From cynicism to feeling festive about everything SG50

"Everything also SG50".

This sentiment, expressed in Singlish, has become common online as businesses roll out all kinds of products and promotions in the name of Singapore's Golden Jubilee.

This inspired writer Natalie Lim, 26, to embark on her own SG50 personal project: spotting at least one SG50-related item a day for 50 consecutive days.

Her project, documented on her Facebook page, concluded on Tuesday with 235 photographs of SG50 celebrations. It was a project that she started cynically.

Ms Lim said: "It seemed that many firms were simply just jumping on the SG50 bandwagon and putting up the logos even when it was unrelated to the product."

But things changed when her foreign friends living here started contributing to the project, sending her photographs of SG50-related items and the interesting ways that SG50 was being celebrated.

These ranged from the ordinary (a postbox with SG50 stickers), to the quirky (themed pedicures and a colourful Merlion plush toy) as well as the yummy (fishcakes with SG50 cutouts).

Said Ms Lim: "I realised that the occasion is very festive, since not many countries count down to their birthdays."

"More than half of the photographs were actually contributed by expats living here, and I came to realise how cosmopolitan and culturally diverse Singapore is - many people who choose to live here actually really care about the country," she added.

This article was first published on August 8, 2015.
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