Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Euphoria. 

His arrival at what would be his final National Day Parade. 

Grief. 

His departure.

Heart.

Singapore and family.

*****

Back in university, we once had to do an assignment on this topic "Constitutional amendments in Singapore- To ensure good men or a tool of good men?" My opening statement in the essay quotes Mr Lee Kuan Yew, "To get a good government, you need good men in charge." A seemingly simple ideology but one which has served us well. 

It is clear that Mr Lee Kuan Yew was not a solo ranger, not one who thought he could change the world by himself. He knew that he needed a successful team under him to transform Singapore from a third world country to a first world country. In recognising this and while paying tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew, let us not forget those who came before us, who have contributed to making this little red dot so prominent on the world map. 

*****

I have always been a fervent admirer of Mr Lee- his insights, his ideologies and his love for Singapore. His policies have shaped the way I have grown up in this country. I am effectively bilingual. I grew up knowing that as long as I work hard for what I want, there will be no barriers to hinder me, be it gender or race or religion. I take a pragmatic approach to life- if there's a problem, solve it.

Of all his policies, one that has impacted many Singaporeans is how Mr Lee had the vision to turn Singapore into a garden city. Everywhere we go, we see rain trees and angsana trees. When I walk along the roads, I sometimes walk on the side with more trees because of the shade. These trees could be a manifestation of his policy making- to provide shade for all Singaporeans. 

Taking the ECP to Changi Airport is always a very precious experience. Time and time again, despite the many times I have been to and returned from the airport, I always stop whatever I am doing to marvel at the pruned bougainvillaea by the roadside whenever I pass through that pretty stretch of the expressway.

My favourite flower is not the rose, lily nor the sunflower. These are beautiful flowers. But the flower that holds a special place in my heart is the orchid- it stands for love, strength and beauty. 

Credit: Mr Lee Hsien Loong's facebook

The best place to view orchids is at the Orchid Gardens located at Botanic Gardens. Singapore has submitted its bid for Botanic Gardens to be Singapore's first UNESCO site. While Mr Lee was not the person who sprang the idea of Botanic Gardens, he brought in people to redevelop the Botanic Gardens. This place holds many fond memories for me. I came here when I was in primary school - my first foray into the flora and fauna of Singapore. I came here during my dating days. I came here with my family to enjoy the immensely popular outdoor concerts. 

*****

Many tributes have flowed in the past few days. 

The tributes that struck me the most were not those about his policies, but rather those about his relationship with his wife. 

If there's anything we can learn from him, learn that in this time and age where everything is disposable, a married couple can last through thick and thin and still be in love at the very end. 

Credit: Mr Lee Hsien Loong's facebook

*****

A great man has passed. But Singapore will continue to progress. 

Somebody built a sand sculpture of Mr Lee at East Coast Park. 

Credit: Nparks

Water is what binds the sand together. But it is also water that will make the sand sculpture crumble. Whether or not the sand sculpture remains there, the world continues to spin and the waves continue to crash. 

Mr Lee made Singapore united. But Singapore will not become loose sand after his departure. 后浪推前浪－that must be what Mr Lee would have wanted. 

Majulah Singapura! 

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National Day: Our Flag

With news of a 13-year-old girl burning the Singapore flag, and of a woman who hung a China flag over the parapet at a Hougang HDB, I think the folks at Tiong Bahru deserve a prize.

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National Day: National Day Roadshow (Marina Square)

National Day is approaching and it's always been one my favourite events in the year- the fireworks display which can be caught from different parts of the island, the many activities that are being held to celebrate this occasion, and generally, Singaporeans from all walks of life coming together to celebrate our nation's birthday.

One of the more interesting activities I encountered was at Marina Square. If you want to be part of the efforts in celebrating the nation's birthday, if you like playing with lego and if you want to do something good for needy children, you need to get down to Marina Square by 22 July!

The "Building a LovingSG" structure will span an area of 12 by 9 metres, about the size of a volleyball court.

For donating as little as $5, you can customise your own LEGO mini figures. One will be placed on the seating gallery on the platform, while the other is for you to keep! You can choose the body, the colour of the pants, the headgear, and even the expression on the face! And then, as one parent commented to her daughter, "It's free seating!" Put your lego figure anywhere on the platform as you please. The picture below is the two lego mini figures we made. (For posing purposes only, we subsequently brought them to the platform.)

Not only will you enjoy making the Lego mini figures (no one said that lego is only for children), all proceeds will go to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund which provides resources for children in schools.

After you are done customising your mini figures, taking pictures of them and putting them on the platform, you can also walk around the photo exhibition next to it by Nikon. It shows the different sides of Singapore and while it's a mini exhibition, displays many heartwarming and well-taken photographs. After that, you can also pen some well wishes for Singapore.

