Kiasu Singaporeans

What does it mean by Kiasu? Well it is in one of the dialects in Singapore - Hokkien - which means that you want to win in everything. Singaporeans are always said to possess this quality... of course in the bad sense. A few typical phenomenons are that are always thought to be exclusive associated with Singaporeans are as follows:

1) Parents are always rushing to help their kids apply to the top schools in Singapore that often result in ugly scenes such as arguements with school authorities etc. Parents are also always complaining to the school/teachers on behalf of their kids for issues such as lower grades etc.

2) Long queues overnight outside stores that are having major sales.

3) People jumping queues to get ahead - for anything and everything.

and ... many others. However, not to defend ourselves, I feel that these behaviour are not exclusive to Singaporeans alone. Many people in other countries are just as 'kiasu' as us, due to the ever competitive economy and especially in education. Nonetheless, Sinagporeans have grown to take the criticism light heartedly which is the reason for this comic cover in Kevin's post. This cartoon character is named 'Kiasu' and the content of the comic is a satire against those 'Kiasu' people in Singapore. I feel that though this comic partly serves to remind them that these acts are undesirable, it is also a great comic book in itself. If you manage to get your hands on one of them, it would definitely give you one of the best taste of Singapore cultures you can ever get anywhere else!

Sunshine and the Beach!

Having read Kai's post on Sentosa, it reminds me of the sunshine and beach back home. Although the beaches in singapore can't be compared to those in Miami or San Diego, I am contented with it, very much so. There are two more popular beaches in singapore - east coast park beach and the sentosa island. I prefer going to the sentosa beach as it is more accessible.

One thing I miss most about when I'm here is definitely the beach .... and of course sunshine during this cold hard winter. Singapore is a tropical country, sunshine all around.. though.. sometimes, it can get a little too much! Nonetheless, I absolutely enjoy sunbathing and just a solo day at the beach reading a book. Singapore is a really small densely populated country. Hence, for an introvert like me, it is pretty hard to find a cool quiet spot all to myself sometimes - which is why I absolutely cherish the beaches and reservoirs etc. Sentosa used to be a pretty crowded place of interest with tourists and locals as well. However, recently the attractions have turned obsolete and fewer and fewer locals are visiting the island for a day of family gathering or just hanging out with friends. Consequently the authority has repeatedly reduced the entrance fee to the island and this has greatly benefited people like who wish to just find a place of solance and now its cheap to do so!

Because of the beach, Sentosa has also always been the venue for big parties like the new year and christmas celebrations. For more information regarding the island, visit Kai's post

Makan time in Singapore! SLUUUP!

Go visit Kai's post and read about some of the delicacies in Singapore!

I have to absolutely agree that the first thing that comes to mind about Singapore, except that its my home, is the food! I always get so excited talking about food. The roti prata and bak kut teh are also some of my favorites. However, I particularly like hot stuffs too. So, some of the delicious spicy dishes on my top list are laksa at kelantan lane, curry fish head at serangoon gardens and minced pork noodle from toa payoh. Being a south east asian country, Singapore's food is well known to e really hot and spicy. Hence, if you are able to take spice, do not miss these wonderful dishes. Just tell the cab driver that you want the laksa at kelantan lane, they will definitely know what you are talking about. =)



Besides how delicious they are, Singapore's food is extremely cheap too. Compared to an approximately 7 usd bowl of noodle soup, in Singapore, it would have cost you a grand total of only 1.8 usd NET! We do not have to pay service charges and taxes are included in the list price. How wonderful can that get? Good food at a cheap price =) YUM YUM!

The Festival of LIGHTS...

Deepavali, also known as the festival of lights, is one celebrated by the indians in Singapore. During this festival, certain streets in Singapore are decorated with light decorations which makes the city looks really stunning at night!

There is an interesting legend behind this festival. The story goes that Narakasura, a demon, ruled the kingdom of Pradyoshapuram. Under his rule, the villagers suffered a lot of hardship as the demon tortured the people and kidnapped the women to be imprisoned in his palace. Seeing his wickedness, Lord Khrishna set out to destroy the demon and the day Narakasura died was celebrated as Deepavali, the triumph of good over evil!

Check out the following websites to learn more about the other legends and their practices during this wonderful festival!

The Significance of Deepavali

The History of Deepavali

In Singapore, the celebrations of Deepavali are mostly held at the Serangoon district where it is known to be the Indian village during Raffles rule. The following are some pictures of Serangoon's Little India during the festival of light.

Hari Raya Puasa

After introducing a few of the festivals celebrated by the Chinese in Singapore, I would like to talk about one that is celebrated by the Malays - Hari Raya Puasa.

Hari Raya Puasa is celebrated by all Muslims in the country to celebrate the end of a period of fasting. Similar to chinese new year, during this festival, muslims will wear new clothes, pray to their gods and go house visiting. However, unlike Chinese New Year where the lucky color is red, for the muslims, it is green.

Follow the link below to know more about this festival, the explanations behind Ramadan (fasting) and some of the preparations for the festival.

Hari Raya Puasa

XIN NIAN KUAI LE, WAN SHI RU YI!!

