Symbolic and Iconic Singapore

Today 9th  August 2014 Saturday year of the Horse is Singapore's National Day ! It is our 49th Birthday since independence in year 1965 which was a Monday & year of the snake back then. 

so let us look back into some of the things or people which is very symbolic and iconic that represents and reminds you of Singapore 

Starting from our :

Singapore National Flag --> The Singapore Flag 

The Singapore Flag Comprises of :

- The Upper Red

- The Lower White

- The Crescent Moon

- The 5 Stars

RED :  Universal brotherhood and equality of man 

White : Pervading and everlasting purity and virtue

Crescent Moon :  Represents a young nation on the ascendant

5 Stars :  Singapore ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality

Singapore National Symbol --> The Lion Head Symbol  

The lion head symbolises courage, strength and excellence, as well as resilience in the face of challenges. 

It is in solid red against a white background - the colours of the national flag. Its mane's five partings represent the same five ideals that are embodied in the five stars of the national flag, namely democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.

 Its tenacious mane symbolises the nation's single-minded resolve to rise to any challenges and overcome any obstacles

The Singapore National Crest -->  Coat of Arms 

The central emblem of the coat of arms is a red shield with five white stars resting above a white crescent, similar to the crescent and stars used on the Singapore flag and such other national symbols as the national ensign for civilian ships. 

Red symbolises "universal brotherhood and equality of man" and white "pervading and everlasting purity and virtue". The crescent represents a new moon, which reflects "a young nation on the ascendant", while the five-pointed stars "stand for the nation's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality".

The supporters of the shield are a lion and a tiger: the tiger symbolises the nation's historical connections to Malaysia (which Singapore was a state of from 1963 to 1965) while the lion represents Singapore itself.

Below the supporters is a blue ribbon on which the national motto, Majulah Singapura, is written in gold. Majulah Singapura is also the title of the national anthem; it means "Onward Singapore" in Malay..

The Singapore National Animal  :  --> The Lion 

The Lion is a very majestic animal , The king of the beasts of the animal kingdom. 

Singapore is known as Lion City (Singapura) as according to legends, We were named as Singapura by Sanila Utama who was one of the early founders and king of Singapore but however unofficial. 

It was once believed that sanila utama had spotted lion in this country of today's Singapore and hence named this place as Singapura meaning Lion City. However much is being disbelieved and questioned that he might had saw another animal that looks like a lion as it is not very possible for lion to be inhabited in this tropical sunny little island. Till today was it really a lion or was it something else still remains a historical mystery.

Hence, Singaporeans called themselves as Lions till date. 

Singapore , Lion City where Kings are born ! 

The Singapore National Myth Creature --> Merlion

The Merlion is mythological creature as well as a Feng Shui ( Geomancy) creature of Singapore. 

Before sanila utama arrived in Singapore, He encounter a storm and during the storm he saw a fish tail flipping out of the water and demanded for his crown in which he did obey and after he threw his crown into the water the storm subsided. 

After he arrived on this little island he saw a Lion & the merlion is combination of both but others believed and claimed it could be possible he met a real merlion in the sea while on his way from sumatra indonesia to singapore during the storm. 

The Upper Lion represents Singapore as a city of Lions and the lower Fish tail represents Singapore as a fishing village and sea port.

Hence, the Singapore tourism board took up this trademark symbol logo which was designed by  Alec Fraser-Brunner 

Where Fengshui is of Concern, it represents inhaling of the good things and vomiting out all the bad things out. so place this merlion carefully.  There are 5 official merlion statutes strategically placed in very feng shui locations of Singapore. 

in many other traditions and myths, there are similar resemblance of merlions as well such as the  Indian murals at Ajanta and Mathura, and on Etruscan coins of the Hellenistic period an established element of Western heraldry, it was also featured as coat of arms on the cities of Portsmouth and Great Yarmouth in the United Kingdom.

Similar symbols appeared in front of Chenghuang Temple (城隍廟; Chénghuáng Miào) in Hsinchu City, Taiwan & the coat of arms of Manila City by King Philip II of Spain in May 30, 1596.

  

The Singapore National anthem --> majulah singapura

This was composed by Zubir Said (an Indonesian converted to become as Singaporean)  in 1958 & used as our National Anthem. Majulah Singapura means Onwards Singapore 

The Below will be the translations

The Singapore National Oath -->  The Singapore Pledge

& the below will be the other translations

This Singapore Pledge  is an oath of allegiance to Singapore. It is commonly recited by Singaporeans in unison at public events, especially in schools, in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and during the National Day Parade

This Pledge was written by Sinnathamby Rajaratnam in 1966 shortly after Singapore's independence. Rajaratnam revealed that the dream was to build "a Singapore we are proud of". He believed that language, race and religion were divisive factors, but the Pledge emphasises that these differences can be overcome if Singaporeans cared enough about their country.

