Singaporeans have a strange connection with National Day. On one hand, there are those who view the occasion with cool nonchalance (“I don’t even watch the television broadcast!” they might proclaim), and on the other, there are those who would bemoan the scarcity of national day tickets and attempt to buy tickets online or ballot unsuccessfully for AGC-allotted tickets. Perhaps the problem is that everyone seems to have a rather narrow definition of what national day means – that it is limited purely to a parade where there is some marching, some performances by various societies, and more recently, tacky parodies of popular Lady Gaga songs. The media is partially at fault for this: the parade is broadcasted at prime time, and given lavish coverage in newspapers.
A parade is all well and good, but as a celebration of Singaporeaness, this writer finds a mere parade rather lacking. So instead of crowding around the television this National Day to watch the parade, here are some alternatives to celebrating August the 9th, Singapore style:
1) Do the Great Singapore Workout
Put on some clothes out of the 90s and play this video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Ju29Icbkc). As an added bonus, you can find other videos in youtube that go into the specific exercises that make up the Great Singapore Workout (there’s even an updated 2010 version!). Given that the whole workout is like some strange lovechild of Aerobics, Zumba, and stretching, it should be suitable for all fitness levels.
2) Watch classic Singapore television
Did you know that Singapore television turns 50 this year? Accordingly it is the perfect time to revisit such gems as VR Man, Masters of the Sea, the Price of Peace etc. Warning: may cause excessive cringing, goose bumps and/or general horror. Also, for VR Man, the powers that be seem to have taken special effort in erasing all evidence of that series from history, so apart from a few short youtube clips, our virtual hero is rather difficult to find. Intelligence tells us, though, that he has abandoned the vigilante cape and mask and is now working in a bank. And married to Diana Ser. When everyone was hoping he would marry Wong Li Lin, his fellow IO in Triple ‘9’. On that note, has anyone seen such good-looking IOs around?
3) Go visit the Singaporean countryside and/or wilderness
Believe it or not, there are actually places in Singapore which aren’t particularly built up. Pulau Ubin is perhaps the most famous, but there are large parts of Kranji that have retained a kampong flavour, with nary a high rise building in site (in true, uniquely Singapore fashion, the whole area is in the process of being acquired to build the north-south expressway). You could head over to Kampong Buangkok, our last surviving actual kampong, complete with mangy cats and lazing residents and all. Alternatively, you can try the outlying islands like St John’s, which is great for star gazing.
4)Have a Singaporean Food Festival
a.Gather up some friends and task each person to go find the best Singaporean food that they know. After all, not only is eating a national past time, nothing quite gets a conversation going as an argument about where the best chicken rice can be found. You can then go on a gastronomic food trip around the island, or da pao everything to someone’s house for a good National Day Lunch. Remember though, Singaporean food only – none of that fancy foreign stuff (p.s. Singapore noodles, whatever that is, does not count as Singapore food). As a bonus, you can do the Great Singapore Workout after eating.
5)Go back in time
a.For history buffs, a particularly rewarding activity can be to check up on how Singapore got here. Skip the more common things that we all know, such as the merger and separation etc, and instead go check out the really obscure aspects of Singapore history. Things such as – how was Singapore run in the early days as a British Colony? How did various roads get their names? Why on earth is our $1 coin in such an odd shape? Why is there a Shinto Shrine in the middle of Mac Ritchie Reservoir?
6)Have a Singapore themed cosplay party
a.Cosplay is essentially fancy dress. Write down prominent Singaporean figures and have people draw them at random – everyone will then have to show up at the party dressed as the figure assigned to them. Don’t stick with safe choices like Sir Stamford Raffles – go crazy and add in the Merlion, Phua Chu Kang, and Sharity the Charity Elephant. As an even bigger bonus – you can merge this idea with the Singaporean Food Festival, and thereafter, do the Great Singapore Workout dressed as the Haze and/or the Singapore Youth Olympic Games mascot.
7)Be a tourist in your own country
a.Many a time, we meet tourists who are just in love with Singapore. Usually we think that these people have to be crazy – after all who can be so smitten with an overcrowded island?! Well, why not find out? Grab your cameras, backpacks and other tourist necessities and do all that silly stuff that tourist do. Ride on Ducktours, visit the Singapore Zoo or the Night Safari, or walk around Chinatown in the blazing hot afternoon and snap a picture of 1 Upper Pickering (yes, we have become a bizarre attraction)! Bonus points if you wear sandals with socks.
8)Go to Zouk
a.When friends visit from overseas, a visit to Zouk on a Wednesday night is almost mandatory. Mambo Jambo has been practically a rite of passage for anyone who has gone clubbing. Views are generally mixed, ranging from bewilderment that synchronized line-dancing is such a big deal, to religious fervour and memorisation of all the dance moves. If you once were a Mambo regular, and have been distraught over its discontinuation, you will definitely be pleased to know that there is going to be a Mambo Jambo countdown to National Day on 8 August 2013, in the main Zouk hall. In fact, why not bring the cosplay Singapore party to Zouk? Everyone wants to see the Courtesy Lion busting out those moves to Rick Astley. Just don’t hog the podium.
9)Write a decent National Day song
a.Seriously, the stuff since “Home” has either been entirely forgettable, or has left everyone wishing they could forget.
10)Do your national duty to increase our population
a.An oldie, but entirely relevant: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxU89x78ac. Remember, don’t watch fireworks, make them instead.