SINGAPORE SOJOURN

by Tammy Mendoza

When you‘re a visitor in this remarkable state, one impression that you will have is
that people tend to ask you how many times you‘ve been to Singapore.
For the past many years, this Asian dragon has become one of the top tourist
draws in Asia. Its vibrant economy has made it arguably the gateway in Southeast Asia,
and perhaps, on this account, people have grown quite used to tourists seeing Singapore
more often than once.
Last September, our group flew to Singapore on the largesse of Singapore Airlines,
unquestionably one of the pillars of the impressive success story of the city state. Cited
several times as the best airline by prestigious international magazines, Singapore
Airlines is a showcase reliability and finesse.
And so is the famed Changi Airport. Also the object of international distinction, the
modern airport has consistently been voted the world‘s best, and it provides an
appropriate, interesting insights of what awaits the Singapore guest.
Singapore, like the Changi Airport, is a marvel – the fruit of both foresight and
careful orchestration. Despite having a land area of only about 650 sq. kms., Singapore
has a thriving economy; it has one of the world‘s busiest ports, and is conceded as Asia‘s
business and financial center.
After a generous breakfast buffet we were whisked to the Singapore Science
Center. It was here that we viewed a film at Southeast Asia‘s only Omnimax Theater,
where images projected on a dome screen gave us the feeling of being engulfed in the
picture. Besides the Ominimax Theater, the Singapore Science Center also houses a
variety of exhibits on the life science, technology discoveries, and aviation.
Our next stop was the Night Safari. Now a popular attraction of Singapore, the
Night Safari was probably our best experience. It features over 1000 nocturnal creatures
which one can see either by tram or trail. Because of the way the park was developed,
the creatures can be seen in their natural habitat without wire harnesses. Fittingly,
Singapore‘s Night Safari received the 1995 Asean Tourism Association (Aseanta) Award
for Excellence as the Best New Tourist Attraction in the Asean.
Next in line was the Sentosa. Accessible from certain points by MRT (Singapore
mass transit system), bus, or cable car, Sentosa Island is a destination in itself. World,
Volcanoland, Images of Singapore, Fantasy Island, and Cinemania.
After a hearty lunch at Timbua Restaurant, where we had our fill of delectable
Indonesian cuisine, we spent the afternoon looking around Orchard Road, Singapore‘s
shopping paradise. Along the stretch of Orchard Road can be found mall upon mall quality
merchandise for every mold of shopper.
As for the evening, it belonged to a taxi ride and dinner at Clarke Quay, mainly a
cluster of stores by a Singapore river. The highlight of the visit was a taxi ride, where we
were taken on a guided tour of the city to better appreciate its history.
The following day, the group had a splendid time at the Jurong Birdpark which a
co-passenger on the taxi ride at Clarke Quay said was his personal choice as the best
attraction of Singapore. Here we had breakfast with the birds, a quick tour of the aviaries,
and a Panorail ride through the park, after which we viewed the International Bird Show
at the ampitheatre where trained bird showcased their wares. Some of the more
memorable sights at the 20.2-hectare Jurong Birdpark were the Penguin Parade and the
Southeast Asian Birds Aviary.
With hindsight, the Singapore sojourn turned out to be a truly splendid experience
for the group, especially for some of us who tried Singapore‘s night life for more taste of
adventure.
 The thing with Singapore is, it doesn‘t really matter if you‘ve been there before or
not at all. Constantly discovering and ever-changing, Singapore is forever new, and it‘s
never the same way twice.

THE ‘SINGA’

Directions: Give the meaning of the italicized words using context clues.

1. When the tourist went to his farm, he climbed a knoll to take a good look at the beautiful
surroundings.
a. stairs b. chair c. hill
2. The ground attendant advised the passenger to reduce the things he had in his suitcase
for jettisoning; he had exceeded the required weight for his check-in baggage.
a. inspection b. donation c. discarding
3. The traveller‘s goal is to reach the summit of the mountain.
a. lowest part b. middle part c. highest part
4. The King‘s subjects obey his rules faithfully.
a. followers b. courses to study c. enemies
5. The fan stood in awe when he saw his favorite movie actor.
a. fear b. surprise c. respect