In Singapore, we celebrate new year twice - once on Jan 1st and again during the Lunar New Year which usually happens to be around the end of January or the beginning of February. The above two phrases - xin nian kuai le, wan shi ru yi- simply means wishing you a very happy new year and may all things go your way. =)

In my opinion, Chinese New Year is considered the biggest festival in Singpapore (considering the fact that majority is Chinese). During Chinese New Year,relatives would go house visiting to their relatives, sit down and catch up with each other's lives. Children are at their happiest during this period of time because they get to collect red packets from all married adults! Extra allowances aside, the tradition of giving red packets is for the adults to give the kids their blessings for the coming new year. Hence, usually the amount in the red packet is not alot - $2-$4 singapore dollars which is about 1.7-3.5 usd.



Festivals are never without good food! No exceptions for Chinese New Year. Traditional new year goodies include love letters, pineapple tarts, sweets, roasted pork slices etc. One delicacy specific to Singapore and not the other Chinese populations in the world is yu sheng. It is made up of strips of carrots, slices of salmon, peanuts and many other sides dishes all sliced up into small dishes. Then, when everyone is gathered around the table, they pour all these ingredients together with some sauce. Everyone would then gather their chopsticks to mix the dish well. Superstitions has it that the higher you lift the ingredients while mixing it, the better luck you will have for the year. Sounds funny? Well, that is how everyone does it over here and children often have a lot of fun creating a mess out of the dish!

Before Chinese New Year, it is also a superstition to have a major house cleaning before the new year arrives. It is believed that a family should dispose off all the old and dirty things that they no longer want so that the new year can bring about new and good things! But that does not mean that you should only tidy up your apartment once a year!

Chinese New Year, although only spans about 2 public holidays, is in fact celebrated for 15 days. On the 7th day, it is considered the day when all humans are born.

If you should visit Singapore during the period of the Chinese New Year, never fail to visit the Chinatown where all the goodies are sold and where the atmosphere of the festival is at its best.



The following is an article featuring some of the festival's activities:

Chinese New Year

The Chinese's Valentine's Day

Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month and is also popularly known as the Lantern or Moon Festival. On this special night, the moon is believed to be at its brightest and most beautiful. Many legends are linked to this festival.

One of the legend is centered around Chang Er. It is believed that one night, her evil husband got a pill and taking it will enable him to live forever. Knowing that her husband would bring more mishaps to the people in the country, she stole the pill one night. To be sure that her husband will never be able to take it, she took the pill herself. Slowly, she felt herself floating in the air and it is believed that she eventually flew to the moon.

Many activities take place during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Parents take their children out to the park at night, carrying their little lanterns. It is a perfect chance for a family reunion - to sit down in a park, admire the beautiful round moon while sipping their tea and eating the tasty mooncakes.

Besides giving a family the perfect chance to get together, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also referred to as the Chinese Valentine's Day. It is so called because it is extremely romantic for a couple to take a stroll under the bright beautiful moon - or at least that's what the Chinese think in the past.

In my opinion, the festival means delicious mooncakes! I'm a great mooncake fan. Traditional mooncakes are brown-skinned with white lotus in the filling and often times, coupled wiith a single egg yolk or a double egg yolk. It is extremely high in cholesterol! Hence, modern mooncakes are slightly different. To attract the younger generations, mooncakes now come in different colors and flavors. Snow-skinned mooncakes are one of my favorites - they are refrigerated and eaten cold. Other new innovative mooncakes include ice-cream mooncakes in which ice cream is used in place of white lotus. Ahh... the thought of me simply makes me drool!



Check out the following links to read more about the legend and mooncakes!

The Legend

The Yummy Mooncakes!

Floorball - Equipment

Equipment used in floorball include the goal post, ball and stick.

Goal post - 63" wide x 45" high



Ball - Plastic nature, usually white in color but half-color balls are also available. In addition, there are 26 holes in a floorball. Wonder why? Here are some interesting answers I've got so far from talking to some of the avid players in Singapore!

Interesting reason no 1: If during a game, someone accidentally steps on the ball. What to do? Just stick your last finger into one hole and pull it out! Still unable to do it? Then try another hole!

Interesting reason no 2: Because the floorball doesn't want to look like a golf ball or even to the more inferior ping pong ball!

Interesting reason no 3: With holes it is easier to place the floorball stationary for a faceoff.

Interesting reason no 4: The inventor�s jersey number? Maybe it is his age when he invented the ball. Or perhaps it was his first day learning English and number 26 is the number of alphabets in the English language.

Ok enough of silly answers! Are you geared up to take in the more reasonable scientific answer? Here goes:

If you hold up a floorball and look through a hole. You can see another hole directly opposite. So that when the ball is hit, air can travel through it and the ball can move smoothly either on the floor or in the air

So there you go, the real reason behind the 26 holes in a floorball!




