By Allan C. F. Goh
Patriots, stand up and be counted,
In the quest for real nationhood.
Let us not be fooled or courted
By glitz-mirages of falsehood.
Politics of chicanery
Must be objected with courage.
Exploitative machinery
Needs rejection with damning rage!
Unfounded incarceration
Of rightful civil liberty
Must be unshackled with gumption
With honourable decency.
Democracy means the people:
Of, by and for the people’s good.
Not empty words canned in tipple,
By leaders grossed with people’s loot.
The meaning of democracy
Is entrenched in meaningful truth;
Not on blatant hypocrisy,
Nor any senseless legal ruth!
Let’s ensure real democracy
Grows and blooms in our tradition,
Nurtured by meritocracy,
Wisdom and civil conditions.
Defend it with free elections,
Where diverse ideas must contend,
Where people make their selections
To enrich the nation’s content.
Freedom thrives in verbosity;
Ideas can’t grow with censored word.
The press must vow veracity;
With truths, move the nation forward!
Freedom dies as mere allusions;
It must live its own vibrant life.
It cannot lie as illusions,
That does not suffice to survive.
Voting is the citizen’s right.
Citizens must do this duty
To elect people, sane and bright,
For the country’s safe amity.
Good laws must be applied with care,
And discharged with full clarity.
Only then can the country flare
With creations and maturity.
Resist unfair imposition.
Implement good social justice.
Uphold the wise constitution.
Commit these as daily practice.
Democracy will surely die
Without citizens’ commitment;
Our responsibilities lie,
In protecting its fulfillment!