City of Lions and Merlions

Funny thing.  When I first went to the United Kingdom to study back in 1978, Malaysia was still relatively not well known internationally.  When I told people that I was from Malaysia, I got all kind of replies;

“Is that an island in the Pacific?”

“Is it a real country?”

“Is that part of Singapore?”

It kind of upset me that Singapore was much better known despite really being just a tiny island at the tip of the much larger Peninsular of Malaya.  However, I got the most signs of comprehension when I told them that Malaysia was just north of Singapore.

However, back in the 3rd century AD, it was the Malay Peninsula that was ascendant and Singapore was just a backwater.  A 3rd century Chinese written record appears to refer to Singapore as the island of Púluōzhōng (蒲羅中), which was probably a transliteration of the Malay Pulau Ujong, “island at the end” of the Peninsula.

The name Singapore actually is derived from the name “Singapura” which was given to the island in the 13th century AD by a prince of the Srivijaya empire (based from Palembang, Sumatra in what is now Indonesia) who reportedly saw a lion when he landed on the island and therefore named it “Lion City” or Singapura; “singa” being sanskrit for “lion” and “pura” meaning “city”.  In one of the peculiarities of history, the prince was probably mistaken as lions have never been found on the island.  It is most likely that he actually saw a tiger and not a lion.

Anyway, Singapore adopted as its symbol the “Merlion” a mythical creation of a PR company that has a head of a lion and a tail of a fish.  Thus acknowledging its historical link with the lion and its importance as a maritime trading port.

The original Merlion statue was set up at Merlion Park which is located on Marina Bay.  Much development has occurred along Marina Bay and the nearby Singapore River in recent years and the Lone Grey Squirrel risked life and sanity under the hot tropical sun to bring you pictures from the surrounding area.

I  hope you will enjoy them.

The Merlion of Singapore (Merlion Park)

Merlion - Singapore's Mascot

The New Marina Sands Complex

Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay (also affectionately known as the Big Durian)

Multi-racial Meeting Ground

Fat Bird City

Chapel of the Convent of the Infant Jesus - now part of the Chijmes Historic Building Complex

Mad Dogs and Sun Stroked Squirrels

from “http://treesong.org/node/558”

“In tropical climes there are certain times of day

When all the citizens retire, to tear their clothes off and perspire.

It’s one of those rules that the biggest fools obey,

Because the sun is far too sultry and one must avoid its ultry-violet ray —

Papalaka-papalaka-papalaka-boo. (That’s natives)

Digariga-digariga-digariga-doo.

The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts,

Because they’re obviously, absolutely nuts —
Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.”  

(Noel Coward; 1931)

Mad dogs and Englishmen and so it would seem, stupid, sun stroked, squirrels.

Hi guys, sorry for the short absence.  I was recuperating.  Last Tuesday, I popped down to the neighboring island republic of Singapore and I had a few hours to kill.  So I decided to do a tour of the Marina Bay area including the Theaters on the Bay, Merlion Park, and along the Singapore River all the way to the Clarke Quay.  Basically a number of boat tours are available covering the same area but this skinflint squirrel was happy to walk the entire distance to save paying the USD 29 tour fees besides the entire distance could not have been more than about 4 inches as seen on the tourist map!

And so, in the company of a few mad dogs and a scattering of similarly mad tourists, I went out in the mid-day sun without even a hat or an umbrella.  I had a bottle of water in my backpack but somehow I failed to use it.  Three hours later,  overheated, exhausted and sweat soaked, I managed to stagger into an air-conditioned food court.  I thirstily and rapidly quaffed three large cups of icy cool sweetened  liquids.

That was another mistake.  Suddenly my core body temperature plummeted due to the cold drinks and the action of the air-conditioning on my sweat soaked clothing.  I began shivering and had to go back out it the sun to feel warm.

Basically, I got sun stroked and my body’s temperature regulation system was placed out of whack.  My head throbbed, my muscles ached, I developed a really bad cough and a mouth ulcer and I have been ill for the last few days.

The moral of the story is …..that mad dogs and Englishmen are bad influences on innocent squirrels.