Happy 60th Birthday Singapore!

Today is the 9th of August and Happy 60th Birthday to Singapore!!

I believe there are plenty of congratulatory notes all over the place and many of us (thos who didnt go overseas) would be looking forward to the National Day Parade at Padang this evening. The weather looks good thus far (dont jinx it!) and the fireworks will be fantastic, based on the views from past many weekends of pre-shows.

Taking this chance to continue showing support for locally made products, especially our vegetables and eggs! NTUC has been running many promotions for both vegetables and other locally produced food. They continued with the one for one - eggs, but it seems to have stopped for a number of NTUC outlets. I found this one at the Serangoon Nex (but the place is terribly crowded, definitely not my go to weekend grocery shopping place).

Chew's One for One Eggs - NTUC

The vegetables are on promotion too! I found the Green Harvest and Phyotgreen ones (nai bai, kai lan and others). Green Harvest offered free dou miao for any 2 packs of other vegetables bought. Heh our locally produced vegetables are pesticide free some more.

Well, not just locally produced vegetables and eggs, but we have plenty of other celebratory offers, including local favourites like chilli crab and durian flavoured food. So not surprising that fast food restaurants started with lots of chilli crab promotional food. I like the chendol flavoured ice cream cone from MacDonalds, and the chilli crab sauce seems authentic too.

Mac $1.30 Ice Cream Chendol Cone

Mac Chilli Sauce

So yup Happy Birthday once again Singapore! And looking forward to many many years of peace and prosperity for this Little Red Dot!! :)

Yours truly,

Little Red Dot Diaries

Luckin Coffee Available at NTUC

 I was somewhat surprised to see Luckin Coffee beind sold at NTUC. Heh nope not the normal version at the Luckin shops, but rather the different instant mix version. Even the Coconut flavour version (I thought unique and seasonal?) is available - per box of 9 cups being sold at $10.90 (discounted from $11.90). Not a bad thing but I wouldnt feel that uniqueness (or should I say experience) of getting a Luckin coffee via such an instant mix isnt it?

Luckin Coffee Coconut at NTUC

I can understand why Starbucks x Nespresso capsules work for some (me included) because all you want is a traditional coffee made quickly at home, i.e. an instant "cappuccino". Whereas the Luckin coffee experience is a different one - one order from their app prior to reaching the store with different vouchers to offset the price plus getting some varied flavour of the month. The latter would not be offered via a box of instant mix.

Oh well, who knows, maybe there are as many varied coffee drinkers with different preferences who might like it. Besides Coconut flavour, the mix traditional black coffee version is also available at $9.90 for 8 cups. Nope I didnt buy either - would still buy from their shop instead.

Luckin Instant Black Coffee

I think normal grocery food items being packaged with known brands is a thing - so while I was looking for that Demon Hunter Instant Ramen (not available yet), I came across this macadamia mixnuts with the Netflix brand instead. Maybe give them, i.e. Netflix, another month or so to get that spicy ramen flavours in all three versions right, and we would see them in stores all over. Heh with likes of Saja Boys' Your Idol topping the US charts, I think the related KPop Demon Hunter merchandise should be something made widely available soon.

NTUC Netflix Macadamia Mixnuts

More Eggs Promotion (Not Just Chicken Eggs) from NTUC

We eat eggs every day, from the half-boiled eggs with kaya toast to omelets and eggs fried into our fried rice. And it is a good thing that we started to have more supermarket promotions about eggs in this climate of increasing cost of living. The buy 2 and free 1 promotions seem to be on-going and I am glad. Buy 2 Get 1 Free extends to Chew's and Seng Choon. Rich or poor, eggs still form an important protein source for us and it is good efforts to keep the prices affordable.

Singapore imports large quantity of its eggs, supposedly more than 70%, from Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, and now even Poland, yup eggs air-flown from Europe. Not sure why though but it is a good thing that we diversify our food sources, especially for such an important ingredient like chicken eggs. Of course, beyond chicken eggs NTUC started running promotions for quail eggs too ($0.50 off for 2 packs purchased). I wonder if they are locally produced too.

Quail Eggs Promotion

We do have local farms for example names like Chew’s and Seng Choon although I wonder where does NTUC source its Pasar branded eggs from. Since the Pasar eggs are placed next to a sign with SG logo, I assumed they are locally produced too.

Besides eggs as a success story, hopefully the efforts to grow our vegetables farms can bear fruits one day, and we could continue to have access to affordable vegetables. Heh basic staples should be kept affordable.

See also:

- Support Local - Buy locally produced vegetables & eggs

KPop Demon Hunters - Movie Review

I've just spent my Saturday night watching the latest top movie / animation "KPop Demon Hunters" and I would say this is a really good movie. It has topped the Netflix charts in twenty over countries since the release on 20th June for the summer break. The plot revolves around three girls who formed a Demon Hunter  girl band group - HUNTR/X, a tradition from generations, who use voices and songs to form a barrier that shielded humans from demons. Here's the song from the starting section:

Heh the shield is named as "hon moon" - basically soul gate (hon = soul, and moon = gate), which is illustrated as a blue lined barrier formed from the souls of their fans in the animation. The aim of the three girls (Rumi, Mira, Zoey) is to create a golden hon moon so that the barrier stays "permanent". Of course, along the way the demons sent their own band Saja Boys, a boy band of five, who sought to steal the fans from the HUNTR/X and break the barriers so that demons could steal souls from humans. Some interactions among the two bands

Ok no more spoiling of the storyline. The big attraction of the movie would be the various songs. Plot wise pretty standard - self-discovery journey of the heroine(s) where fears, identities, dreams etc were played out. Here's the YouTube of one of the popular songs:

I'm guessing that Sony Pictures Animations (producer of KPop Demon Hunters) would likely release a sequel, and minimally some merchandise (instant noodles would be one track, toys another). I think there are some merchandise for sale on Netflix shop now. Looking forward to watching more on Netflix, the distribution platform for this move.

