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By Lee Wan-Jean
I WAS waiting with an American friend at 5am on a chilly autumn morning in New Hampshire. We were going to canvass for Mr Barack Obama.
And that was when I asked myself why I, a Singaporean, care so much about the American elections.
It began as a fascination with themedia circus that is the presidential polls. I came of age amid reality shows and 24-hour news networks. Living in the United States as the most important election in its history unfolds is like watching reality TV 'live'.
Then came Mr Obama's landmark speech on race in America, in which he proudly declared that in 'no other country on earth is my story even possible'.
As I listened, I realised that his journey is not uniquely American: It is Singaporean as well.
He talked about how different his life is from his grandparents' and parents'. My late grandfather, who sold prawn noodles on the streets of Hong Lim, could not have imagined one of his grandchildren training to be a scientist in the US.
There has been much talk about Joe the Plumber as a working-class icon. I wonder if people like my uncle, Ah Hui the hawker, will evoke such interest back home.
Mr Obama's story reminded me of the opportunities Singapore has afforded me, and that I should be just as proud of how far my family and country have come from humble beginnings.
In another historic speech in Berlin, he introduced himself 'not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world'.
I now see that America's strength lies not in its uniqueness, but in the similarities of its people's struggles with those of the citizens of the world.
The fact that the words of an American could renew my appreciation of my Singaporean roots means there is something special about him, the US, and the American electoral process.
I have been a true-blue Obama supporter ever since.
I know how genuinely excited my American friends are about a new president presenting a fresh reconciliatory face to the world.
'We are not a nation of cowboys and we do care about the world,' said Mr Joshua Idjadi, a 35-year-old marine biologist. I know this to be true.
The writer 28, is a PhD student at the University of New Hampshire at Durham, New Hampshire. She has lived in the US since 2005.
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