Sang Nila Utama, an imaginative adventurous king was restless by nature and
wanted to travel to far away places. He loved hunting wild animals, so when he heard that
there were stags in the jungles of Tanjong Bentam which were not easy to hunt, he was
excited and took with him a great fleet of ships to Tanjong Bentam.
When the king arrived upon the island, he and his subjects had a hunting
expedition that lasted several hours, slaying many wild and savage beasts, but no stags.
This disappointed the king, for he had a sense of unfulfillment in his heart.
Suddenly, a large stag darted out of the bush in front of Sang Nila Utama, giving
the king a shock...but the king drew his silver dagger and hurled it at the stag, only grazing
the animal. The stag began to run and the king pursued it (in those days, it was either
your feet or nothing.
The stag ran through the jungle and darted up a knoll. The king followed the stag
up the hill, but upon reaching the summit, the stag was nowhere to be seen. There was
a large rock, so the king climbed it and looked the land and sea spread out around him.
In the distance, he saw a stretch of white sand - an island.
Sang Nila Utama was fascinated by the sight of the island. He turned to one of his
subjects who had followed him.
'What is the name of that island?'
The subject looked into the distance and smiled.
'That is Temasek, Your Highness.'
'Then we are going there.'
The king ordered his fleet to set sail and they began on their journey towards the
island.
Suddenly the once clear blue skies were covered with black clouds, heavy rain
poured from them and strong bursts of wind threatened to tear the ships apart. The ship
carrying Sang Nila Utama was in the very eye of the storm. The crew lowered the sails,
started to bail the water from the ship and get most of the cargo for jettisoning.
However, an idea came to the king's head. He remembered a story his grandfather
told him of how one of his ancestors became the Sea-King and that his crown was the
only thing which belonged to his ancestor. He removed his crown immediately & threw it
into the sea.
All at once, the storm broke. As suddenly as it started, the skies began to clear
and the crew gave a shout of joy and set sail once more to the island of Temasek.
When the king stepped upon the island, a creature stepped out of nowhere, and
the king and his men were awe-struck by the magnificent creature. It was large and moved
with grace, had a black head, covered in a furry mane, a whitish neck and a red body.
When the king drew his bow & arrow, the beast stared back at him with golden eyes and
let out a deafening roar before leaping into the jungle.
'What sort of animal was that?', the king asked.
A wise old man stepped forth.
'I have seen animals in portraits from the Far West. Perhaps this is a 'singa', but I
wonder how it got all the way here.'
'This must be a great place if it breeds such a beautiful animal. Let us live
here...here on the island of Singapura.'

(Singa — The word ‘singa‘ is actually the Malay word for lion. Therefore
Singapore is sometimes referred to as the ―”Lion City”.)

A word can consist of a root only, a root with a prefix, a root with a suffix, or a root with
both a prefix and a suffix. Regardless of how many parts there are, they always appear
in this order: prefix, root, suffix.

A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root of a word. For example, the
word “unhappy” consists of the prefix “un-” [which means “not”] combined with the root
(or stem) word “happy”; the word “unhappy” means “not happy.”

A short list of prefixes:

Prefix Meaning Examples

de- from, down, away, reverse, opposite decode, decrease
dis- not, opposite, reverse, away disagree, disappear
ex- out of, away from, lacking, former exhale, explosion
il- not illegal, illogical
im- not, without impossible, improper
in- not, without inaction, invisible
mis- bad, wrong mislead, misplace
non- not nonfiction, nonsense
pre- before prefix, prehistory
pro- for, forward, before proactive, profess, program
re- again, back react, reappear
un- against, not, opposite undo, unequal, unusual
 Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters placed after the root of a word. For example, the
word flavorless consists of the root word “flavor” combined with the suffix “-less” [which
means “without”]; the word “flavorless” means “having no flavor.”

A short list of suffixes:

Suffix Meaning Examples

-able able to, having the quality of comfortable, portable
-al relating to annual comical
-er comparative bigger, stronger
-est superlative strongest, tiniest
-ful full of beautiful, grateful
-ible forming an adjective reversible, terrible
-ily forming an adverb eerily, happily, lazily
-ing denoting an action, a material, or a gerund acting, showing
-less without, not affected by friendless, tireless
-ly forming an adjective clearly, hourly
-ness denoting a state or condition kindness, wilderness
-y full of, denoting a condition, or a diminutive glory, messy, victory