Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts
Rest in Peace, Mr Lee.
My country woke up to a heartbreaking piece of news today, our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew has passed away at 3.18am this morning. He was 91.
I'm looking at The Straits Times and PMO website done up in black. I feel horrible. While he has been away from the political stage for a long time, it always felt like he never left. This time round, it's for real. The void certainly is real.
Waking up at 6am in the cold hotel room to this news makes me miss home even more.
I've been stuck in my hotel for the last 2 weeks, having not ventured anywhere further than the eateries just across the property. Work schedules are tight, my colleague and I often find ourselves working late into the night and over the weekends here.
Since we will be leaving the city in 2 days' time, we decided yesterday that we will venture out to Pavilion, Lot 10 and Sungei Wang plaza. It was post late lunch/early dinner at 4pm, we figured it would be safe to stroll our way there. Hotel staff warned us it is not safe even if it's just a 15 minutes walk away. "We have many guests with us who came back with their bags snatched. Maybe you want to take a car?" they offered.
We shrugged our shoulders, it's broad day light and 15 minutes away. Our cash and phones are stuffed in our pockets, we will be fine, we replied. And off we went.
Just 5 minutes out of the Hotel, as we made a turn to the main road, I sensed someone was following us. Twice, I turned my head and both times I caught the eyes of the man behind us. He was clearly looking and following us. As we walked into the shade just outside a HSBC bank branch, I murmured to my colleague in Mandarin, "I think someone is following us". "Let's stop here and look at the banner", she responded and we stopped slowly.
"Hey now he's in front of us, let's continue walking", I initiated. Just as started walking again, the man has past the bus stop in front and u-turned back to the newspapers stand just before the bus stop. If he had wanted to get the papers, he would have went straight for the stand. We stopped at the bus stop and exchanged looks. "Let's go back, I don't feel safe." and so we made our way back. I made the effort to check behind me every now and then until we reached our hotel lobby.
Called my boyfriend when I got back to my room, narrated to him what just happened to me on the streets of KL. "I miss the safe and secure environment in Singapore. I miss home." I lamented. He laughed, "You only left home for 2 weeks!".
Indeed, we Singaporeans are a lucky bunch, and mostly because of him. We walk on the roads late into the night without fear because our country is safe and secure. Many of our friends and family members have good jobs in large foreign and local companies because of our comprehensive infrastructure and stable investment and economic climate. When we travel around the world, we hear praises about this little red dot because we punch above our weight internationally. We stand tall on the international platform, as folks from this little island state, because of him and his team of Old Guards.
I've spent a good part of the first 5 years of my job travelling around Asia. Whenever I mention I'm a Singaporean, the first response will always be "Lee Kuan Yew!". Sure, we Singaporeans complain about everything in this place, the never-ending work, the overwhelming pressure, the exploding influx of immigrants, how we are overpaying our government blah blah blah, but you got to understand who we are. As Mr. Lee once put it "You know the Singaporean. He is a hardworking, industrious, rugged individual. Or we would not have made the grade. But let us also recognize that he is champion grumbler." At the end of the day, only we can grumble about our own country, no one else can. Because deep down, we love her very much.
We can love and/or hate him for the things he did or did not do, but there is no doubt he has spent his entire life devoted to building this country, gave us a chance on the global platform and started the Singapore Story for us.
Thank you for your dedication, thank you for not being afraid to make the hard and unpopular decisions and thank you for setting for us such a solid foundation which allow us to come so far. We as a nation, has benefited so much from his foresight and intelligence.
Thank you for everything Mr. Lee, and may you rest in peace.
To pen a tribute for the man, click here.
And if you have nothing good to say, don't say it. Give the man and his family a break for the week of mourning.
River Safari!
Myanmar photos are going to take some time to tidy them up. So I'm going to take the opportunity to update some backlog :)
Finally managed to find some time to make my way down to River Safari a few weeks back! The company had corporate passes - which translates to free entry for up to 4 people, including the Amazon River Quest boat ride. Being the usual cheapo, there's no way I was going to give up that chance.
We lucked out as its the "off peak" period. It was still the exam period for kids in Singapore so it really helps.I have friends who unfortunately visited during the year end school holiday period - not only do they have to queue at least over an hour for almost everything, they also had to jostle around to catch a glimpse of the animals.
I was expecting long queues at the Panda area but alas! No one! Lucky us :)
In comparison to Jiajia and Kaikai, I thought the red pandas were wayyyy cuter! They were not afraid of crowds or humans - very generous with the photo taking. Hahaha. One particular one was out sashaying and ensuring everyone had a good shot of him.
What a hardworking chap ;)
After spending much time with the red pandas, it's time to visit Kaikai and Jiajia! That's Kaikai sleeping like an absolute piece of log:
Jiajia, on the other hand, was much more awake and ready for the morning crowd!
We proceeded to have lunch at the restaurant near the panda zone - Mummy Panda Restaurant. You will probably see this at every table:
Panda bun! They come in 2 flavors - chocolate cream and red bean. We ordered the chocolate one and it tasted okaayyyy lah.
It's so cute I couldn't bear to eat it so the man suggested I peel off the ears and eyes first. True enough, when it started to look more like a bao, I no longer felt reluctant. Hahaha.
We ended lunch just in time for our booked slot for Amazon River Quest ride. On our way to the river ride :)
The ride was rather safe and uneventful (minus the mini splash at the start of the ride) - I guess we should have taken the ride earlier instead of 2pm. It was so hot that most of the animals were hiding!
We finished walking through all the aquariums and enclosures within about 3 hours (not forgetting we actually went back to the Panda area twice - well besides the cute furry pandas, it was also the coolest part of the River Safari with strong air con!).
Would I bring my parents here? I would if I also have the pass to go to Mandai Zoological Gardens next door on the same day. It would at least make the trip all the way to Mandai more worthwhile!
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