My dowoomi (Korean pal) and I were visiting the National Museum of Korea. The first exhibition room we entered, there was a world map on one side of the wall.
Pointing to the map, I asked my dowoomi, "솔암 씨, 싱가폴을 어디에 있는지 알아요?" (Do you know where is Singapore?)
She pointed to the Southeast Asia region but did not know the exact spot of Singapore. Not too bad for my dowoomi to know that Singapore is in Southeast Asia and not China.
I knew it was not easy for a foreigner to know the exact position of Singapore. Singapore as an island state is too small to be represented in a world map afterall. Therefore to emphasise its position, Singapore is usually represented as a little red dot. Even that, many foreigners are still very vague about its location in the world map. This is a Singapore's dilemma - well known in the world but yet many do not know where it exists in this world.
Singapore is located at Southern tip of the Asia continent. However, it does not hold the honour as the Southern-most point of the Asia continent because it is not connected to the continent by land. The honour belongs to Tanjong Piai in Malaysia. Small as it may be, the world shipping will have to transit the Singapore Strait to get from East Asia to Europe and vice-versa.
The world may not miss Singapore if it ceases to exist one day but Singapore definitely needs the world to continue to exist. Only after I was old enough to leave Singapore to see the world did I discover that for Singapore island to even exist as a country is something of a miracle.
I am proud of where I come from. I will be glad if my foreign friends know where my home is in this world. Therefore, 솔암 씨 잘 했어요. ^^b
Pointing to the map, I asked my dowoomi, "솔암 씨, 싱가폴을 어디에 있는지 알아요?" (Do you know where is Singapore?)
She pointed to the Southeast Asia region but did not know the exact spot of Singapore. Not too bad for my dowoomi to know that Singapore is in Southeast Asia and not China.
I knew it was not easy for a foreigner to know the exact position of Singapore. Singapore as an island state is too small to be represented in a world map afterall. Therefore to emphasise its position, Singapore is usually represented as a little red dot. Even that, many foreigners are still very vague about its location in the world map. This is a Singapore's dilemma - well known in the world but yet many do not know where it exists in this world.
Singapore is located at Southern tip of the Asia continent. However, it does not hold the honour as the Southern-most point of the Asia continent because it is not connected to the continent by land. The honour belongs to Tanjong Piai in Malaysia. Small as it may be, the world shipping will have to transit the Singapore Strait to get from East Asia to Europe and vice-versa.
The world may not miss Singapore if it ceases to exist one day but Singapore definitely needs the world to continue to exist. Only after I was old enough to leave Singapore to see the world did I discover that for Singapore island to even exist as a country is something of a miracle.
I am proud of where I come from. I will be glad if my foreign friends know where my home is in this world. Therefore, 솔암 씨 잘 했어요. ^^b
Probably to certain foreigner, Singapore is just like Togo before the Worldcup 2006^^ That is why the ministers and EDB have been working hard to increase Singapore's visibility.
ReplyDeleteI think our visibility will increase more if Singapore's football team can make it into the World Cup final. But no sound-minded Singaporeans will bet on that to happen soon.
ReplyDelete