Singapore

Canine Issue II


Danshui 淡水 • Taipei 台北

Taipei Dog Signboard

Singapore

Singapore Dog Signboard 1

Singapore Dog Signboard 1

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Year of the Rabbit 2011

The Year of the Rabbit is back again from 3 Feb 2011 to 22 Jan 2012. It is the Year of the Metal Rabbit, to be precise, as in the lunar calendar, the animal zodiac sign of each year is associated with one of the five elements, namely wood (), fire (), earth (土), metal () and water (). Anyway, may the Metal Rabbit bring you health, joy and prosperity with plenty of precious metals!

CNY 2011-1
Origami-inspired rabbits at ION orchard

CNY 2011-2
The God of Prosperity at the River Hongbao (春到河畔) festivity in Singapore

CNY 2011-3
River Hongbao festive decorations and Marina Bay Sands

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Christmas in the Tropics

Singapore
Contemporary purple tree and jazzy lights greet the shoppers at Orchard Road.

christmas singapore 2010

Kuala Lumpur
There is no shortage of ice and snow at Bukit Bintang in the capital of Malaysia.

christmas kl 2010

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Zhongqiu Festival in Singapore

Zhongqiu (中秋, literally Mid-Autumn) has always been one of my favourite festivals since young. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar when the moon is supposedly to be the fullest and brightest. Family members and friends gather, enjoy mooncakes and carry colourful lanterns under the moonlit sky to celebrate the occasion. Zhongqiu is on 22 Sep this year in the Gregorian calendar.

Singapore Zhongqiu 1
Eu Tong Sen St./New Bridge Rd. with the festive decorations (22/09/2010)

Singapore Zhongqiu 2
Zhongqiu Festival celebrations in full swing at the Chinatown (22/09/2010)

Singapore Zhongqiu 3
Lantern display by the Singapore River at Clarke Quay (22/09/2010)

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Singapore (RAnDom PicK)


Picture 11 Picture 12 Picture 13 Picture 14

From left to right (click picture to enlarge):

  • Job that acrophobics need not apply
  • Tourist boats ply along the Singapore River nowadays
  • Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympic Games from 14-26 Aug 2010
  • Model showing new development at the Marina Bay

Link to PHOTO ARCHIVE

Malayan Railway (KTM) Land in Singapore

I travelled by train between Malaysia and Singapore for the first time in May 2010 and got to experience firsthand the rather unconventional border crossings that have been properly summrised in Wikipedia as follows:

* Towards Singapore, Malaysian immigration officers carry out immigration clearance on board the train at Johor Bahru railway station. After clearing immigration, the train crosses the causeway and stops at WTCP, where all passengers must proceed to Singapore Customs and Immigration. Therefore, travellers entering Singapore by rail are following the correct order of immigration clearance, that is, exit granted by Malaysian Immigration in Johor and entry granted by Singapore Immigration in Woodlands. After clearing immigration at Woodlands, passengers may disembark or continue their journey to Tanjong Pagar by train.

* Towards Malaysia, passengers must board the train at Tanjong Pagar and clear Malaysian Customs and Immigration before boarding. The train travels about 30 minutes to WTCP and stops for another 30 minutes to allow sufficient time for passengers to clear Singapore Immigration. In this case, passengers are granted entry into Malaysia before clearing Singapore Immigration, which is contrary to international practice. To circumvent this problem, Malaysian immigration officers do not stamp on passengers' passports.


SIngapore Railway Station 1
Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is the current KTM terminal in Singapore (05/2010)

Singapore Railway Station 2
The station was opened in 1932 and nicely decorated with sculptures and murals (05/2010)


The reason behind the bizarre immigration procedure is that the Malayan Railway (Keretapi Tanah Melayu, KTM) land in Singapore was leased to the Federated Malay States by the Straits Settlement government then under a 1918 colonial ordinance for 999 years (The Star, Malaysian Insider) and the status of the KTM land has been subject of dispute after the separation of both countries. A breakthrough in the impasse was made recently with the signing of a historic agreement on 24 May 2010. The KTM Singapore terminal will be moved from the current one in Tanjung Pagar to Woodlands nearer to the border by 1 Jul 2011, hence, freeing up the KTM land for joint development by both countries in the future.


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Year of the Tiger 2010

The new year of the tiger begins on 14 Feb 2010, replacing the old year of the ox, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The new year day is a public holiday in multi-ethinic societies, such as Malaysia and Singapore, in South East Asia.

CNY Singapore 1CNY Singapore 2
Chinese New Year decoration at New Bridge Rd. and Eu Tong Sen St., Singapore (02/2010)

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