The roadshow is only until 22 July (9 pm) at Marina Square, so go there if you can afford the time! 

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Singapore Hawker Stalls Move Indoors (NY Times)

Click on article to read about how Singapore Hawker Stalls are apparently moving indoors. And hawker centres recently came into the limelight because of an analogy by Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing. 

"(For example,) you go to Peach Garden, you eat the S$10 XO Sauce chye tow kuay (fried carrot cake), you can be quite happy, right? Because you're satisfied with the service and so on.

On the other hand, you can go to a hawker centre, even if they charge you S$1.50, you might not want to eat it if the quality isn't good."

And here's a facebook note In Defence of Hawkers.

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Top 10 News 2011 (Singapore Version) (Part II)

After doing a Top 5 List, I realised that there were possibly 5 other news that I could add to this list to make it a Top 10. But I'm separating them into Part I and Part II, because  Part II concerns news that involve a tinge of incredulity. Click here for Part I.

6) H&M, A&F
Singaporeans are really good at four things- eating, shopping, complaining and queuing. So when Swedish high street fashion label H&M opened in Singapore (3 September 2011), 1500 people braved the rain and wind to enter the shop. Some even started camping the afternoon before.

(photo credit: cnngo.com)

As for Abercombie and Fitch, the 30 shirtless greeters caused quite a stir, attracting all kinds of people to take photos with these guys, like how Winnie the Pooh gets attracted to honey.

(photo credit: The Straits Times, Desmond Lim)

7) Night Safari cancels Halloween Horrors
At the Night Safari every year, there is a Halloween Horrors event. But, this year it was cancelled despite the 7 months preparation by the Singapore Polytechnic students. Reason given by Isabella Loh, Director & Group CEO of Wildlife Reserves Singapore?

"We are now staging a festival centered around Deepavali in October in our parks. This is a multi-cultural family event for all Singaporeans and tourists to join in. With our focus on Asian festivities, we have therefore decided to cancel Halloween in view of the clash in dates. 

(photocredit: 8flo lifestyle)

8) Occupy Raffles Place
With the Occupy movement all around the world, it is no surprise that it has landed on our shores. So, it was called Occupy Raffles Place, Raffles Place being the centre of Singapore's commercial activity. It was organised by a group called Occupy Singapore.

And here's the turnout.

 (photo credit: theonlinecitzen.com)

9) Curry Day 
A family, who had just moved here from China, had resorted to mediation because they could not stand the smell of curry that their Singaporean Indian neighbours would often cook. The Indian family, who were mindful of their neighbour’s aversion, had already taken to closing their doors and windows whenever they cooked the dish, but this was not enough.

“They said: ‘Can you please do something? Can you don’t cook curry? Can you don’t eat curry?’,” said Madam Marcellina Giam, a Community Mediation Centre mediator. But the Indian family stood firm. In the end, Mdm Giam got the Indian family to agree to cook curry only when the Chinese family was not home. In return, they wanted their Chinese neighbours to at least give their dish a try.

(quoted from Today)

This sparked off Cook A Pot of Curry, a facebook event where people from all walks of life in Singapore were invited to participate, and to cook a pot of curry. This spread beyond our shores and people from other countries indicated their attendance as well.

Here's a video by famous satirist blogger mrbrown.


10) McDonald's runs out of Curry Sauce 
Just another case in point on how much Singaporeans value our curry- when people discovered that there was no curry sauce in McDonald's outlets, it was as though life.is.now.over.

(photo credit: stomp.com.sg)

But later McDonald's updated on its Facebook page:
We know many of you have come to love our signature curry sauce, and are sorry that it is temporarily unavailable. This is due to unforeseen supply issues, and we expect new stocks of curry sauce to arrive from the US by the end of next week. To all our valued customers and curry sauce lovers in Singapore, we sincerely apologise and thank you for your patience!


This statement mended a few broken hearts. The good news? The new curry sauce does not contain peanuts, allowing people with peanut allergy to dip happily into this sauce. The bad news? It apparently tastes different, in a bad way.

(photo credit: stomp.com.sg)

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Myths about Singapore

It's nearly obligatory to write this post, to dispel some myths about Singapore, just so that people wouldn't think Singapore is a place in China where you get caned for chewing gum. If you hold such beliefs, do yourself a favour by reading this post.

1) Myth #1: Singapore is a city in China
False.
Even though the majority ethnic group in Singapore is Chinese, that doesn't make Singapore part of China. Don't believe me? Check out Google Maps. Just because Singapore is a small red dot on the map doesn't make it part of another country.

