Happy Birthday Singapore!

T T Tan wishes Singapore and all its residents a Happy 44th National Day!

The run-up to Singapore's 44th Birthday.

Every 9th August is a significant date for my homeland..this little red dot on the map celebrates its 'birthday' on this date since 1965.

Visitors and residents alike will be able to feel this vibe in the air come August where a lot of households would hang the National Flag of Singapore on their public housing flats.

On top of the hanging of flags, you may have noticed that on the streets there are banners of different colour,shape and sizes to mark this yearly event. I still remember that when I was just a kid, this was how I 1st got to see the Singapore Emblem- the Coat of Arms.

The National Emblem was on almost all the banners hanging from lamp posts and also on the tiny triangular flags of various colours.

In recent years however(and I could not remember when it all started),probably due to the advance of technology and bigger and bigger budgets, the banners and even billboards put out to celebrate Singapore's National Day have all evolved to a point such that I would not be surprised if foriegn visitor should walk up to me and ask me if Singapore is going through General Election at this time!

Let's take a look at some of the banners/billboards you may see on the street this year..

We begin with the following banner I saw on a street near Kallang MRT: Dr Lee Boon Yang from Jalan Besar GRC,with little children from probably different races. Not a single word about Singapore,just focus on Jalan Besar GRC.



The banner I saw kind of makes me curious about what other banners I'll get to see, and especially in opposition wards too. The next estate I happen to visit: Potong Pasir (under MP Chiam See Tong)

The banner above has four adults and one child and no Mr Chiam See Tong on it. But the word 'Singapura' is on it..Then something else caught my attention. At the most central location in this little town, I saw this banner by Mr Sitoh Yih Pin:

hmm..or is it really by him?

Anyway, I thought that was all about banners I could see in Potong Pasir. However,as I was getting out,I managed to chance upon Mr Chiam's banner 'hidden' under a tree.He wishes all his residents a Happy 44th National Day.I was wondering why they do not place the MP's banner in the more central location..


After I seen the above,i was growing more curious and I head straight for Hougang.I entered Hougang from the swimming pool side and came across the billboard by Aljunied GRC(it sounds so much like election yah? :)
BTW,why is this blk 5XX in Hougang under "Bedok Reservoir Punggol"?

The MPs for Aljunied GRC with a lot of children(why do they prefer to place their photos besides children rather than ordinary adults?). Luckily,the bill board do state "Happy 44th National Day". I guess that is a form of wishing the resident bah'..

Right across the street,under opposition MP Mr Low Thia Kiang,this was exactly the kind of decoration i saw for National Day when I was a kid..no MP picture with many kids..My questions here are whether Hougang SMC has a tight budget(who pays for this kind of stuff anyway??) and wonder why Mr Low is not 'publicizing' himself like other MPs?

Banner of children(again) with no photo of Mr Low on it.


I went around the estate trying to find at least a banner with his face on it..but there just wasn't any.I did come across something interesting instead:

On the banner,also a Mr Low(but not the MP),wishes all residents a happy 44th National Day. If I do not know of Mr Low Thia Kiang, I may have thought that Mr Eric Low is the MP for Hougang instead!

Of course,I am sure many would be curious how PM's bill board may look like..


I wonder how AMK GRC can combine together with Yio Chu Kang SMC for such greetings..? Are they going to merge soon?Why not combine Aljunied GRC with Hougang SMC too? why not combine all estates in Singapore and make it a super big bill board?