Luckin Coffee Payday Best Day Promo

I'm starting to be a Luckin Coffee fan due to the many promotions that they have been running. Just had their Payday Best Day promo today with 2 cups of coffee at $8. Quite a good deal actually. Had an Yirgacheffe Latte (1 of their Black Cup series, i.e. special coffee) the other day, and tried an iced caramel macchiato on Friday. And yup I've already used that $0.99 promo previously. :)

They have many vouchers so honestly each cup of coffee is not expensive. Heh I can't get a kopi-o at $0.99 easily in town.

Yirgacheffe Latte from Luckin

Caramel Macchiato

Considering the many varieties of coffee that they are offering, I would get to try different flavours and not get bored. This month it is the Iced Minty Coconut Latte but nope I didn't try that. I might do that over this weekend if I "run into" another Lukcin Coffee outlet. lol. Other than the varieties, the ease of ordering (before you reach that outlet) with a pick up, scan and go, makes it really convenient for those in a hurry. 

I like the non-coffee stuff that Luckin Coffee is offering too. The strawberry Daifuku is nice and soft, just a bit small - one mouthful type of treats. Oh well that is at least something to go with the coffee. 

With as many as like 60 outlets in Singapore, I guess Luckin is doing well here. Nope I am not paid in any way by them, but yup I would continue to use their promo vouchers. heh.

Strawberry Daifuku

GE2025 - Poll Card is here

The poll card for GE2025 is here, and follows similar format to the past ones. Some cosmetic changes but nothing major. They added brochures (four languages) to describe the voting process during Polling Day, e.g. pressing down the self-inking stamp to mark an "X" next to the candidate that the voter prefers (and not on the face 😂).

Of course, what is a lot more interesting is the many physical rallies, and last night was the first night of campaigning rallies. After almost 10 years, the rallies are back, and no surprise that it was a huge turnout for WP's rally at the field along Anchorvale Cresent. Jams and road congestions happened around that field where the rally was held. The physical rallies lent a certain atmospheric feel to the elections; a proof that democracy is alive well and good in this tiny island of Singapore. 

Some argue that those at the rallies might not work for the rallying parties. Well vote or not, the fact that a huge crowd turn out just to hear what the candidates are saying, is a good sign that people care. And regardless of who we vote for, hopefully we would all stay united since the times ahead are certainly going to be choppy given how geo-politics are developing around the world. 

Ok, here's the poll card. They added a QR Code that allows voters to check their polling station queue, which is a nice improvement (we had complaints during the last election about long queues).

Poll Card 2025

See also: GE 2015 - Poll Card

And: GE 2011 - Poll Card has arrived

Singapore General Election 2025 Possible May Polling Day Date

It is that time again where once every 5 years the Singaporeans get a chance to wield their citizens' rights to vote. This time it is against the backdrop of possible global recession (and thus a likely recession in Singapore) and the first general election led by the Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Well which day could it be? All signs pointed to May 2025, and it is likely within the next two weeks the Writ of Election would be served.

Yes, Parliament has to be dissolved and Writ of Election served before the Election truly starts. This weekend (and last weekend) we have seen appearance of many more potential candidates with declaration of the constituency that they would be contesting in. The electoral divisions could be found on ELD's website. The screenshot is also capture from the ELD website, i.e. all rights belong to them.

Singapore 2025 Electoral Divisions. Source ELD website.

With the Writ of Election, we would have Nomination Day next, and then the rallies! When election was held during COVID, there was no physical rallies. It is only in physical rallies that one could feel the electrifying sense of participating in national level activities. 

So yes, which dates do I bet to be the actual Polling Day? I would venture a guess of 9th May as the date. 9th May is a Friday, which means an extra day of rest except for the election officials. 12th May is a Public Holiday, i.e. Vesak Day. So for a voter, he / she could vote in the morning and hop onto a plane or bus for a holiday in nearby countries for as many as a 4 Days 3 Night break. Helps to build in positivity and indeed helps in sentiments for the current establishment.

Any difficulty for the schools? Schools are often the place used for polling and thus the logistics is always an important element. Well, just make 8th May a Home Based Learning day where the student study from home, and viola, problem solved!

So I will stick with a 9th May 2025 prediction date for the actually Polling Day in Singapore's General Election 2025, and wait for my Polling Card in the coming weeks. Heh like what I did in GE2015 and GE2011. Exciting weeks ahead!

Post event edit - well I guessed wrongly. It was announced today that the Polling Day would be held on 3rd May (Saturday). Oh well.