Overview

    In this unit, you will see that these values have a part to play in contributing towards building a self-reliant nation.
No one owes Singapore a living and as a part of  Singapore, you need to exercise self-discipline to constantly meet up to the challenges that your country faces in order to fulfill your responsibilities as a Singaporean.

"If there is no country, there is no home."
Chinese saying

Meaning of Self-reliance.

     What does self-reliance means to you. To me, self-reliance means to depend on oneself and not on others. No one own us a living. We must all learn to be dependent and not always rely on our parents. There comes a time when we must "grow up". Sure, we have to depend on our parents when we are young, when we are helpless. But once we have grown up, it is time we rely on ourselves. It is the time when the role changes, when it is time for our parents to depend on us. Self-reliance is very important, if we keep relying on another person, then we would never succeed. Once, I heard about this story about a man who became blind after an accident. Unfortunately for this man, he had no family members as his parents were dead and he was the only son. But the man did not give up hope on himself. Instead of begging others and relying on others, he depended on himself. ( Of course he needed some help initially ) Now, the man is able to live life "normally"

     Self-reliance is not only important for oneself but also for the country. A country must be self-reliant, it should try not to depend on other country if possible. For the case of Singapore, we have no natural resources, we do not have enough reservoir, so we have to rely on Malaysia to sell us water. Think about this, if one day, Malaysia does not want to sell us water, what do we do? Therefore, our government are always on the lookout for ways to produce more water.  

Importance of self-reliance

     What if a person is not self-reliant? What would be the consequences? For the case of the blind man, then it would be unlikely that he can survive. Sure, kind people who knows of his plight might give him money, but eventually, the money would stop. The people has no relations with the blind man, why would they continue giving him money?

     For the case of a country, if she depends on others for essential supplies like raw materials, and one day, the supplies stop coming. There would be disorder in the country, what would the people feed on? Factories will not be able to function because there are no supplies. Jobs would be lost. Chaos and unrest would result and eventually people would want to migrate to other country. Very soon, the country would be forgotten. This is no joking matter. It could happen to Singapore. So, have you realized how important self-reliance is? Be sure to tell this to your friends.