A short work week, but was quite hectic, with all the prep for my work trip next week..
I met two ex-colleagues last week and we spent a lot of time gossiping about people we know. I had planned to be there for just an hour, but it stretched to more than 2 hours. We had so much fun, that we are planning another meet soon, after the PSLE exams though…
I’ve had this dream twice now – both times it shows BB in the dream school I have written about before. I really don’t know what this means – perhaps it’s my subconscious telling me to let go of that dream!
According to astrology, a golden period in my life which comes once in twelve years is starting soon. My wish is that, if this is a golden period, then hopefully the universe will send me a warm glow where my children do well in their exams and my job situation also improves…
I have really mixed feeling about India – one on hand, it’s the land of my birth and there’s so much to love there, but the way people are literally destroying the country, makes me very sad. There’s so much potential there, but most people, especially the politicians seem to have made a game of “What can destroy India faster”!
An ancient civilization, which has given so much to the world, Indians are, in my opinion, more inward looking than outward looking. We are so much in love with our past that we tend to brush aside our present and give little or no thought to our future. We get so caught up in little and silly things, that we miss the forest for the trees!
The country is so rich and diverse, both geogrphically and culturally starting with the Himalayas in the north to the Indian Ocean to the south, the deserts of the Thar and the Rann of Kutch in the west to the hilly terrain of the exotic north-east. There are 25 states, 7 Union Territories and is the second most populous country in the world, after China with an estimated population of 1.21 billion who speak more than 1365 rationalised mother tongues with 29 languages having more than a million native speakers each!
India’s cultural history spans over 4,500 years and the foundations of India’s main religion, Hinduism was laid down as between 3500 to 2500 years ago, when most of the western world was probably cavemen! Probably this is why India was the rich bird, ripe for plucking through the ages – from the Persians, Greeks, Mongols, Mughals, to finally the English, Portuguese and the French. A lot of India’s historically rich treasures were plundered and taken away by the conquerors (and never returned till date)
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as of April 2015, the Indian economy is nominally worth US$2.306 trillion; it is the 7th-largest economy by market exchange rates, and is, at US$7.996 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity, or PPP.
All this talk about India has now made me super nostalgic. I remember reading how the last of the British soldiers left India from the shores of the Gateway of India in Bombay, an edifice, which ironically was constructed in 1911 to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary
Ok, going to stop with this nostalgia with a tune that many of us, especially those who grew up in a certain era will recognize…..Mile Sur Tera Mera….the original plus the new version
A very short work week which meant I had a lot of time with the kids. We had Friday till Monday off and other than a run on Friday morning to stock up on groceries at Little India, I did not leave the house at all!
But with tuitions scheduled everyday early in the morning, it did mean I didn’t get to sleep in, but that was compensated by afternoon naps – such an indulgence these days…
Also did a lot of television watching as all the channels in both Starhub and Singtel were free for the Jubilee Weekend.
Oh, I have put this down – since a lot of attractions were free during the weekend, the crowds were to be seen to believed. On Friday, someone I knew decided to visit the Arts Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands since it was free (as a perspective, it costs between $30-$40 per person otherwise), she reached there around 10:30 – 11 am and the waiting time to enter the museum was 5 hours!! Then yesterday, the folks who run the cable car into Sentosa decided to have the run between Vivo City and Sentosa free and I read on Facebook that around 4 pm, the waiting time to get into the cable car was 10 hours!!! This is so unbelievable…..I am so glad we stayed at home and chilled..
Meeting a friend later today after work. She was an ex-colleague turned friend, so am anticipating a good gossip session….
Today Singapore celebrates 50 years of being independent. The festivities are all over the country and the Straits Times headlines yesterday was “The Celebrations Begin”!
In 1965, when Singapore was kicked out of the Federation of Malaya, mostly over political and economic differences, many wondered how Singapore would make it alone – a land with almost no natural resources, facing problems of severe unemployment, sanitation and housing, among others.
But Singapore has overcome all this and achieved so much in the last 50 years, it’s zoomed from first world to third world. We in Singapore, take this affluence for granted, sometimes being accused of being arrogant by our neighbours!
Singapore wanted to avoid the racial tensions of it’s neighbours and so racial harmony is something that’s pretty much enshrined in the way of life – so much that we take racial harmony for granted. Everything in Singapore is done in the four official languages of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The national anthem is in Malay though as the Malays were the original inhabitants of the land.
To a lot of people, Singapore is seen as a part of China, and while3 it irritates residents, you can’t blame them, as the government policies seem to me to be a tad pro-China!
Also the Michael Fay caning incident makes a lot of Westerners think Singapore’s laws are draconian, but as a parent with young children, I guess I am happy to live in such a country where I don’t have to worry that my children will return home safe from school. Crime rates are low here and I can walk home late at night, using public transport, which is kind of impossible in many countries, both in the region and beyond!
Ok, enough of talking, I am going to spam some more pictures which I took last week when we saw the National Day Preview.
Leaving you with the national anthem of Singapore called Majulah Singapura or Onward Singapore. Singing it with everyone was electrifying!!
Happy Birthday Singapore! May you have many more like this….
The Jubilee Weekend started today! To commemorate Singapore’s 50th year of independence which falls on Sunday, we got an extra SG50 holiday today! So today’s post is picture post, dedicated to Singapore – Happy Birthday Singapore…..
The Singapore Flag flypast
RSAF jets making their presence felt
Arty shot of the RSAF flypast
What’s a party without fireworks!
A part of the Singapore skyline
The gun salute tonners making their way to the Merlion before their salute to the nation
Fireworks which were the best…
Majulah Singapura (Onward Singapore) and may you have many more such years!!
Memories and Such 