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'Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand?'
Thus Sir Walter Scott felt about the mist, the heather, the mountains, lakes and snows of Scotland,
his own native land. So do most of us, and this stems from affection and familiarity rather than from
political and nationalistic considerations. So also must be Singaporean, away on business overseas, or
the Vietnamese boat-person who cannot master a foreign language.
In my own case, at least fourteen years of my life has been spent in a series of permanent Army
postings abroad. Two were spent on the beautiful island of Singapore, six in Germany during the second
world war and again later, three in West Africa, three in Palestine. Each time I flew into the UK my
heart leapt at the green familiarity of the little fields and villages, the woods and streams, the
undulating
landscape, as the plane came in to land.
Yet, there is much more to it than love of one's own countryside. I have lived permanently in my
own country for the past eighteen years and have learnt all over again to appreciate the many factors
which are most important to me, and which, as a young man, I thought I could do without.
First and foremost, and this is perhaps selfish, I would miss family and friends if, for some reasons,
I had to emigrate. In my latter years, it is an enormous pleasure to live near my sons and their families.
Both sons, as it happens, are happy and successful. One is a member of Parliament and the other is
a flourishing barrister. It would be sad indeed to miss their progress. It would also be a great loss if
I could not watch the week-by-week development of my five grandchildren.
An then -- friends. What is life without them? Old friends especially. Those with whom we have
shared experience, the ups and downs of life. Of course, we make friends abroad too but it is not always
easy to identify with people from a totally different background.
Again, one can practice one's religion anywhere. Yet is the overseas church, or mosque or temple
quite the same as one's own?
There is always the language barrier, especially for the English. The fact that English is today's
international language is no paradox. It is simply that our ancestors overseas, in the days when England
was a great colonial power and had a trading empire, expected foreigners to learn English, though there
were exceptions to this autocratic outlook. The fact remains that to speak one's own language in one's
own country guarantees immediate contact and understanding. Perhaps Chinese, Malays, and some other
far Eastern nationals do not see this as a problem. Unlike the lazy Englishman who will not learn, they
can and do.
What else did I miss when overseas? Perhaps the British political and legal system and the freedoms
we take for granted. Life abroad can be minefield for those who do not study the laws and customs
of their country of adoption. At home, one is brought up to know about these things and to avoid mistakes.
One English tradition is that of freedom of speech, that is, within the law. This also applies to the written word. The principle is 'I disagree with all you say, but I would defend your right to say it to the
death'. This means that the English can criticize the monarchy, the government, religion and law with
impunity, a freedom not universally conferred. One would miss that in a country where to
transgress
might mean prison, or even a death sentence.
The center of this freedom is the English pub , or public house. Every village has one or two, every
town has several. People talk, gossip, let off steam, and put the world to rights over a drink, in comfort, and in congenial company. The pub is perhaps the reason why there has been no revolution in
England since 1688. There is no equivalent institution abroad.
Good hospitals, good libraries, good clothes, good food and drink, good concerts and theatres, and
good quality consumer goods are some of the other things.
England has many faults but I can say with Scott 'this is my own, my native land!' |
