August 08, 2003

Singaporean Psyche

Singapore's National Day is coming up.

On August 9th, Singapore will celebrate 38 years of independance. To mark the occasion, the government encourages the its people to decorate their apartment blocks with the national flag.

Some housing estates take the flag decorating very seriously, with all residents 'strongly encouraged' by their neighbours to hang the flag out at a certain point on the balcony or from a window, so the whole building will end up decorated evenly from top to toe. Other places are much more lax, with different households hanging their flag from different points on the building, resulting in a rather scruffy, haphazard look. And, of course, there are some people who just don't bother with the flag thing at all.

I have asked a couple of people why they don't hang out the flag for National Day. Reasons given included:
- If you put the flag up the wrong way round, you get fined.
- If you put up a flag that is torn or discoloured, you get fined.
- If you put up a flag, and it falls down and injures someone below, you get fined, and possibly jailed.
- If you put up a flag, and you forget to take it down by the end of August, you get fined.
Thus, it's better not to put up a flag.

August 9th falls on a Saturday this year, so I'm fairly sure we will mark the occasion by doing all the standard Saturday things - sleeping, eating (the most universal of Singaporean traditions?) and puttering about the flat. We might also watch a bit of the National Day parade and the fireworks on TV. There is no way I'm prepared to do the Singapore thing and line up for hours on end to aquire a ticket (even if they're free!) to go to the National Stadium to witness the parade first hand.

Happy National Day Singapore. Selamat Makan!

Posted by Kristen at August 8, 2003 04:17 AM
Comments

Hi,

just recently did I watch a report on TV about Singapore. It seems that you can be fined for practically everything (like spitting on the floor, carrying a certain type of fruit, etc.).

Posted by: claus at August 13, 2003 08:19 AM

yeah, there are fines for a bunch of different things. they sell t-shirt with "Singapore is a Fine City" on it! the fruit fine is a good thing - i'm sure you'd agree if you ever had to share a train carriage with a durian for an extended amount of time. durian are pretty stinky. actually, i think the fine for spitting is a good thing too. and the one for peeing in the lift. oh my, i'm starting to agree with the government! i've clearly been here for too long. :o)

Posted by: Kristen at August 13, 2003 08:29 AM

> oh my, i'm starting to agree with the government!

I wish the city of Stuttgart, Germany (where I'm located) would be as half as consequent. During the now 25 years that I've been living here, the city has been getting increasingly dirty, and apart from some posters there's nothing that the city government does. Frankfurt is much more progressive, albeit the city government is conservative, too. All the telling about "Germans being accurate" isn't true at all (or only partly). At the same time I wish people here would be *a bit* more easy-going. When I've had enough here, I'm moving over to Singapore ;-)!

Posted by: claus at August 13, 2003 11:21 AM

Selamat makan? Awak boleh cakap Melayu?
In any case, wish I was there to enjoy the food too! I haven't been back home in years, and I'm missing my laksa, rendang and roti more than I miss not winning the lottery. Not that I play it...

Posted by: Stairs at August 19, 2003 07:59 PM

I don't speak much Malay - just the odd phrase here any there...I am, however, fully conversant when it comes to Malaysian food :o) Make of that what you will!

Posted by: Kristen at August 22, 2003 03:22 AM

i participated in the NDP like some years back because my school had to put up a performance. I'm not usually patriotic, but on National Day itself, when hundreds or thousands of ppl get together to sing "we are singapore, we are singapore" etc...it's relly an overwhelming scene for me...try and get the tickets next year and experience it for yourself...you may even love this "fine" city..even it it's just for that moment.. =)

Posted by: triste at September 3, 2003 06:56 PM