"I'm From Singapore"

I've been meaning to blog about this for some time but I always forget. Since I am not getting anywhere with my essay today I might as well do it because when I have "unfinished business" i cannot study. haha.

During my year in London, I received a few funny/interesting responses whenever I told someone where I'm from. Here are some of the better ones:

1. "Is that in China?" (this one's fairly common)

2. "We got congestion charging from you folks innit?"

3. "I can be your human rights lawyer"

4. "Is it true that if you say the words 'Lee Kuan Yew' on the phone you will set off a recording of the phone conversation?"
(this question is truly baffling. I had no answer.)

5. "Is it true that you guys can't chew gum?" / "Why can't you chew gum?"
(I then had to explain how many millions of SGD it cost the govt every year to remove gum from MRT train doors, which led to an eventual ban on import/sale, but not on consumption etc...so we can technically chew gum, but we can't buy it off the streets. This then led to more baffled looks and more funny remarks/questions which i shall not repeat here because my human rights lawyer is in Belgium.)

6. "Is your Prime Minister still the same guy?"
(to which, I answered, 'No, it's his son' and received a rip-roaring belly laugh)

7. "How come you speak English so well?"

8. "So was the American boy caned in the end?"

9. "Is it true you have no opposition?"
(this was a tough one to answer)

10. "How is Soeharto?"
(another baffling one. i think this dude thinks Sg is part of Indonesia)

All in all, I can't say i'm pleased with the view of Singapore that some foreigners have. Singapore was also mentioned several times during my Human Rights Law classes, as a negative example of human rights violations in the context of free speech or preventive detention laws. I then have to sink into my seat so that I don't have to answer difficult questions about Singapore. I can provide reasonable answers for some of these questions, but not all of them. For me, Singapore is my home and is a great place to live. It's sad that the rest of the world sees us as some sort of repressed "cannot-chew-gum" police state, because we are so much more than that.

I think we need a Public Relations Campaign.