Stick - Lastly there is the stick. Stick prices can range from 20 usd to 150 usd depending on what you want. I have 4 sticks so far since I started floorball 4 years ago. My beginner stick was a Karhu stick that costs me around 20usd. This is the most elementary stick that anyone can find - they are usually bought in sets for initial start up for in schools or clubs. However, as I played increasingly more competitive games, there is a need for more customization. There are a few different parts to the stick. First, there is the blade, the most important part of all. There are PA blades, split air blades etc and the details of which I will not elaborate on since they are way too professional. However, it is more important to know what the blade can do. Players want blades that has super fast rebound and those that can transfer almost 100% of the blade's momentum to the ball. There are two kinds of blades in general - soft and hard. A soft blade is good for holding the ball and hence is perfect for players that have to shoot from a distance using a drag shot. There is also the hard blade that is great for wrist and slap shots that entails great impact. Therefore, in choosing the blade a player should consider his/her own shooting styles accordingly. After you have bought the stick, you will need to personally bend the blade to produce a hook like shape at the tip of it. This is to enable holding of the ball to the blade during drag shots. There are rules to regulation the maximum degree of bending of the blade.

Second, there is also the shaft. One way to determine a good shaft is to press the stick hard against the ground. A good shaft stick should bend as little as possible under the pressure so as to provide maximum transfer of momentum to the ball.

Third, there is the grip. This is due to pure personal preference. There is available round, oval or semi oval grip for players to choose, depending on how you like your palm to wrap around the stick that allows for most comfortable control of the stick.

Lastly, there is the length of the stick. This is an extremely important factor as too long a stick hinders the player from dribbling the ball near him/her and too short a stick requires the player to bend his/her body too much.

Currently, I am using the Canadian Avenger stick. It has a wonderful high impact blade and quick rebound. If you are looking for stick, I would strongly recommend it!



Follow the link before to one of the most established floorball equipment supplier in the United States. Check out the different kinds of sticks, balls, goals, gears etc.!

Floorball Authority

When the dead looms..

One of the festivals that Singapore celebrates (also by Chinese in other parts of the world) is the Hungry Ghost Festival. This takes place during the 7th lunar month which is around august in the western calendar. During this period of time, it is believed that the gates of hell is opened and the ghosts are allowed to wonder around for a month on earth. Hence, Singaporeans, mainly those that pray to Chinese gods, will perform certain acts to ward off such evil spirits.

One of them is burning incense paper. This is also believed to be hell money. They are burnt for the ghosts so that they would not come to disturb the offering family. On the other hand, it may be burnt for the offering family's dead relatives to ensure that they have enough in the other world to go around and live a comfortable life.

Besides hell money, Singaporeans also offer food to the dead. These are often placed on the altar or the ground with joss sticks and some incense paper. I personally have heard others witness signs of bites on the food the next day after the food has been offered.

In addition, one other interesting activities that take place in Singapore during this period of time are the stages set up for singers and performers along the side of the streets. These 'concerts' held at night, though attended by many elderlys, are in fact meant for those from the other world. Consequently, you would realize that the first row of seats are empty - they are reserved! Modern performances include singing and dancing of the 1980s songs, whereas more traditional performances include the chinese skits performed in dialects such as cantonese, hokkien or teochew. The characters are heavily made up and accessorized with exaggerated actions and movements on stage. These performances, till this day, have been preserved. However, it is sad to say that they are only appreciated by the older generation, few if any teenager are able to understand the lyrics of the verses as well as the representative movements used on stage.

Following my parent's footsteps, I have been a buddhist since I was young and have carefully followed the cultures of the buddhist all these years. Hence, the activities above are not foreign to me at all. Although I feel that preserving such traditions are meaningful and interesting, the beliefs of the hungry ghost festivals can bring about some inconvenience to me. For instance, my mother forbids me to stay out beyond 12 midnight during this period of time. I am also not allowed to go swimming at night because it is believed that ghosts lurk underwater too. It is therefore not surprising that I always pray and hope for this month to be over as soon as possible!

For more information on the origins and practices of the festival, go to the following links below:

Its Origins

Practices and Cultures

Singapore... OHH!!!.. hmm... never heard before!?!

Owing much to its vibrant economy and advanced technological developments, many people have heard of the country, Singapore. However, few actually know who, what, where it is! Well, Singapore is a small small country situated in south east asia, if you should have problem spoting it on the world map (which you most probably would), it may help a little to first spot malaysia.. and Singapore is right at the tip of the peninsula. Now thats the where..

As for who, Singapore is founded in 1819 by Sir Stanford Raffles and has then attracted numerous immigrants who were seeking employment opportunities at that time. Most of these immigrants were from China. This explains why majority of Singapore's population is made up of Chinese presently. However, since Singapore's natives are Malays, there are still a significant percentage of Malay residents in Singapore presently. In addition, there are also Indians and Eurasians. There it is.. the four main races in Singapore - Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians.

Due to its multiracial nature, Singapore celebrates and observes a vast variety of festivals and cultures pertaining to each race. There are also great varieties of food that arise due to the many different races as well as languages spoken and sports played etc. Specifically, I would like to focus more on the cultures and festivals celebrated because I believe this is one of the most interesting aspect of any country and it is also the best way to get a head start in understanding it.

Some of the links that can help you learn about Singapore include:

The Straitstimes - Singapore's Daily Newspaper

Singapore Tourism Board

Whats up next?? Hungry Ghost Festival!