Fireworks.

Dear Readers,

A BLESSED NATIONAL DAY TO ALL, and of course, A BLESSED OLYMPIC SEASON too. may the spirit of patriotism, sportsmanship and peace fill the hearts of one and all.

This rainy season did nothing to dampen the spirits at this year's national day parade, and everything went with a bang. Extra-spectacular were the fireworks, which a number of tkweks' friends caught from up close, but were also enjoyed by tkwek behind the comfort of the TV screen with family - what better way to spend a saturday evening.

Here's an essay, written on this beautiful night.

-and dreams happy as the day
The Straight Times Editor

Fireworks

Everyone loves fireworks.

Whether it’s the glowing bubble that expands in the air above and in the hearts of onlookers as sparkling gunpowder impregnates frigid night air; the delicious sensations of explosion against chill, warmth against cold, laughter against stoicism; the narcotic blast of power and ecstasy that flames as a short-lived but brilliant magnesium flare; the inspiring brilliance of color against dark; the instant addition of a thousand splendid stars to the sky; or the unselfconscious adornment of metallic city skyline with dabs of tapestry, fireworks never fail to awe.

There’s that special something about those whiz-popping displays that feature as part of every celebration in this lightning-speed day and age of ours. People – from humble residents of faraway districts to suave metropolitan party-goers – are irresistibly drawn to their splashes of colour, as if there were a primal and instinctive urge to soak in the exuberance of the moment.

The crowds cheer, music climaxes, familiar tunes are played, and off go the fireworks in all shapes and sizes – traditional cotton-candy puffs, pyrotechnical blasts of flame, amorous scarlet hearts, glowing golden diamonds. Ecstasy lights the air, a tingle of excitement shockwaves through the masses, temperature climbs. Footsteps grow lighter, laughter louder and more sincere, and happy tears spring to a million eyes.

We use fireworks at to mark these occasions, because they heighten the mood when there’s cause for celebration. And everyone looks forward to fireworks.

But really, if we take a closer look at our lives, many of us would find fireworks around us every day. The people around us – assuming one is not a hermit, or a social recluse – are in themselves fireworks. Flaring with color and individuality, no two fireworks are the same – and neither are any two people. As people interact, breeding bonds of friendship, love, and yes, hate, the unseen colors explode around us, adding spice and fizz to our lives.

Fireworks, too, come in all the little blessings that we receive around the corners of life. Presents from people you’ve never met, cards from best friends, and birthday treats when you’re feeling down form little pops and bubbles around us. And of course, going out with friends on a bright and sunny afternoon might add another dash of rainbow. Even sitting down for a drink with a friend at recess, or bumping into a familiar senior along the corridor, lightens our hearts.

Of course, these morale boosters only enter our lives and light up the cobwebbed pile of worries in the dank corners of our minds if we let them. One can never love the beauty of the perfect firework if he does not first open his eyes to the vast night sky. In fact, one doesn’t have to be a hermit or a social recluse to miss the simplicity and brightness of life. All one has to do is to meditate on something that upset you in the past and quietly, stonily, live a shadowy existence. Not that breaking out of any corner is easy, given our powerful inertia, but the fireworking sparkles of hope, when found, present a dazzling reward.

On this national day, I pray that you’ll be able to find hope too, springing, I quote – like a thousand points of light – in that deep inky blackness that otherwise envelopes us.

After all, everyone loves fireworks.