in994-Under-the-Paperweight-Red-Star-Blooms

▼

In August, the red and white flags on both sides of the streets in Singapore are surging like waves. National Day has just passed, but the fiery patriotism under the equatorial sun has not faded. In a corner of the Presidential Palace Open Day exhibition, a jade paperweight in the shape of an orchid lies quietly next to the national flag, and the spiritual code of the Lion City flows in its crystal texture. The red stars and moons on the national flag are totems of equality and unity; the orchid on the paperweight is a metaphor for perseverance in the wind and rain. This orchid, born in a humid and hot environment, can always penetrate the cracks in the rocks with its roots and bloom gracefully in adversity. As the founding father Lee Kuan Yew once said: “Singapore is like an orchid. The more difficult it is, the more it needs to take root.” The word “Zhen” in the paperweight is not only the physical function of pressing down the paper, but also the spiritual weight of guarding the original intention. This year’s National Day theme “One Heart” resonates with the image of the paperweight. On the road to recovery after the epidemic, every position is like the carvings on the paperweight, jointly supporting the country’s blueprint. White-collar workers in the financial district, stall owners in hawker centers, and scientific researchers in laboratories are all “guarding” the Lion City spirit in their own ways. Just as an orchid paperweight requires thousands of chiseling by craftsmen before it can be formed, Singapore’s prosperity is also the result of three generations of meticulous craftsmanship. When the morning light penetrates the paperweight, the orchid shadow in the jade overlaps with the stars and the moon on the national flag. This paperweight that can suppress the storm is telling the story of a small country with great ambitions: to resist the storm with flexibility and to nourish new life with precipitation. Under the paperweight of time, every figure who perseveres is continuing to write the legend of the permanent red star.

八月的新加坡，街道兩旁的紅白旗如浪翻。國慶日剛過，但赤道驕陽下那份熾熱的家國情懷仍未褪去。在總統府開放日展覽的一角，一方胡姬花造型的玉石鎮紙靜靜躺在國旗旁，晶透質地中流轉著獅城的精神密碼。國旗上的赤色星月，是平等與團結的圖騰；鎮紙上的胡姬蘭，則是風雨中堅守的隱喻。這種誕生於濕熱環境的蘭花，根系總是能穿透岩石縫隙，在逆境中綻放優雅。正如國父李光耀曾言：”新加坡如同蘭花，愈是艱難愈要紮根。”鎮紙的”鎮”字，不僅是壓住紙張的物理功能，更是守護初心的精神重量。今年國慶主題”萬眾一心”恰與紙鎮意象共鳴。疫情後的復甦之路上，每個崗位都如同鎮紙上的雕紋，共同支撐起國家的藍圖。金融區的白領、小販中心的攤主、實驗室的科研人員，都在用各自的方式”鎮”守獅城精神。就像蘭花鎮紙需要工匠千萬次鑿刻方能成型，新加坡的繁榮也凝結著三代的精雕細琢。當晨光穿透鎮紙的剎那，玉石中的蘭影與國旗的星月交疊。這方壓得住驚濤的鎮紙，正訴說著小國大志：以柔韌對抗風暴，以沉澱滋養新生。在時光的鎮紙下，每個堅守的身影，都在續寫著赤星常駐的傳奇。