Singapore from the Eye of a Foreign Student

Singapore. What comes to your mind when you hear the word 'Singapore'?

I'm sure all of you know what Singapore is, (although if you don't, your proficiency in Geography and your general knowledge must be really poor) but just in case you don't know, Singapore is a city-state in South East Asia. From the picture above I guess you might have been able to infer that Singapore is indeed a developed and urbanised country. It's a pretty small country with a total area of 694 sq km (according to Wikipedia).

Now why am I writing about Singapore? I was just thinking, pondering, contemplating, and I just thought that there are some stuff about Singapore that I should post on my blog. And I just remembered that next Monday, which is the 9th of August, is Singapore's National Day. Oh, no wonder I thought of that. What perfect timing.

So, Singapore, to me, is a very nice place to live in. It's a developed country, so you don't have to worry that there might be poor internet connection here. In fact, the internet is pretty fast. The transportation system is fantastic. There's the MRT, LRT, Bus, and there are tons of taxis here too. The education is also *thumbs up*. And despite Singapore being an urbanised country and all, it's a pretty green place. There are parks and quite a lot of trees. There are tons of malls, a lot of libraries, a lot of restaurants, and well, let's just say you can find nearly everything here. But that's just the general opinion. There are other interesting facts about Singapore, such as....

SINGLISH

You ever heard of Singlish before? Don't worry if you haven't, because I have never in my life heard it until I came to Singapore. Singlish, according to my understanding, is Singapore-English. The everyday-language in Singapore is English, but because of the different races here, Chinese, Malay and Indian, they've made an influence on English and as a result, Singlish is produced. They say stuff like 'lah', 'leh', 'lor', 'hor', 'sia', 'siol', 'hor', 'mah', 'meh, and stuff like that. When you're living in Singapore, it's hard not to use Singlish, because it is contagious, like seriously. A ten word English sentence can be shortened to just 6 words. I try not to talk in Singlish, but however hard I try, some Singlish slips in. If you haven't heard people speaking in Singlish before, watch this:

Funny? :-)

MC MC MC

In Singapore, from what I've observed, people get sick easily. Nearly everyday there's always at least one person that's absent from school. And usually that's because they're sick. And I don't know whether this is normal or not, but in Singapore, if, for instance, today you have a runny nose. The next day I bet you'll be staying at home resting with an MC to cover your absence. I think Singaporeans get worried too easily. Once I had a runny nose and a cough, long story short, I was sort of having a flu. But I still went to school, even with my weird voice that time, which according to Google Translate is "Nasal tone voice" (in Indonesia -- suara bindeng). My friend called me one night and said "I heard you coughing a lot today, maybe you should go to he doctor." .... I'm alright. I'm okay. It's not like I'm dying... I mean, I understand. It is important to look out for your health. But it was just a runny nose and a cough. I didn't even have a fever and I didn't even feel dizzy or anything like that. Isn't that common? I usually don't take any medication and still recover.

Singaporeans are diligent.

Around a week ago, I went with two Indonesian friends to the cinema to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. While waiting, we went to the library and met a fellow Pei Hwaian. He asked us what were we doing here, my friend said we were waiting for the movie to start. And then he said "Wah nearly O level still can watch movie ah?" I was totally shocked, stunned, flabbergasted. Wow. The O Levels are 2.5 months away. And it turned out that he was studying at the library. Wow. You guys are so diligent.

Besides that, a lot of my friends have tuition during the weekends. In Indonesia, I don't think you will find that to be a common thing. In Singapore, it's pretty common. Actually I have tuition too on Sunday. But I only have tuition once a week, and it's only for like 1 to 1.5 hours.

Oh, another thing... Singaporeans like to study in restaurants. For instance, McDonald's. But isn't McDonald's sort of noisy? Yeah, I know. I don't understand either. I can understand that you like the food there so you wanna eat there... But why not eat and then study somewhere else?

Everyone in the public transportation has an earpiece plugged in their ears.

Well, okay, maybe not everyone. But a lot of people do.

Rushing here and there.

In the MRT, people are always rushing here and there. Relax, people.

Girls like to wear really short shorts.

I know that this trend did not start from Singapore, but I am really against wearing really short hot pants. Sometimes the pants are just long enough to cover their butts. Or maybe sometimes, not even all of their butts are covered. If you girls wanna show off your beautiful butts, why don't you just wear your underpants? :) That way, you won't have to waste money buying really short pants that are just a few centimeters bigger than your underpants.

Teachers are appreciated.

In Singapore, there's even a Teacher's Day celebration and school holiday. In Indonesia, we have a Teacher's Day but don't really celebrate it. It's really touching to see students give gifts to teachers. And unlike Indonesia, I think the teachers get pretty good pay. I mean, there are teachers that drive BMWs to school and own a house. In Indonesia, most of the time, that won't be possible.

So that's what I've gathered from the 1 year I've stayed in Singapore. If anybody feels offended... Then I'm sorry. I never meant to offend anybody. Singapore is truly an amazing place. If you're planning to visit Singapore... Well then you should look forward to it.

By the way, happy National Day, Singapore.

Byebyee!