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006) was a Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1980–85, and a long-serving Minister and member of the Cabinet from 1959–88. He was one of the pioneer leaders of independent Singapore as it achieved self-government in 1959 and later independence in 1965. He devoted much of his adult life to public service, and helped shape the mentality of Singaporeans on contemporary issues.

Singapore National Language :  --> Malayu ( Malay Language / Bahasa Melayu) 

The national language of Singapore is Malay is a malay country and official languages in Singapore are Malay, Mandarin , English and Tamil 

However, all of those are in Text and Theoretically speaking only. In Singapore we go all things in practical officially in English language and on unofficial basics, our so called national languages is Singlish and Hokkien Dialect. 

Singapore National Fruit --> Durian 

Singaporeans simply go crazy about durian and durian related products such as durian cake and many more others. we even have a building , the esplanade theatres which is shape after a durain husk. It is really out national fruit and as durian is king of fruits after all many of our Singapore national related things are related to kings such as Lion and many more. 

Singapore National Bird --> Crimson Sunbird 

  The crimson sun-bird was voted Singapore's national bird in a competition by the Nature Society. The bird and Singapore share a few characteristics such as the nickname "the tiny red dot" and a small size. The bird was also named by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the British statesman who discovered Singapore.

Singapore National Beer -->  Tiger Beer

Few are aware that Tiger Beer is actually the national beer of Singapore. Tiger Beer was the first locally brewed beer in Singapore in 1932 and it is the most popular beer of Singapore. 

Singapore National Flower --> Orchid 

Who was Vanda Miss Joaquim ?
The first discovery of Vanda Miss Joaquim took place one early morning in 1893 when Miss Agnes Joaquim was talking a walk in her garden alone. By chance she came upon a new orchid flower which she had never seen before. 

The new orchid flower was nestled in a clump of bamboo and it was round and full, of a delicate mauve similar to that of other Vanda except that this one was flowering out of season, the features shown on this new flowers were also somehow different. 

Suspecting that this flower could probably be a new specie, Miss Joaquim took it to the director of Singapore Botanic Gardens who also confirmed that it is indeed a new specie, one that was never seen before and unknown to science, a hybrid between Vanda hookerana and Vanda teres. Therefore the orchid was named after the founder Miss Joaquim.

Why Vanda Miss Joaquim Orchid chosen as national flower of Singapore?
Vanda Miss Joaquim was chosen as the national flower in the year 1981 among 40 contenders of which 30 of them are all different species of orchid. The need for a national flower comes from the overall effort to foster national pride and identity. 

Unlike other countries all over the world who can only choose their national flowers that can also be found in other parts of the world, our national flower Vanda Miss Joaquim can only be found and grown right here in Singapore and not anywhere else.

The choice for using orchid as the national flower can be easily understood. The reason is that since olden days, Singapore had long been identified together with orchid and no orchid other than Vanda Miss Joaquim is worthy as it is the oldest and the sole indigenous natural hybrid.

Features of  Vanda Miss Joaquim Orchid Flower

A strong inflorescence of Vanda Miss Joaquim may carry up to 12 buds, usually with four flowers open at a time. Each flower is about 5 cm across and 6 cm tall, and as is the case with its parents, the petals are twisted around so that the back surface faces front. The two petals and the top sepal are rosy-violet, and the lateral sepals are a pale mauve. The lip is very large and broad and the middle lobe extends out like a fan. It is coloured violet-rose, merging into a contrasting fiery orange at the centre. Over the orange patch, the lip is finely spotted with dark purple. It is free-flowering.

Meanings of Orchid Flowers

• Fertility
• Luxury
• Perfection and Beauty
• Love & Affection
• Refinement & Innocence
• Wealth , Nobility & Bravery
• Power & Strength

Singapore National Sports --> Soccer (Football)

Football turned into the national sports of Singapore during in 1980s & 1990s during the Singapore Lion's time in the Malaysian Cup where the Singapore Lions dominated the competition. This sports was brought into Singapore by the British during colonial day popularise since those days. 

Singapore Sports Legendary Hero --> Fandi Ahmad

Fandi is today a coach but during his prime time and peak season, he was the pride and glory of Singaporeans when it comes to football during matches. 

Singapore National Insect --> Ant ( in my personal opinion)

It is in my personal opinion that the ant should be a representative as our national insect! 

