Singapore - what do I like? Comic poem number 152 by Angela Lansbury

Singapore, Singapore

What do I like?

Every day shopping

And one day I'll hike

I can take Uber

Or MRT trains

Or watch 3 films on

Singapore Airlines planes

What should you pack?

I'm always forgetting

Thick cut marmalade

And mosquito netting.

The orchids, magenta

Palm trees, lipstick and green

When food courts are dirty

Limping old folks sweep clean

Singapore is a place

Where I know I'll survive

Law-abiding, and silent

Then I'll stay alive.

If they say wear masks

Then we all wear masks

We do what we're told

They just have to ask

They have Disney style barriers

Outside public halls

Polite army cadets

At the entrance to malls

I can register a scooter

Or hire a bike

Trains and roads run in circles

What's not to like?

If I end up paying double

I might feel a bit cross

But a quiet guard helps

Whenever I'm lost

I can queue at the bridge

Go abroad - half day getaway\

But I'm glad to be home

See sunrise, then storms, then sunsets, most days.

I can eat all cuisines

If I want, I can swim

Join religions which permit armies

Join the army, pray, sing hymns.

Almost all speak Chinese

But at school learn English

They'll understand you

But can you translate Singlish?

It's simple, 

An exclamation ends 'la!'

It's simple

A question ends 'ma?'

It's simple, it's easy

The word mother is ma

For mummy, or two mothers

You screech (high tone) ma-ma.

They are all keen to help

They chatter and smile

They even have smiles

On cross cockroaches, cross dragons and cross crocodiles.

I've a doctor or dentist

If I'm willing to pay

First thing tomorrow

If it's too late today.

I can turn on the air con 

In a gym, ride a bike

Ride a bus round in circles

What's not to like!

-ends-

copyright Angela Lansbury 31 July 2022.

Komodo dragons are in the Singapore Zoo, and alarming monitor lizards are freely wandering in the Botanical gardens. The friendly monkeys would love to destroy your house. You only have to open a patio window when you see one. There is no mosquito netting, no fly screens.

I am a Singapore resident. I was not born there. I chose to live there. My husband went there for work, got used to wearing shorts all year, and paying less tax. So we stayed.

Pease share links to your favourite posts.