The little known facts

and figures about

Singapore

Have you travelled to Singapore lately and been tongue tied by the sheer

awesomeness of this island nation? Its staggering economic clout and

extremely high standards of living belie the fact that Singapore, in its current

avatar, is barely 50 years old. That may be the stuff pundits et al are interested

in, but that is not we what we are going to talk about here. Let me boggle your

mind with a different set of facts and figures about Singapore - the ones you

will not get to read about in your run-of-the-mill guide book. Here goes.

Did you Know • Singapore is one of the last three surviving city states left in the whole wide world, the other

two being Monaco and the Vatican City!

• Singapore is one of the 20 tiniest countries in the world with an area of about 682 sq. km. To put that into perspective, you could sort of fit in 15,000 Singapore’s’ inside the US of A!

• Singapore is the second most densely populated country ever, with over 6,500 people per sq. km!

• Singapore is the only nation ever to change its time zone six times since the year 1905!

• Ainan Celeste Cawley, a 7 seven year old Singaporean, is the youngest person in the world to successfully pass the GCSE ‘O’ chemistry paper!

Did you Know • Singaporeans walk just about as fast as bumblebees fly and that has been validated by a study

conducted by the British Council. That makes them the fastest walkers on the planet with an

average speed of 6.15 km/h. Now isn’t that something!

• The next time you get your hands on a $1000 Singaporean Dollar note, remember to turn it over

and peer into it with a magnifying glass. The whole of the Singaporean national anthem is inscribed on it in micro text!

• Despite being one of the most prosperous cities and island states on the face of the planet, a

large number of netizens still think Singapore is a part of Malaysia, or even worse, China. Case

to the point - Cartoon Network goofed up; when in an episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Bloo says Singapore is in Malaysia!

Did you Know

• Singapore Zoo, touted as the world’s best rainforest zoo, doesn’t have any cages. Yup, you got that right! You have friendly

chimpanzees, as well as not all that friendly hippos and tigers

traipsing around without any barriers or bars of any kind. Talk about close encounters!

• The Singapore Zoo is also the world’s first night zoo, featuring a

pretty groovy tourist attraction named The Night Safari. Fancy

meeting a tiger up-close at midnight, anyone?

Did you Know

• Suntec City in Singapore is the proud home of the world’s largest fountain. The Fountain of Wealth is a mega structure with a height of 13.8 metres and occupying a massive area of 1683

sq. metres!

• Singapore is the only country in the world with a Hug-me cola machine. Feeling thirsty in the

vicinity of National University of Singapore? Well, walk up to the giant Coca-Cola machine, give it a big hug and voila- out pops a cold can of coke! Cute, isn’t it?