Singaporeans are a pragmatic bunch, and most take considerable pride in their no-nonsense approach to life in the rule-bound nation.
But for the past week citizens and opinion-formers have been gripped by an existential debate. 'Who are we?' and 'What do we care about?' are the questions of the moment.
The trigger came from Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's National Day speech, which criticised younger citizens who left the country when times were hard.
'I call them quitters,' Mr Goh said, contrasting their unwillingness to stick it out with the staying power of older generations who built the country after independence.
Prosperity had made some younger Singaporeans soft, Mr Goh said. 'Having benefited from Singapore, [they] will pack their bags and take flight when our country runs into a little storm.'
The response was not slow in coming - at home and abroad - as many either recoiled at the remarks or praised them as a post-recession wake-up call.
'I am baffled by the prime minister's National Day speech about 'stayers' and 'quitters',' Francis Lim Khek Gee wrote from London. 'It might just further justify the dominant feeling of those attracted by the greener pastures: that Singapore, though very wealthy, is like a very strict home with cane-wielding parents, from whom children would want to run away.'
