Sunday, August 08, 2004

National Day

Singapore's turning 39 tomorrow, one more year before the big 4-0. As such, I shall attempt to come out with 39 facts about Singapore.

1. Singapore is a very safe place.
2. Singapore is a food paradise.
3. Singapore is a "fine" city.
4. People of different races live together in harmony.
5. We have a world class performing art centre.
6. People are still unappreciative of performing arts.
7. More people goes to the Esplanade to take photographs of it than to view a concert.
8. We can basically go to anyway in the country in under 2 hours on public transport on 30 mins if you are willing to pay for a cab.
9. The cab fare is not as atrocious as some other countries.
10. There's a mysterious twilight zone between 11pm-12 midnight whereby all the cabs either disappear or appear to be busy.
11. They seems to be afraid that all passengers who board their cab between that time all want to go to Lim Chu Kang Cemetery.
12. The back of a bus and spaces in between doors on the MRT are always haunted. No one wants to stand there.
13. National servicemen get to travel to all kind of jungles all over the world.
14. The clubbing scene is supposingly "more happening" than a lot of places (I read it somewhere in the papers).
15. This is a very green country. Literally.
16. The hot weather sucks.
17. We have a stable government which doesn't resemble the World Wrestling Entertainment.
18. The education system is efficient although many still complain about it.
19. People don't speak out about many issues; they just listen to the government.
20. Roads are relatively safe to cross, unlike some countries when even crossing a zebra crossing is almost like risking your life jaywalking.
21. The people albeit their general coldness are actually warm at heart.
22. The people are mostly law abiding.
23. You can safely walk on the street at night knowing that you are relatively safe.
24. Chewing gums are banned.
25. You don't accidentally step onto chewing gums when you go to Orchard in your expensive Hugo Boss.
26. Singlish is the national language.
27. You have to learn Malay, Hokkien, English and a few assorted languages to effectively understand Singlish.
28. The true masters of Singlish are ah bengs and lians.
29. We have Singapore Idol, just like any other country.
30. We have ah bengs and lians entering the contest and trying to sing like Mariah Carey. "I can('t) leeeeeeeee, oh leee wit-aw yewwww..."
31. We get to celebrate holidays of other races. Eg. Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya, etc.
32. We are the holder of several world records like "Longest time spent queuing up to buy a Hello Kitty toy", "Longest time spent in line to book tickets/condominium/(enter an appropriate item)" etc.
33. The national past time is eating.
34. The second national past time is queuing.
35. Singapore is considered influential even so when someone goes to Taiwan. China makes a big deal of out it.
36. We are probably the only country in the world to drink our own pee.
37. We have real life dramas going on all the time, just go live at Everitt Road.
38. The most popular overseas destination is Johor Bahru.
39. We are similar in terms of political control to the United States of America. Senior Bush to outsider to Junior Bush, etc.

Happy national day all! Catch me on TV tomorrow if u can. =P



Majulah Singapura!


Republic of Singapore State Flag 

MAJULAH SINGAPURA
composed by Encik Zubir Said

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura
Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura





ONWARD SINGAPORE (English Translation)
Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success
Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore
fjozn at 11:51 AM