The reason is because so many times in history it has been proven that we were being laughed, jeered, look downed and forsaken by many others time and again thinking we can be easily crushed like an ant and trying to bully our country and our people many times.  

But again time and again historically proven that we stood up and even a tiny any can prove many wonders and miracles others cannot imagine. 

If you look into the real insect world, there are many things that will really surprise you about ants on things that can do and others cannot and i would suggest you go read up on your own. Ants are just like us how we had proven ourselves despite being denied 

Denial makes history !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh4Q6p2lHFA&list=UUjwfjkxkFM4jpg9daEhEYRQ

On top of that , out of 196 countries in the world of today, there is none other in this world that you can find in which the people of the country works more than Singapore. we have the longest working hours in whole world and hence similar to an ants that works non stop without rest or little rest. 

Therefore it is in my own personal opinion we should recognise the ant as our National Insect 

Singapore National Dish -->  Hainanese Chicken Rice

The Hainanese Chicken Rice is absolutely very authentic uniquely Singapore. The History of this dish was by a Hainanese who arrived to Singapore from the Hainan Island of China during the colonial days. 

He mixed the traditional Hainanese recipe with that of the Cantonese which he learned locally here in Singapore and in no time it became overwhelming popular in Singapore that eventually everyone in Singapore wants to learn and sell Hainanese Chicken Rice. 

Hainaese Chicken Rice can be found in all parts of Singapore today and almost everyone claims themselves to be the traditional and Original Hainanese Chicken Rice but it is already hard to trace who is it exactly that is the real traditional and original hainanese chicken rice.   

Eventually this dish was spread into Malaysia from Singapore and it was from Malaysia that it was brought back into Hainan Island of China today whereby hainanese chicken can be eaten in hainan island china today as well in which there was none in the past. 

But still the best hainanese chicken can only be and only in Singapore and none others. 

Singapore National Coin --> The Singapore $1 Dollar Coin

There are many who knows about it as also many who do not know about it. However, this $1 coin of Singapore is not an ordinary coin. Far from ordinary in fact !

The Shape of the $1 coin has powerful magic cast on it to protect the user from evil spirits. It is actually a Ba Gua in disguise. the magic is at the head of the coin and not the tail. It has been said that this coin has the ability to chase away evil spirits and expel anyone who is possessed by a spirit. It has also been said that this coin help to boost the economy of Singapore during the early days. 

you may want to read more at the below links

http://asiaparanormal.blogspot.sg/2010/07/singapores-1-coin-can-protect-you.html

http://asiaparanormal.blogspot.sg/2010/07/singapores-coin-of-protection.html

http://fengshuibeginner.com/another-story-about-singapore-1-coin/

Singapore National River --> Singapore River

   In the early days when ships entered Singapore , they will first arrived into Singapore from the Singapore River. This Singapore River is the Heart of Singapore according to Fengshui and it is also Singapore main source of income. As long as the river flows, it will always brings us life & prosperity.  The day the river stop flowing will indicate the decline , fall and death of Singapore according to those fengshui masters. 

Singapore National War Hero -->  Lim Bo Seng

Mr Lim Bo Seng was from Force 136  a resistance force of the Japanese during WW2 ! He was an important figure for many resistance activities against the Japanese and was very much wanted by the Japanese to have him nailed down. 

He was betrayed by Lai Teck to the Japanese who was a triple agent working for the British, the Japanese and Force 136. 

Mr Lim Bo Seng was captured and tortured to death by the Japanese and till his last breath he never reveal the names of the people he was working together with. A true honourable national war hero of Singapore to be remembered 

Singapore Official Founder --> Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles 

Singapore has too many past names , too many masters, & too many founders but only him , Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles of EIC ( East Indies Company) was the official founder that had brought Singapore into the colony of the British. 

Much of Singapore official history began from him and because of him. much about singapore before him was unofficial and unknown but all had changed when Singapore was colonise by the British after being founded by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

Singapore War Memorial ( Cenotraph , Civilian & Kranji)

The Cenotraph war memorial is mainly British soldiers , the Civillian war memorial is the memorial of Civilians who were massacre during the Japanese occupation of WW2 and the Kranji war memorial are mostly of foreign soldiers who fought for Singapore during WW2.  

 Singapore National Geomancy (Fengshui Master) --> Grandmaster Reverend Hong Chuan

The Government do not wish to make this official but the citizens of Singapore are not blind and stupid either. we are very aware among ourselves internally that Grandmaster Reverend Hong Chuan is in actual fact the national FengShui master unofficially appointed by MM LKY. 

