I walked out to the airport arrival hall to be greeted by a warm breeze. The wind hugged my face - ah… how nice it is walk down the streets without moisturizer lotion on my face. But then the droplets of sweat trickling down my spine and wetting my shirt snapped me back to reality - i was back in hot and humid Singapore!

I hopped onto my Dad’s 7-seater cab (he’s a taxi driver) and we were on our way home. I had been travelling out of Singapore quite often since i took on the new job - i had been to the UK, Austria, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau.

I was never one to miss home or the Singapore food when i’m out of town. But this time was different for 2 reasons - it was the longest i’ve ever stayed at one location (14 days at Gold Coast, Australia) and it came at a time where i really wanted to be home.

I really wanted to be in Singapore to attend the Ping.sg 1st Anniversary Party. Although i wasn’t nominated for the Blog Awards, i was contented to just cheer my friends on and meet new Blogger friends (and to kiss a few babes along the way). However, work came first - i was called away the Wednesday before the party.

The guys were quite sad to see me go. And from the live blogs and blog reports (plus the scandal that came after) i think i really missed a lot. I Twittered my congratulations and even called a dear friend to congratulate her on her big win.

I never missed home as much as i did that day. I really missed Singapore. I really want to come home. For where my heart is, there my home will be. And its beaconing me to come back to Singapore…

As my Dad’s cab turned into Toa Payoh… a sudden pang of loss came over me. I looked at the cramped housing blocks, busy roads and hot and humid weather - and i found myself missing the Gold Coast! What irony! I was hardly back for an hour and i was missing the place i came from.

I wondered to myself - what did i really miss then? It wasn’t Singapore (the geographic location) for i prefer a colder and more spacious climate.

For all the infrastructural developments that the Singapore Government has put into our arts and economic sphere - nothing physical could hold me here. The more you destroy and rebuild symbols of national memories - the national library, the Esplanade, the Merlion, Chinatown, my army camp, my secondary school or my HDB flat - the less significance we put on them as markers of our national identity (ie. the less we’ll miss them).

What was it then that i miss?

It was the PEOPLE - the significant relationships that i really miss. I didn’t miss Singapore. I miss my friends. I miss my loved ones. I miss my family. I miss the Pingsters. Although we were in constant contact via phone, email or Twitter, nothing beats seeing that person eye to eye and saying “Hi”.

What gave us rootedness to Singapore was the relationships that we have here. Its not some cultural centre or business hub. Its the people - and the shared memories we have of our lives here.

Being Singaporean has its unique characteristics - Singlish, great food, weather of varying degrees of hot or wet, National Service - but it only serves to build the connections we have with our fellow Singaporeans. No matter where i am, being Singaporean means being close to my Singapore friends (in and out of the country).

So what if we speak funny English - we are Singapore after all.

Happy Birthday Singapore, i never really missed ya.
But i miss the people i love — yeah, you too Mr Lee.