2) Myth #2: Singaporeans don't speak English/Mandarin 
Largely false. 
When I speak to people who have English as their dominant language, they say, "Oh wow, you can speak English very well!" Then I speak to Chinese, and they tell me, "你能说华语阿!" Days like this, I really wonder what language they think Singaporeans speak.

Why I say this is largely false, but has some element of truth in it, is because some of the older generation don't speak English. Also, as Singapore has four major racial groups, schools provide for lessons in our mother tongue, besides using English language as a common medium to teach subjects like Mathematics and Science. Even so, no matter which racial group we belong to, we are all Singaporeans and enjoy racial harmony.There is also an increasing trend for people from different races to learn the language of another race.

Former Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew recently published a book on bilingualism and he has kickstarted a fund to promote bilingualism in education.

(photo credit: Singapore Press Holdings)

If it is anything to count for, most of us are fluent in Singlish, which honestly doesn't really count as a language although it's probably something we identify with. Hone your "lah" and "lor" and you may be able to pass off as a Singaporean.

3) Myth #3: You can't chew gum in Singapore
False.
"Oh you are from Singapore? Aren't you sad you can't chew gum?" Those horrified faces make me horrified too. Anyway, I don't get what the big deal is about not being able to chew gum. I'd love to curse and swear everytime I step on a piece of gum on the road in other countries.

Personal bias aside, the truth is, you can chew gum in Singapore and you'll not be shot for doing so. The ban is on the import and sale of chewing gum although certain therapeutic gum is allowed for sale at pharmacies, pursuant to the US-Singapore FTA.

(photocredit: Law is Greek)

4) Myth #4: You get hanged or caned for everything 
Largely false.
Well, the truth is that you wouldn't get hanged or caned for littering or jaywalking or failing to flush toilet bowls. But you may get fined. And no, you don't even get punished for chewing gum, unless you decide to be a jerk and litter.

As for caning, one may get it for offences including robbery, hostage-taking, vandalism etc. Michael Fay has experienced caning in Singapore. You may think it's ridiculous to get caned for vandalism but you have to that Singapore prides itself on being clean and green and also to prevent public property from being destroyed. Scoff at me for being so narrow-minded, but with many other outlets for your artistic expression, vandalism shouldn't count as one of them.

The mandatory death penalty is imposed for very serious crimes, including murder, offences involving firearms and drug trafficking. (Please look up Singapore's laws if you are interested in the exact circumstances (e.g. amount of drugs to be imported) where the penalty is imposed.)

(photo credit: Taken off singapore2025.wordpress.com)

Well, if this tells you anything at all, DON'T COMMIT CRIMES.

5) Myth #5: Singapore Fried Noodles originate from Singapore
I was so amused when I came across this on the web because this is the first time I read about somebody pointing it out and yes, it's..
UNVERIFIED, although probably FALSE. 

(photo credit: Yummy Mummy)

I seriously have no idea why this dish features so prominently in Western countries. The irony is that this dish doesn't even seem to have originated from Singapore. We have fried beehoon (vermicelli) but we don't have curry powder added to it.

Hopefully, this post cleared some doubts about Singapore- remember, tell your friends, they don't get caned for chewing gum in Singapore! 

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Top 10 News 2011 (Singapore Version) (Part I)

With the year drawing to a close, here's my version of the Top 5 News that happened in Singapore in 2011, in no particular order. I wanted to do a Top Ten but could not think of enough to reach 10.

Update (28.12.2011): I have now identified 5 other news, which appear in the Part II installment. 

1) SMRT breakdown
If you don't know this, you definitely don't stay in Singapore. The headlines regarding this matter were splashed across front page of newspapers consecutively for a few days. The culprit was some dislodged rail claws. Although this problem has since been fixed, when one ingredient goes wrong in the broth, the broth gets thrown out. I think this is how the issue has been advancing, with calls for SMRT chief Saw Phaik Hwa to resign.

While this issue is a a serious one, it has a lighter side where netizens have generated a series of memes. This is in response to the guy who used a fire extinguisher to smash the glass on the MRT door, in order to create some ventilation. In response,  SMRT told commuters "if you are stuck inside a train, never smash the windows or force the doors open".

(photo credit: A TheOnlineCitizen reader)

2) Flash floods
Water is a sign of wealth. But not when it destroys your goods during a flood. This is even though there is a $200 000 flood barrier system and plastic barriers were distributed. The new word to learn is "ponding" as  Public Utilities Board explains.

(photo credit: Alan Seah's Facebook via mrbrown.com)

Just a side remark, the weather has been going pretty haywire pretty much around the world. Do your part for the earth, as part of your new year resolution. Every effort goes toward making this earth a better place for all of us. When in doubt, recycle, reuse, reduce and refuse. 

