The Campus

Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Opinion

In elementary school, a substitute teacher taught us how to point out Singapore on the map. The teacher said: "Put your whole palm on Asia and then say 'Singapore is somewhere there!"

Because of Singapore's humble size, it has been fondly called "The Tiny Red Dot."

It takes only 45 minutes to travel across Singapore.

Coming from a big polluted country like the Philippines, I love the short commutes here and the patches of greenery along the way.

I like to believe, much to the dismay of the people who wait around for me, that it takes only 20 minutes to get anywhere in Singapore.

The most common complaint is that the island is too small for 4.6 million people.

Just a few days ago, I bumped into an old friend whom I had not seen in years. The friend now happens to be in the same university club as another friend of mine.

As more introductions were made, we discovered that we actually had a common pool of friends.

If that's not bizarre enough, how about the time I discovered that my close friend's aunt is actually my boyfriend's mom's good friend?

In Singapore, everyone seems to be connected in one way or another.

Have you ever had that strange nagging feeling that you know the person from the café?

Here, that feeling of deja vu is as common as the Starbucks on every corner. Chances are, you probably do know the person from somewhere.

On the days when I'm bored, I walk along a busy shopping street like Orchard Road and look at faces and see if I recognize any.

Most of the time, I spot at least two familiar faces. Oftentimes, it's at work when we see the people we don't want to.

There really is no hiding in this country.

Hiding or seeking, it all points back to the tiny red dot in Asia.

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