August 9th is National Day in Singapore. This day is celebrated each year in commemoration of Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965. There is a National Day Parade, an address by the Prime Minister and a Fireworks Celebration. The main events take place in the Marina Bay, which is visible from the living room of our hotel/apartment! We stayed up and watched the beautiful fireworks display! It was very exciting.
Scott had the day off, as did most of Singapore. We went to a big store called Mustafa Foreign Exchange. This store is HUGE! I think it takes up two city blocks and I don't even know how many stories it is. We needed to find some pants for Scott. We have not yet received our shipment from the states that has the rest of our clothes and our toys, etc. Next week, Scott is going to Taiwan on business and there are 2 days of meetings. He only has 1 pair of fancy pants, so we needed to get a second pair. We were in luck, Mustafa's had just what we needed. They only came in very long, so now, I am in search of a tailor, to have them hemmed.
"Majulah Singapore!" is the National Motto, it means "Onward, Singapore!". Right now, it's all over the place. They really go all out for National Day!
The flag is interesting. Every part of it has meaning. According to Wikipedia: Red symbolizes "universal brotherhood and equality of man:", white, "pervading and everlasting purity and virtue". The waxing crescent moon "represents a young nation on the ascendant". The five stars "stand for the nations ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality".
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