Merlion as Singapore icon? (Isaac)

Merlion. Its name combines "mer" meaning the sea and "lion". The lion head symbolises the legend of the rediscovery of Singapura, by Sang Nila Utama who sighted a lion when he landed on what is now known as Singapore. The fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek and represents Singapore's humble beginnings as a fishing village.

Indeed the Merlion has deep historical elements, dating back to the start of Singapore and it is uniquely Singapore, but the Merlion as a Singapore icon? I don't think so. Merlion for me has always been always more of a tourist attraction than a Singapore icon. Unlike our chicken rice or Singlish, I do not feel a relation to Merlion and I see it as something that will be pasted on a tourist souvenir to make it sell. Design to make money, similar to what casinos are for.

Unlike the Merlion, stuff like Singlish which many people can relate to on a daily basis would be a better icon. A national icon should not be just be unique, it should be something that all Singaporean can relate to  and identify with. Thus I do not agree that the Merlion should be a national icon.

Transport in Anhui and comparison to transport in Singapore

Getting around in the city by bus
When you want to get to your hotel in downtown Hefei or when you want to get around in the city, the best mode of transport is to take a bus. The bus fare to reach anywhere in town is just 1CNY. However, there is no way you could find change in the bus. Therefore, you need to have your change ready. The busses sometimes are crowded. Therefore, you may need to wait a bit for a bus that has room. However, busses arrive at regular intervals.  There are quite a few bus terminals from where you could board a bus to get to your destination. They are cheap, comfortable and available at anytime of the day till almost 11.00 pm. Even to come to the airport on your return journey, you could take a bus easily and save. Taxis are also not expensive. It will cost you only 20CNY to get to airport by taxi.

Airports in Anhui
There are 50 Chinese domestic airports that are being served by the province’s air transport services. Most of these Flights originate from the provincial capital of Hefei. In addition to the domestic flights cities of Hefei and Huangshan are connected to Hong Kong and Macau with scheduled flights. There are also chartered flights operating from Anhui province to many other international destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand. These flights are operated regularly. There are also the domestic airports within the province that are being served by airlines regularly. Anging, Wuhu, Fuyang and Bengbu are such airports.

Railway in Anhui
In 2011 two cities of Anhui province, Chuzhou and Bengbu have been connected to Beijing and Shanghai with high speed railways. Therefore, travelling time from these two major cities of China to the province of Anhui has come down to just a couple of hours. In addition to that there are passenger rail links that connect Nanjing and Wuhan. These also are operated with high speed railways. The conventional railway lines are there to connect most of the major cities of the province to one another. These also are used for the transport of goods as well as passengers.

Comparison to transport in Singapore
Singaporeans mainly nove around the city by bus and trains and taxis which can get us around any parts of singapore and in affordable prices. Singapore only needs one airport to cater for the whole country. buses can be seen regularly almost everywhere as well.
But transport in Anhui is much cheaper to serve the same purpose although the transport may not reach every single part of china. China also has high speed railways to get around quickly in such a huge country.

Prices of items in Singapore

A flat that is around 90-100 sq m in Punggol = Sgd 520,000
New Toyota Vios                                            = Sgd 115,000
Cheapest 10 kg packet rice                             = Sgd 13.70
Cheapest one litre drinking mineral water     = Sgd 0.90
Plastic bags are provided by cashiers to store items.
Cashiers are generally middle-aged and foreigners.
School fees                                                     = Sgd 17
One litre of petrol(95 unleaded)                     = Sgd 2.30
One movie ticket on weekend                        = Sgd 12.50
Average salary of a Singaporean                    = Sgd 3066

Group Montage

Singapore Youth Culture 

we chose these pictures to represent what everyday teenagers in singapore do. the two black and white pictures at the bottom shows that singapore has tests and homework everyday, and it is stressful for students as there is stress to cope with. social media makes up a lot of our lives, it is where we can socialise and get to know more friends. Kpop is also what a lot of students are interested in currently. Social media like ask.fm allow for students to get to know more about each other by asking questions and getting answers, Instagram allows for people to share pictures of their daily lives and friends who are following them can be kept updated of their friend's lives, Instagram is also like a personal blog, twitter is a social media for people to share their thoughts on life and can also update about their lives. These social media is a way for students to relieve stress too.

China Youth Culture