MyStory

Ms Norlydia Binte Mohd Sidek, 1980
Administrative Assistant, Singapore Land Authority

Do you know that you share a very important birthday with our country? 3rd December is the date when Singapore’s National Anthem, the new flag and Coat of Arms (State Crest) were first unveiled to the newly-self-governing state. How do you feel about that?

Actually I don’t know about that! I’m quite surprised. And I feel lucky to have the same date as this milestone.

We have six national symbols - the Flag, National Anthem, Pledge, State Crest, the Lion Head and the National Flower. Which of these symbols mean the most to you? In what way, and why?

The Pledge. Because when we say the Pledge, we’ll be reminding ourselves of who we are, of what we have to do. I last said the Pledge during the 2009 National Day. My family and I, we parked our van outside the venue, as we didn’t manage to get the tickets. So my husband, my son, my sister, all of us, we sang the Anthem and said the Pledge together. I felt very honoured and proud because it is once a year and not everyday, and we got to do this with all Singaporeans!

What does ‘Home’ mean to you?

Home is where we have our first lessons. We learn everything from the home, respecting people and values like that. It should be a fun, cheerful, warm place to be. For happiness, sorrow, everything, will be at the home.

Would you see Singapore as your home? Why is that so?

Ya! Because we are all on this small island and wherever we go, we are going to the same places and we are bound to see each other again, and we are bound to go back to the same places again.

If you have a foreign friend coming to Singapore, what are the top three things that you would introduce your friend to?

I’ll introduce them to the foods, museums and Sentosa!

Sentosa as there’s a museum in Fort Siloso on Singapore heritage, where they actually show the history of Singapore and our kampung times. As foreigners here, they need to know some of our history. We are all modernised today, so I feel that they should know about our history back then. For food,  I’ll presume the food’s over here is somehow different from their kinds of food. And it’s like maybe they never taste it before. I’ll introduce to them maybe each of the food that comes from Malay, Chinese, Indian, Western. Maybe one from each culture. For Malay I’ll let them try whatever is delicious for me. Such as like, mee rebus, there’s this makan place over at Beach Road, which sell Sup Tulang. Even though I’ve never tried that before, but it seems like very popular among those who come to Singapore! For Chinese, maybe I’ll find out from my Chinese friend what are the nice food and Indian, maybe rojak.

Have you ever been abroad for a period of time? Or on holiday? What do you miss about Singapore when you are away?

Yes. First I’ll miss my family of course.Then the food, Because the food overseas is different,  In particular, I’ll miss Nasi Lemak! The smell, the taste of it....and also the weather, back in Singapore, even though it’s sunny, it’s very windy. The feeling is very comfortable.

What does it mean to be a Singaporean to you?

I feel a sense of belonging. That I’m from Singapore, and a nation of all races. I remember, when I was young, I loved to watch Chinese variety shows. From the 3 o’clock show to the 7 o’clock show to the 9 o’clock show! My grandmother was like, hey, you got no other show to watch is it? Then my grandmother would watch the Indian movies and Indian shows. And from there I was like kind of, know some of the languages from there, from the television.