Too many building structures and many more others in Singapore is strongly connected and related to fengshui and much of it was consulted by the Singapore Government to Grandmaster Reverend Hong Chuan back then. 

The Ruling government of Singapore does not admit and acknowledge but as fellow citizens much of us are very aware that our ruling government is an over obsessive believer of fengshui. 

Singapore National Temple --> Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery ( 光明山普觉禅寺)

Grandmaster Reverend Hong Chuan was from  Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (光明山普觉禅寺) and unofficially this is our national temple of the ruling family of Singapore. 

Singapore Unofficial Religion -->  FengShui (Geomancy)

Some called it as a religion, some called it Chinese Maths, arts and Science, Some called it interior designing, Some called it Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment.

Many ways to see Fengshui according to the eyes of different people who identify it differently. Actually Fengshui has nothing to do with religion but however many religious masters or Taosim/Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, & Shinto all seems to be very well verse in Fengshui which may create an impression it is associated with religion. some of it theories, concepts, and teachings to the ears of those who do not understand will mistaken it as religion. 

Most people like to call fengshui as a religion at least to the layman even though it is not. 

For Singapore too much building structure and many more others has a very deep connections in relations to fengshui especially if it is related to government projects unofficially but in actual fact official which is not spelled out in words only, they need to be fengshui approved !

Singapore National (Official) Religion --> Christianity , Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism/Daosim

 These are Major, official and recognise religions in Singapore which are Christainity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism & Taosim/Daoism in which they are greatest in numbers, influence and establishment.

other religions unmentioned are the minority religions of Singapore. 

some even say that the 5 stars of Singapore flag are these 5 religions in disguise.  

Despite saying that Christainity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism & Taosim/Daoism are the official religions, only Christainity, Islam, Buddhism, & Hinduism are in actual fact the 4  greatest , major and main national religion of Singapore. 

Singapore National Costume -->  The Nyonya Kebaya (小娘惹 )

  

Even though the Peranakan race which is a mixed race of malay and others originated from Malacca of Malaysia, however back then during the early days of Singapore, much of the Straits locals dressed and married peranakans back then and wore their clothes casually and commonly. 

That is one of the reasons why the Singapore Airlines (SIA) choose to use the  Nyonya Kebaya (小娘惹 ) as their official costume to represent Singapore

If you really want to identify the real exact actual national costume of Singapore, there really isn't any the Kebaya which is worn by the Straits people and Peranakan race back then is really the nearest and closest. 

The Chinese back then wore Chinese costume as they are from China looking something like the below

the labour woman known as the Samsui woman ( 红头巾) worn something like the below

The coolies worn clothes something like the below

The Malays who are from present day Malaysia and Indonesia mainly wore something like the below

The Indians worn something like the below

The Indian Coolies would be something like the below

The Eurasian would wear something like the below

If to say what is the national costume of  Singapore in the era of today, i would say that the typical kopitiam uncle logo is a good example

This way of dressing is so normal, typical, casual and common that near to almost every Singaporeans today wear in Singapore which is Singlet , Shorts and Slippers in our today modern era of Singapore of the 21st century. I would call this our national costume of today if you were to ask me

 Singapore National Gate  --> The ERP (Electronic Road Pricing)

This is the most epic and legendary gate of all times. no gates around the world can beat this national gate ours here in Singapore. It is a very scary gate. A gate people complain alot and those who drives on the road everyday hates this gate

Singapore National Outdoor Protest Venue --> Hong Lim Park

Traditionally Singapore Bans Protest in Singapore. Should a protest be required, in the past it will always be indoors , in  a room with multi cameras facing you. All names of the those who attends the protests needs to listed out, a licence will be required just in order to have a legalised protest and this protest needs to be registered and await approval before you can protest. 

5 people in a group in the streets will be considered as illegal gathering and the Singapore Police Force will disperse your are bring you for questioning. 

However, today we have our allocated venue to protest officially outdoors & this place is Hong Lim Park. this venue today holds protest very frequently.

Singapore National Telcom --> Singtel

Before there are other Telcoms in Singapore such as M1, Starhub & MyRepublic enters, the 1st and only and monopolise telco back then was Singtel which is state owned 

Singapore National House --> HDB Flats

Majority of Singaporeans today lived in HDB Flats ever since being chase out from the old kumpung huts of the past. More than half of people today in Singapore lived in such houses today. You can consider this to be the our national houses of today

Singapore National Transport -->  SMRT 

Very much unlike other nations whereby most people have their own personal private transport , here in Singapore we very strongly rely on public transport and we are talking about this company SMRT which is also state own.

