We’re watching you, Singapore – have you been naughty or nice this year?
Insanely-long Hello Kitty queues? That’s old news. There’s a lot more brewing on our sunny island that you may have missed, so we’ve drawn up a list and checked it twice.
Now, let’s find out if you’ve been naughty or nice.
1. Stealing race medals
Singapore, you’ve proven to be quite the dramatic bunch! The storm started with the highly-anticipated Hello Kitty Run in November. The skies chose this happy day to unleash their tears; so chaos descended upon the parade.
Eyewitness accounts tell of people – some of whom weren’t even participants – taking off with entire boxes of the coveted Hello Kitty-shaped Finishers’ Medals. Shortly after, the medals were put online for sale.
About a month after this Kitty fiasco, participants of the Standard Chartered Marathon were riled up when “non-finishers” received the finishers’ T-shirt and medal, despite not completing the full race.
What really happened: slower runners were diverted onto a shorter route, and were asked by the staff to take the prizes as awards for their participation.
2. Cat-fighting over stuffed cats
There’s something about Hello Kitty that drives people to insanity. Long queues may be old news, but catfighting goes to a new low.
Over the past few years, fast food chain McDonald’s has been bringing in Hello Kitty collector’s dolls to accompany their meals. With this came the ugly clawing and fist-fighting.
On some occasions the police had to be called in to pull rioters away. We wonder if the dolls were hauled in for questioning as well. Hey, they started it!
3. Horrors of Sim Lim revealed
The year unearthed a series of debacles, all within this shopping complex specialising in the retail of electronic products. These scandals have shaken the nation.
In late October, a customer had to plead for a $1,010 refund, which was met with ridicule from the shop owners and a shower of coins. (Apparently, they really totalled $1,010.)
If that wasn’t bad enough publicity, the same store was embroiled in another scam. They had reportedly tricked Mr Pham Van Thoai from Vietnam into paying a ridiculous sum of $2,450 for the latest iPhone 6. Not learning from their wealth of nasty experiences, the staff of MobileAir once again taunted the kneeling and begging customer.
In latest news, Sim Lim Square’s management council has announced that it will look into ways of clamping down on errant practices.
4. Local actresses bare all and win international awards
We have reasons to celebrate, too. 2014 was a good year for many Singaporeans, in particular for actresses Esther Low and Angeline Yap.
Low was awarded a Best Actress Award for her performance in Rosado Furia, a Costa Rican production. Her accolade was awarded by the Central American Festival Icaro.
Back home, Yap daringly bared it all in one of Singapore International Film Festival’s feature screenings. The sold-out film, titled Lang Tong, features Yap’s character in a steamy scene with a notorious womaniser.
Now, don’t you wish you’d paid more attention to local films?
5. Singapore listed as Lonely Planet’s #1 travel destination
Now this is worth a big whoop! Lonely Planet, one of the most heralded and comprehensive travel sites, has listed our little red dot as the top travel destination for 2015.
Related: 5 last-minute staycations you can book now
According to the website, we’ve been selected because 2015 is our Golden Jubilee, and we’ll be packed full of exciting events under the umbrella programme of SG50.
Also, the world is elated by new developments such as the entertainment district on Marina Bay, the revamped National Art Gallery, and the expansions of our shopping centres and train network.
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy to be living in the heart of the action. Sit tight and get ready for a sensational new year!
By Pamela Chow
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