10 SG50 'Must Do' activities for Singaporeans

National Day is just round the corner.
This year marks the 50th birthday of this little red dot. To many Singaporeans, this marks a significant milestone in our young nation. Given that many Singaporean practically grew together with the nation, the coming of age is one we would hope with pride.
So how does a Singaporean celebrate SG50?
Here is a guide for our foreign friends to understand our way of life and for our fellow Singaporeans to prepare their celebrations for this upcoming momentous occasion. Sit back , relac one corner and enjoy the list!

1 Watch the Aerial Display and Fireworks

NDP Fireworks

Fireworks had always been associated with National Day. The great thing about National Day Fireworks is that you would have more than one opportunity to catch it. Fireworks will be over the bay during the NDP rehearsals all the way to the actual day.

Don't be surprise to find hoards of people at Marina Bay during the actual day show. This year promises to be extra special since it is SG50. Don't miss the spectacular aerial flypast too. Bring a hat, it can get quite hot under the sun. Can be quite siong if it is too crowded, so pack light and skip the picnic mat.

Aerial Flypast

If you are Kiasu and scare miss out all the action, we have the full timeable here on what to expect for aerial flypast and fireworks during this NDP.Since we are on the topic of kiasuism, here is a comprehensive list of activities to do for the Jubilee Weekend ahead.

2 Read the Singapore Story

To understand the significance of SG50, it will be great to catch up on the history of modern Singapore. The Singapore Story from the Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew is a great book to start. Follow up this book with volume 2 , The Singapore Story : From Third World to First.

I had both books since April. I am only half way through the first book...must finish before NDP.

3 Find a symbolic SG50 souvenir

SG50 LEGO Sets

A symbolic SG50 souvenir should have the following characteristic. It is unique to Singapore, it is a collector's item, it is easily recognised and it will be treasured if you either queue long hours for it or pay a small fortune for it. Ok the latter is a little extreme, but we will explain more in point 9.

It would be best if the souvenir has a print of SG50 on it (otherwise hard to identify it as SG50 mah).

SG Funpack

The contenders for SG50 souvenir includes the following

• 'Building My SG' Lego set from MOE
• LEGO SG50 Singapore icons
• NDP Funpack

4 Watch a historical local play or movie

There are 2 noteworthy productions that will be showing during this period. 1965 the movie and LKY the musical are productions that tells the Singapore tale. Regardless of your political inclination, history does not change. One man had his vision, took a chance and Singapore is born.
See how Lim Kay Tong and Adrian Pang interpretation of the founding father of Singapore in 1965 and LKY. No need to see both shows, one should be good enough.
PS : Singapura does not count. Not made by local nor acted by locals.
5 Find SG50 Sales

SG50 Sales

A favourite pastime of Singaporean is shopping. We are infamous for sourcing out the best deals in all parts of the world. Thankfully for SG50, we do not need to look very far for good deals.Another excuse to shop. No complaint lah.
6 Eat local food

Chicken Rice

Other than shopping, the locals takes their chicken rice seriously. To celebrate SG50 like a Singaporean, have a taste of Singapore. Indulge in our famous local 'cuisines' such as chicken rice, satay, teochew porridge and more. The best place to start would be at the coffee shop or the hawker centers. Forget all you read in tourist guidebooks about Michelin Stars restaurants. The best food are found in the vicinity of local suburbs. To top it off, these delicacies usually cost less than $10 per dish! Cheap and shiok, exactly the way we like.

After the indulgence, do go for the occasional jog to rid of the post SG50 weight gain.

7 Indulge in all things nostalgia

When you reach 50, you tend to look back and reminisce about yesterdays. Anything old becomes vogue once more. It makes you feel young lah.The iconic Dragon Playground found in Toa Payoh is an example.
Other ways to reminisce includes searching for old school toys , old photos, favourite old time dishes. We recommend a visit to Singapura : 700 years for a glimpse to the past.
Old is gold... Just don't reveal your age by saying 'Wah I use to play on them while I was a kid 35 years back.'
Face plam lah.
8 Build a LEGO SG50 Special

This year, all students and teachers from primary schools, secondary schools, special education schools, Junior Colleges, ITE and Polytechnic will get a 244 piece of ' Building my SG' set . This set has proven to be hugely popular among the children as well as adults. You would be able to build famous icons of Singapore such as Changi Airport, Gardens by the Bay and Cavenagh bridge.
If you don't have a child and you are not a teacher, skip to point 9.

LEGO Changi Airport

9 Be an SG 50 entrepreneur

You are an adult and you do not have school going kids. Yet you yearn for the SG50 'Building your SG' as a souvenir for SG50.

What do you do?

a) Wait till after National Day and you can get it directly from Duck Learningb) Open the app Carousell and meet the many future entrepreneurs of Singapore.

A typical trait of Singaporean is resourcefulness. Being in a small little red dot, we have to do whatever we can to survive and excel. If we can make a quick buck selling a free item for $80, we would do it. Singaporeans do appreciate the gift, but they are highly pragmatic too.

PS : If you really want to get it, instead of responding to ridiculous prices, place an ad in Carousell to buy instead. Market rate is $15- $20 for new and $10-15 for open sets. Personally I think the set will go for $24.90 after Aug 9, so you might like to wait. Once the buzz is over, you probably can get a new one for $10 in Carousell due to oversupply.

Wah Piang Fact : There are 600,000 FREE sets in the market. Buy all up at 12 million dollars ($20 each) and you have a limited edition!

Another set worth 'investing' would be the Lego SG 50 mini builds. It comprises of 4 mini structure including an ice cream bike, dragon playground, hdb flat and cable car. It is given free for every $50 purchase of Lego during the promotion period. So you need to spend $200 to collect the full set. The selling price on the market is $400 just for the mini build. A cool profit of 200% plus free Lego worth $200. Total 300 % return in one month. Even fix deposit rates for 100 years would not give you the same returns!

Huat ah!

( Disclaimer hor : no one bought the set at $400 yet... )

For Lego fans, you might like to visit this link for the instructions and parts needed to build this set. I guarantee you can get the whole set for half of the price offered.
Caring is sharing.

10 Watch the NDP Parade

NDP Parade

Last but not least , don't forget to watch the NDP parade on August 9. You will see scores of folks heading down to the Padang or Marina bay. Many would probably watch the event in the comfort of their home.Shopping malls are likely to be deserted with the exception of tourists during this time. If you don't like crowd and love to shop, this might be a good opportunity to do so.

With these 'tips', do enjoy SG50 like a typical Singaporean. Use this checklist for your 'must do' activities for this coming SG 50 celebrations!

PS : This is a satire post. No Singaporeans were harm in the research leading up to this post. #notasponsoredpostlah