It's not easy to love your country when things go wrong, but we still do anyway.
That's the underlying theme of a catchy new tune that captures Singaporeans and their oft-times love-hate relationship with the island city.
Titled "I Still Love You", the YouTube video has been making the rounds on the net just ahead of National Day this Thursday.
The video follows three typical Singaporeans struggling their way through daily life -- overcrowded public transport, traffic jams during peak hours, too much paperwork, and going for meals only to find out seats have been "choped" with packets of tissue paper.
Filmed in the heartlands sans glitzy skyscrapers and casinos, the video instead focuses on Singaporeans in coffeeshops, at schools, and in the desk cubicles where many spend most of their day.
Nostalgic old-fashioned mosaic tiled playgrounds and HDB flats also take centrestage in the video.
With lines like "Open our eyes/ Take a look around/ Open our hearts/ There's joy to be found/ In the little things... you're still okay," the catchy ditty has struck a chord with many Singaporean netizens, with over 8,000 views since the video was uploaded last Thursday.
The video has even been shared by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on his Facebook page, where it received about 1,500 likes.
"A young colleague shared this heart-warming music video with me. It was produced by a group of Singaporeans to express their love for Singapore this National Day. Enjoyed it, and hope you like it too," PM Lee posted on his Facebook wall.
Minister of State Tan Chuan Jin also posted a link to the video via PM Lee with a "Loving Singapore. Our Home".
Written by local Christian music composer Galvin Sng and co-produced with Monster Cloud Films, Blotch Studios and a crew of more than 70 people, reception to the video has been overwhelmingly positive.
A common praise was the video's focus on heartland Singapore.
"Nice song and very nice video. No glitzy MBS skyline in sight but just good old neighbourhood scenes where we all live and play everyday," commented YouTube user 599168.
"Love how this video is really so raw and local, and doesn't try to imitate anything. Beautifully done!" was a similar sentiment.
"This video depicts and reflects very well the current situation of Singapore's society. Well-filmed and nicely sang. Simple yet meaningful," posted Clairvoyanceism.
Other tongue in cheek comments included a post that the video was "less cheesy than Love At First Sight", NDP 2012's official song.
What do you think? Does the video appeal to you as a Singaporean?
