Singapore is known as a fine city, or a garden city, or the little red dot, or the… Ok there’s a lot of names for our country. But we all know we’re (in)famous for one more thing: queueing up. This little known (ok, it’s only little-known outside of Singapore) fact is only one of the inexplicable things we do for things we’re passionate about.
We laugh and scoff at other people for doing other ridiculous things, but we all have our moments of ridiculous fangirling for those things we love. We have gathered 5 strangest behaviours every Singaporean confirm-plus-chop got do before, for that one thing that drives us absolutely nuts, yet at the same time, happy as well.
Because who’s to decide what’s weird and what’s not?
1. Hello Kitty
Oh yeah, don’t you dare deny it. I know for a fact that you guys out there queue up for the Hello Kitty soft toys. Don’t ask me how I know. I definitely do not have the full collection of every Hello Kitty soft toy released for McDonald’s arranged in order on my bookcase.
That’s you in the picture, isn’t it? Shh. Shhhhh. Don’t say anything. Nobody is judging you, for we were all once you – whether you’re buying it for yourself or buying it for your bae.
2. Instagram Shots
This should cover most of you with an Instagram account (that’s basically everyone, I think). Ohh, I don’t think I have to go on much about how far people are willing to go for that perfect Instagram shot. Be it for food, or an exceptional OOTD location, we can get quite extreme.
As for the food, let’s just say that ain’t nobody got time to eat when you’re there for Instagram.
3. Hardcore Military Collector
This one guy is so special he deserves a separate entry all by himself. Yes, he’s just that dedicated.
He’s spent $80,000 over two decades to collect military memorabilia ranging from WWI equipment to modern SAF uniforms. He doesn’t even have enough space in the one entire room he had devoted for storage.
When Singaporeans get hardcore, they go hardcore.
4. Good Food
Oh, it doesn’t even matter if everything else is bad. Singapore is dotted with hawker centres with no air-conditioning, bad ventilation, bad-tempered stall owners and less-than-pristine conditions. That’s apparently not enough to stop us from queueing unreasonable durations for a plate of whatever famous dish they’re serving.
We love good food, and we seem to love queueing. This is a match made in heaven. Whenever some famous restaurant opens in Singapore, it’ll never fail to attract a crazy queue. Look at Tim Ho Wan or Tsuta Ramen. Long queues all day every day.
If Singapore has a middle name, it will be Food.
5. Just Simply Queueing
We were tempted to dismiss this as an exaggeration, but it hit a little too close to home. How many of you have queued up for a small cup of free Milo, then immediately returned to the back of the queue before you even finished?
Oh, and if there are many people queueing, there must be something good they’re waiting for. Solid strategy right there.
This works especially well for food. When you don’t know what to eat for lunch in a hawker centre, simply go for the stall with the longest queue. It’s probably the best one there.
Actually, it kinda works for other things as well. We’re willing to bet a lot of the people queueing for the Hello Kitty plushies were only doing so out of curiosity, which eventually got out of hand. Guess what? There’s a new in-thing now, and it combined two of Singaporeans’ favourite things to queue for: Milo Vans, and collectibles.
That’s right. Those are Milo Van collectibles. I’d recommend getting those as fast as you can, because hey, Milo Van collectibles. It’s not just a mini-van – it’s part of our childhood.
This article was first published on goodyfeed.com and is written in collaboration with Milo Singapore.
