PS: No, we are not part of China or South America.
- Where is Singapore?
FACT: Singapore is an island city-state located in the South East Asian region, which lies immediately north of the Equator and its immediate neighbouring countries are Malaysia and Indonesia.
No, Singapore is not the capital of Malaysia.
(And no, for the last time — we are not part of China or South America either.)
2. 54 Years Ago…
3. 54 Years Later…
4. #SG54
YES! Our tiny but prosperous nation turned 54 years old on August 9th 2019! We’ve come a long way indeed. *wipes tears*
5. So…what are your houses made of?
Years ago, someone asked me this very question and I was rendered speechless… I uttered, “err… bricks?” Lol. *Seriously?!*
6. Trump-Kim Summit
This historical moment was made on June 12, 2018 in Singapore. The world got to witness the first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president & a North Korean ruler to begin talks regarding the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Come on people, you all should definitely know where Singapore is after all that! Even Trump was live-tweeting from Singapore.
7. Is it hard to get around Singapore?
Well… did you know Singapore is said to have the best public transportation networks of any city of its high-density and compact-size!
Our main modes of public transportation are the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit aka the train), SBS Bus, Taxi and Grab/Jojek (ride-sharing companies).
(Yes *ahem* granted that there may be some hiccups along the way.
But, in my opinion I think we’re doing way better than many other countries.)
8. Singapore is TINY!
Singapore has a total land area of only 682.7 square kilometers. Kangaroo Island (which is one of Australia’s 8,222 islands) is about 7-times bigger than Singapore!!! Please take a moment for that to sink in…
9. You no speak English?
*facepalm* 🙄
Yes in fact, we do.
English is the most widely used language in Singapore. It is the main medium of instruction in schools. A large majority of Singaporeans are able to speak English.
So, we would appreciate if people would stop slowing-down-their-speech-for-us-because-we-can-speak-English. And, stop with the ching-chong-ling-long thing. Thank-you-very-much.
(Yes, granted that some of us may have heavy Singaporean accents that may distract you from what we are actually saying — but that doesn’t discount the fact that we can speak English!)
10. EH! I CAN SPEAK ENGRISH LAH!
Singaporeans are not only effectively bilingual (or multilingual), but we are also fluent in a unique English-based patois or creole, better known as “Singlish” (or Colloquial Singaporean English).
Believe it or not, there are several Singlish words that have been included in the Oxford dictionary!
Sinitic topolect notes:
Mandarin wǒmen 我们 (“we”)
Cantonese paak3to1 拍拖 (“courting; to go out on a date”)
Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): tiam; Minnan (Hokkien, POJ): tiàm 店 (“shop”)
You should be able to figure out the other words by yourself — except the last one, “one”, which appropriately comes with three question marks, because, even though it is ubiquitous as a sentence final particle in Singlish, there is no consensus with regard to its derivation, meaning, and function in this position.
- Renae Cheng ‘s article TheSmartLocal (5/11/16) titled “10 Bizarre Things Singaporeans Do That The Rest Of The World Won’t Understand”:
Eh, go read by yourself lah. Lazy to explain..
11. Singapore is ethnically diverse.
There are 4 major ethnic groups in Singapore — Chinese, Malays, Indians & Eurasians. Most of us grew up learning both English and our respective mother tongues simultaneously. Likewise, Singlish is understood and used (by most) interchangeably across the ethnic groups.
12. We’re actually hybrid human-aliens.
.. cause we’ve got our own version of the exoplanetary moon, Pandora (from Avatar).
(Just kidding, that is the Supertree Grove which is part of Gardens By The Bay.)
13. Singapore’s National Pastime.
Did you know that EATING is definitely a unifying cultural thread in Singapore!
Some people can eat up to 5 meals a day! There are too many amazing dishes to list!!
I’ve also mentioned a few things about Singapore food — here and here.
Perhaps I should probably do a write-up about some of the recommended Singapore dishes soon!
In the last few years, we’ve also had the honour of Celebrity Chefs opening their restaurants in Singapore, like Chef Tetsuya Wakuda, Wolfgang Puck, Gordon Ramsay, David Myers, Jamie Oliver, Daniel Boulud and many more.
ANYWAY, WE WELCOME YOU…
Hopefully this article was able to give some of you an insight into Singapore.
