Interesting facts about Singapore you never knew

Source:http://www.amazingandweird.com/facts/41-interesting-facts-singapore-never-knew/

• Singapore consists only of one main island and 63 other tiny islands. Most of these islands are uninhabited.
• Singapore is among the 20 smallest countries in the world, with a total land area of only 682.7 square kilometres. The USA is about 15,000 times bigger.
• Apart from Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world, with 6,430 people per square kilometre.
• Singapore became the 117th member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965.
• Symbolism of the National Flag: Red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of man while white signifies purity and virtue. The crescent moon represents a young nation on the rise and the five stars signify the ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.
• The national flower of Singapore, Vanda Miss Joaquim, was first discovered in 1893 by Agnes Joaquim, an Armenian. The orchid is a natural hybrid between V. teres and V. hookeriana.
• The Merlion, a half-fish, half-lion beast, is a fitting symbol of Singapore. The “Singa” or lion represents the animal that a Sumatran prince saw which resembled a lion, and the fish is a tribute to Singapore’s history as “Temasek”, the ancient sea town.
• Singlish, a Singaporean patois mixing English with the odd phrase of Chinese, Malay and even Tamil, has two entries – lah and sinseh – in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Although English is the official working language and the most widely used language in Singapore, the national anthem ‘Majulah Singapura’ is actually sung in Malay.
• The flying fox, the world’s largest bat with a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres, can be found on Pulau Ubin, one of the islands off mainland Singapore.
• Singapore is a stopover point for thousands of migratory birds travelling the East Asian Flyway.
• The world’s first night zoo, The Night Safari, is located in Singapore.
• Despite being largely urbanised, Singapore is the largest exporter of ornamental fish (25% of the world market).
• The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore contains more species of trees than the entire North American continent.
• The highest natural point in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, which is only 164 metres high (Singapore has a very flat terrain).
• Buildings in Singapore cannot be higher than 280 metres. There are presently three buildings of that height: OUB Centre, UOB Plaza and Republic Plaza.
• The world’s highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 metres, is located at the Jurong BirdPark.
• The largest fountain in the world is located in Singapore at Suntec City. Made of cast bronze, it cost an estimated US$6 million to build in 1997.
• The buildings of Suntec City have been built in the shape of a palm of a hand symbolising good “feng shui”.
• In 2003, Singapore’s Changi Airport won the award for “Best Airport Worldwide” for the 16th consecutive year from the UK/Europe edition of the Business Traveller magazine.
• The Guinness book record for the longest human domino chain was set in Singapore on 30th September 2000. Formed by 9,234 students, it measured 4.2km.
• The world domino topple record (303,621 men) was set in Singapore on 18th August 2003 by a 24-year-old woman from China.
• The record for the biggest ever game of pass-the-parcel was set in Singapore on 28 February 1998. It involved 3,918 students removing 2,200 wrappers from a 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 m parcel.
• The record for the most number of people participating in line dancing was set in Singapore in May 2002 with 11,967 dancers.
• The Great Singapore Duck Race, an annual event that raises funds for charity, set a new world record in 2002 when more than 123,000 toy ducks took to the Singapore River.
• Russell Lee, a pseudonym for a team of ghost-writers, is the hottest-selling local author in Singapore. His 11 volumes of True Singapore Ghost Stories have sold more than 600,000 copies to date.
• The fastest selling book of all time in Singapore is Hello Chok Tong, Goodbye Kuan Yew: The Untold Story. Written and drawn by political cartoonist George Nonis, it sold 40,000 copies in two months.
• The highest grossing movie of all time in Singapore is Titanic, raking in S$6.65 million in 1997.
• The highest grossing locally made movie of all time is Money No Enough, raking in S$6.02 million in 1998.
• The first Singaporean film to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival was director Eric Khoo’s 12 Storeys in 1997.
• British pop violinist Vanessa Mae Nicholson was born in Singapore and moved to England when she was four.