So SINGAPORE Toons

a book that I finished in less than half-an-hour... (What a miracle! hahaha...) Bought the book because it's filled with lots of cartoons, but little words... (that's my cup of tea!) More importantly, bought that book because I'm a Singaporean... it's about us! It's about Singapore!

(Image from connexion.sg website, retrieved 8 May 2010)

The book succinctly captured the characteristics of the Singapore culture, the Singaporean characteristics and mental model! Ha! That illustrates how powerful "simple" words and visuals can do! One other unique feature of this book, especially the beginning pages... the text came in 4 languages (fronted by English, followed by Chinese, Malay and Tamil - in summary). What a clever way to weave in our nation's emphasis of the racial harmony and understanding!

Described in the Connexion.Sg website: The So Singapore Toons book features a very vibrant and distinct Singapore culture in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Our common spaces with fun facts are highlighted in this book.



At appropriate junctures, there were questions for the reader to ponder (if the reader takes it seriously). Examples include...

• Singapore was the second most competitive country in the world in 2007. Will Singapore be just as competitive 30 years later?
• What kind of work do you do? What have you learnt? How does it changed in the last 5 years? Will it change gain in the next 5 years?
• What kind of memories do you have of the people and places around you?
• When was the last time you cheered for our national sportsman/sportswoman or Team

Indeed, the book also provides some vital statistics that we could use in Maths learning :D (of course, think deeper, it could be beyond Maths learning)

• Singapore has a population of over 4.8 million people who spread across a land area of over 700 square kilometres.
• We have 4 main ethnic groups. We support 10 main religions, as well as welcome global talent.
• Singapore is amongs the 20 smallest countries in the world with a population density of 6857 people per square kilometre.
• Nearly 9 out of 10 Singaporeans live in public housing flats.
• 64% of local respondents to a 2005 survey felt that hawker centres were unique to Sinapore. However, it was the tourist who felt more strongly about this: 90% said they were unique and 100% said they should be promoted as tourist attractions.
• National library board posted in FY2006 that it has 1.94 million library members, 37.39 million library visitors, 28.83 million loans and 37.9 million electronic retrievals from their website.
• Singapore consists fo 1 main island and 63 other tiny islands, most of which are uninhabited.
• Singapore's population of over 4.8 million people comprises of 75% Chinese, 14% Malays, 8.9% Indians and 2.1% of other descent.
• Singapore will have 200km of park connectors by 2012, which is longer than our coastline of 193 km.
• Everyday, 5 million trips were made in public transport.
• Sinapore has more than 3000 km of roads. Stretched from end to end, they can cover the distance from Singapore to Hongkong.
• Singapore imported 358,177 tonnes of fruits in 2007. Per capita consumption of fruits in Singapore in 2007 was 72.3 kg.
• The Singapore flag used in the National Day Parade is a large one at 501 square metres, about 4 times the size of a 4-room flat. It takes 30 men about 1 hour to prepare and attach the flag to the Chinook helicopter, which carries it at a constant speed of about 100 km/h.