Dear Australians (And any other people who don't know about Singapore!)...

I am from Singapore, a little nation just off penisular Malaysia in Southeast Asia. We have often been referred as the little red dot, and some idiot from Taiwan compared us to snot. Just to clarify, Singapore is neither part of China nor Malaysia. And no, Singapore is not at war.

Singapore was forced into independent on 9th of August 1965. It's true! We did not gain independent, because the independence of Singapore was definitely not on the mind of the policy makers during 1965 (Ask Lee Kuan Yew, he's the guy who cried!). Up until that moment of truth, Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia. Of course, nowadays, we perfer to whitewash history, and proclaim it as us gaining independence from Malaysia. To say the least, we stand proud on our own.

The name Singapore has a Malay origin in Singapura. Legend has it that a certain blind(only reason he could have mistaken a tiger for a lion) prince named Sang Nila Utama came to the island, saw a lion and named it as such (Lucky for us, Harimaupura (Tiger-City) just doesn't have the same kick!). Thus Singa-pura means Lion-City. When Raffles and the ang mohs(=x Singlish term for caucasians) came, they have problem prounoucning Singapura, and soon Singapura became Singapore.

Statistically, Singapore has an area of 720.2km2, making it 10673 times smaller then Australia. Currently, Singapore has a population of 4.84million, greater then that of Western Australia. With a population density of 6814 per km2, it is a little bit squeezy in Singapore, thus we live in boxes in the sky(otherwise known as HDB flats). Only the fitthy rich live in landed properties.

There is 2 season in Singapore, hot and hot with rain. This is due to our location at the equator of the Earth. Temperature seldom drops under 23 degrees celcius, even at night. The lowest recorded temperature in Singapore is a chilly 19.6 degrees celcius. It is no wonder that Singaporeans are often fantasized by snow. A significent percentage of the household utility bill is used to pay for air conditioning.

The national language of Singapore is Malay(however, only the malays learn it in school as their mother tongue). There are four official languages in Singapore, namely, English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil, with the main working language being English. Virtually all subjects taught in schools are conducted in English, except for the mother tongues. English in Singapore has developed into its own creole, known as Singlish(a reflection of the multi-cultural nature of Singapore). Singlish is a mixture of English, Malay, Chinese, Tamil and other dialects, interchanging not just vocabulary but also grammar. Singlish is famous for the usage of 'lah'(which has no meaning lah...). When spoken at full speed, no one can understand us(recall confused face of Alex when I talked with Gladys).

In Singapore, all able-bodied male resident of 18 years of age must serve a 2 years term of service with the military, police or civil defence. This term of service is known as National Service (or more popularly known as National Slavery and NS). It is commonly served after JC(pre-U), Polytechnic(Diploma-level tertiary education), or ITE(equal to Tafe Cert I,II,III,IV, not sure la...). It is also popularly known as the time where the 18/19 years old boys break-up with their 18/19 years old girlfriends because they have no time for their girl, and the girl felt neglected. Personally I think it is also because the girls, on entering higher-education, got to mingle with more mature men, who are 2 years older and have finished their NS. This 2 years is suppose to change boys into men, but more often then not, men are turned back into boys.

Singapore is known for its wide variety of food and vibrant nightlife. After dark, it is a popular activity for Singaporeans to go out for supper(after nightmare, the only food I can get in Perth is maccas...). Laksa, Hainese chicken rice, nasi lemak, roti prata, kueh lapis, egg tarts, mee goreng, mee rebus, mee siam, curry, butter chicken, ang ku kueh, fishball mee, I can take forever to name them, but these are a few of my favorite food! And a true treasure of the collision of cultures in Singapore.

There are many aspect of Singapore that I dislike. Like the government, the educational system, national service, lack of space, unforgiving society, just to name a few. But at the end of the day, I would like to say that, Singapore is my home and my country, and I love it for that.

On 9th August 1965, Singapore gained independence from the Federation of Malaysia and became known as the Republic of Singapore. On 9th August 2009, Singapore celebrates its 44th year as a nation on its own.