Do you remember what these numbers mean? 1.3521° N, 103.8198° E
They are called coordinates and I made a reference to them in my introductory presentation. The ones listed above correspond to Singapore, the Southeast Asian city-state located at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula.
Also…Did you know that Singapore has four official languages? That’s right, four of them! These languages are, English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. Throughout Singapore, you can can see signs, hear announcements and have conversations in all four languages. These languages not only show the diversity in this country but are also a window into some historical facts about Singapore.
For context, a long time ago, Singapore used to be an island where mostly fishermen and pirates lived. Later on, the British made Singapore a colony. Throughout the time that the British controlled this city, there were many indentured workers from China and India that settled in Singapore. Finally, when Malaysia became independent, Singapore joined it, only to be kicked out of the federation soon afterwards.
