back home. His son, Elijah, 12, will be returning to enlist when he is of age.

"That was never a question," the 44-year-old said with a chuckle, when asked if they had ever thought otherwise about Elijah returning to serve NS. The 44-year-old had been living in LA with his family for the last two years.

On the newly-launched initiative for pre-enlistees to indicate their vocation interest, LTA (NS) Chao felt that it was a good idea: "If it gets soldiers to be more interested in what they do and be more passionate about it then I think that's good for the Army.

Elijah, who has an interest in flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, hoped to learn more about the various vocations available: "It will (make NS) more interesting, but it will only be effective if the person enlisting is well-informed about the vocations and being ready for what will happen."