3) Elections- General Elections and Presidential Elections
I didn't get to vote in the General Elections but followed the news very closely. The political winds have started to change direction and the approach taken in the following years will be different from how we are traditionally used to being governed.

The rise of the internet is a double edged sword. Constructive suggestions or comments are good but people have to filter out background noise in order to form their own unbiased views. Even though studies conducted show that the General Election was not an Internet Election, it's important that people use the internet responsibly and not to sow seeds of discontent just for the sake of it.

As for the Presidential Elections, it has got to be the most exciting one ever because for the first time ever, there were four eligible presidential candidates. Something that was highlighted repeatedly, and rightly so, is the role of the president. Aljuned GRC MP Pritam Singh has raised the question of whether it should be mandatory of students to learn about the Singapore Constitution. I think it should be because you need an enlightened electorate in order to make the right choices.

(photo credit: channelnewsasia.com)

In any case, the star of the two elections Yam Ah Mee! This video done by mrbrown is quite interesting, and the song is actually pretty addictive.



4) SEA Games Badminton
Fu Mingtian, from the Singapore contingent, won Singapore's first South East Asian Games women's badminton gold. I caught the match on TV and it was a historic moment. Both players played a very good match and it was nearly heart stopping to watch them chase each other's points.

(photo credit: The New Paper, Jonathan Choo)

5) Bedok Reservoir
If you have troubles in life or just want someone to listen, please seek help instead of ending your life in a reservoir. There are better things in life awaiting you.

(photo credit: The Straits Times, Lau Fook Kong) 

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SBS Driver Takes Passengers for a Ride

When I first saw this news circulating on facebook, I tried hard to stifle a chuckle. I'm sure if I were on the bus, I would be silently cursing. But the funny part is that the bus driver was unlucky enough to have a reporter on his bus.

According to the news report on Channel 8, the bus driver tried to avoid a traffic jam somewhere and took a different route but he ended up getting lost and left the passengers stuck in the bus for 2 hours. A few people offered to give directions but the driver said that he had to listen to the directions given by the Control Station. 

It's not like I want to start lamenting about how there are continual price hikes for public transport, long waiting times for buses (I don't see how waiting for 25 minutes for a bus is acceptable), and increasing dangerous driving. I recognise the great convenience that the continual improvement of public transport brings, including the Circle Line. 

But, if I really had something urgent, I would need to get to my destination, probably under two hours by bus. Take a taxi, you say? That's right. Oh, but they are revising their fares too! 

Get a car? That's a solution... but COE is now rocket high! 

Best solution: Walk. This is all in the grand scheme of things- you become healthy by walking, you leave no carbon footprints and you can save money too!

As Selina in 小孩不笨 says, "It is all for your own good!" 

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The Brilliant Meteorological Station

On days like that, I just want to face palm and wish the meteorological station would come up with something better. I also can predict at 940 am that it's raining since 920 am? Plus, in Singapore, there's only rain and sun- 50% of getting it right!

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Annoying Singaporean #2

This is written in a true Singaporean fashion- complete with true blue Singlish. You might need to refer to a Singlish dictionary, if you don't understand any of the terms below.

This happens most frequently in hawker centres and food courts. Where the crowds get very crazy during lunchtime, and this is probably the most creative manner to secure yourself a seat.

It could be annoying for both parties. Because the one who is "choping" the table could have left one person staying there to "guard" the table- but what's the point. On the other hand, the table could have been used for people who have already got their food and probably could have finished their food before the people who choped the table came back.

So what do we do in such tricky situations? Besides sharing tables (which is a very common occurrence), I can't think of any better solution. Maybe Singa the Lion could help.

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Annoying Singaporean #1

Basically, in Singapore, on escalators, you have to keep to the LEFT. no matter what you did in your home country, it's LEFT LEFT LEFT in Singapore! it used to be anything, but in the last couple of years, we started standing left.

At first, it was terrible. nobody adhered to it and everybody was still blocking the traffic. truth to be told, the situation is so much better than it was, say, 5 years ago. But still, nobody complains if there's still room for improvement. So, if somebody chokes up the traffic when he/she could well walk up or keep left, it annoys me to no end.
i will either trying stomping my feet loudly, or clear my throat, and wait for the person to make way. unfortunately, some people are pretty deaf and cannot hear such stomping and foot clearing!

so, these are my proposed solutions.

1) Paste little neon strips of green (left) and strips of red (right) on the escalator. A little unsightly though.

2) Instead of putting annoying LED lights (dhoby ghaut mrt station) that makes me giddy (haven't you seen those disco lights -_-), put the LED lights to good use. Line the road towards the escalator with little small LED lights, one side green, one side red.

3) Just scream at the person in front of you and whack his head. (no, i'm kidding. really.)

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