MRT Train, LRT Train, Buses and Taxis are from SMRT and our daily lives depend alot on it 

Singapore National Courtesy campaigns mascot --> Singa the Singapore Courtesy Lion 

 

Singa was the typical mascot used by much of Singapore campaigns to promote and educate  courtesy, graciousness and eventually kindness to the public and the launch started since year 1982.  In the Singapore Kindness Movement, Singa is still being used as the mascot 

Singapore Major Ethnic groups --> Chinese , Malay, Indians & Eurasian

These are primary and major races of Singapore that make up our Singapore since early ancestral days till today still no change. 

Singapore National Culture --> Kaisu, Kaisee, Kai Chenghu ,& Ai Complain 

There isn't an actual Singapore culture as we are a mixed of everything and we are easily culturally influenced. 

however, very typically to identify Singaporean culture will be  :

1. Kaisu : Afraid to Lose , everything & everytime must win, always be number 1
2. Kaisee :  Afraid to Die , safety cautious. always play safe , avoid risks
3. Kai Chenghu :  Terrified of Government ! cannot disobey and defy govt's will and wishes
4. Ai Complain : Complaining about everything all the time & afraid of being complained too  

Singapore National Bloggers --> Xiaxue , Steven Lim & Mr. Brown

Blogging is basically part of the life of several Singaporeans. Many Singaporeans Blog and we have lots of bloggers in Singapore. 

However blogging as a lifehood and earning a living out of blogging and when it comes to Singapore Bloggers these 3 are the iconic ones that will flash to the minds of many.

They are namely , Xiaxue, Steven Lim and Mr. Brown. 

Xiaxue's Blog 

http://xiaxue.blogspot.sg/

Steven Lim's Blog

http://www.stevenlim.net/

Mr. Brown's Blog

http://www.mrbrown.com/

http://www.mrbrownshow.com/

Singapore National online NewsFlash -->  Stomp 

Stomp is a highly common and popular online media newsflash by ordinary civilians who spots something and wants to share to whole of singapore, most of which is of everyday life 

This is their website

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/

http://www.stomp.com.sg/googlesearch/stomp_search.html?as_q=aoshima&x=0&y=0&cx=partner-pub-0642069188906990%3A2154011765&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8

 Singapore National newspaper --> Straits Time, New Paper, Zao Bao & Today

There are many newspapers in Singapore but the common , main and popular ones would be The Straits Times, The New Paper, Lianhe Zao Bao and Today newspaper & they are reputable at least to most people

This will be the Straits Time

& their website http://www.straitstimes.com/

This will be the New Paper

& this is their website http://www.tnp.sg/

This will be the Lianhe Zaobao

& this is their website http://www.zaobao.com.sg/

This will be the Today Newspaper

& this is their website http://www.todayonline.com/

Singapore National Wanted Man --> MasSelamat 

Mas Selamat is a criminal who is crippled and he is a terrorist of Singapore. He really make it to national scale of the news as he tested our prison and prove that prison break is possible even for a crippled man that is highly wanted. 

He really put our Singapore Police force to shame and his escape from prison is our national insult and humiliation to us Singaporeans. 

Eventually he was capture by our next door neighbouring country the Malaysians & handled back to us. 

Singapore Nation Builder --> Minster Mentor Mr. Harry  Lee Kuan Yew

  

Much of Singapore of today from where we started off as a third world country to today's first world country is because of him. 

Singapore Prime Minister -->  Mr. Lee Hsien Loong

There are so many ministers in Singapore and many of them we may not remember but however our Singapore Prime Minister Mr.  Lee Hsien Loong is one that is very impossible to forget be it for the good or bad that makes Singaporeans concern and talk alot about 

Singapore President -->  Mr. Tony Tan 

Though Singapore has president elections every 5 years but this person really makes us remember him deeply. Just among us fellow Singaporeans , internally among ourselves many of our people called him as the KFC president as his looks reminds us so very much of the KFC old man. They appear to have close resemblance. So what do you think ?

The Singapore Ruling Party -->  PAP ( People's Action Party)

This Current ruling party of Singapore has become overpowerful over the years. They have been ruling Singapore since independence till present. 

There are many supporters as well as anti but this party is one that reminds you of Singapore truly , for the good or bad. 

The Accidental Keyboard Hero --> Roy Ngerng Yi Ling 

It was not his intention to become such a public figure but he already has. It was perhaps by pure accidental that he has become into a national keyboard hero for fellow singaporeans 

He became a national figure when he faced the prime minister in a court case of CPF matters.

many people looked upon him as a hero for CPF and CPF is really something that concern all Singaporeans as our retirement depends on it. 

this is his blog http://thehearttruths.com/author/royngerng/