Is the SG50 brand overused?

With Singapore's 50th birthday coming closer, many brands and companies have jumped on the bandwagon to commemorate the milestone event with the SG50 icon slapped left, right and centre on merchandises, campaigns and whatnots - never mind that they are as related to each other as cheese and chalk.

Not wanting to be left out of the shameless open source race, we also conjured up a list of things which have not been SG50-ed - yet - for your viewing (or scoffing). Read and weep!

1. Perfume

Feeling patriotic? How about smelling patriotic? If someone can come up with juxtaposing some durian-satay-chicken-rice-laksa-pandan-cake scents all into one, we can literally wear our hearts on our sleeves.

(At press time, we understand that a few companies have launched several limited edition scents to commemorate our nation's jubilee.)

2. Planes

If we can have a Hello Kitty plane and bus, then surely we can have an SG50 plane* or ship, too. This is so that we can all start singing to "This is Home, Truly…" whenever we touch down at Changi Airport. Perhaps Singaporeans need only their EZLink card to board.

(*At press time, we read that both Scoot and SIA have converted one of their planes to an SG50 one in the run-up to Singapore's National Day.)

Speaking of Hello Kitty, we found an SG50 Hello Kitty bundled set featuring plushies wearing a – get ready for this: it’s not your current McDonald’s Hello Kitty local collection - colonial postman uniform, cheongsam, baju kurung, and sari on Trezo , a free app that lets one buy and sell new or used stuff. Fastest fingers first!

3. Jingle

If Chen Tianwen can rise like a phoenix from the ashes with his "un-un- unbelievable" ditty, surely someone can also take the chance to revive his career with an "I love my country-try-try; happy sgfifty-ty-ty" song!

4. Lottery

If we can have CNY and Angpow draws, why can't we also have an SG50 lottery pack? To sweeten the deal, the authorities can consider matching a percentage of their proceeds to donate it for a charitable cause. If not, well, this offering will still serve to give our economy yet another boost.

5. Beer

The Singapore Sling is so passe. Move over. Now, it's time for an SG50 beer that tastes of strawberry (red) and coconut (white) to shine.

6. Durians

'Tis the season for durians! Who needs D24 or Mao Shan Wang when you can sink your teeth into an SG50 durian instead? With a name like that, we are sure the fruit will taste like a million bucks. Hawkers can sell it at $50 per durian or dye the husk red/white for good measure.

7. Run

With so many runs organised every other month on this little red dot for myriad causes, why didn't someone think of introducing an SG50 run? Runners can be made to run pass iconic landmarks round the island in red or white attire and end the event with a cheer, pledge or Guinness Book of Records with the most number of sweaty armpits to congregate at a place. (Ok, maybe not the last bit.)

8. Red Packet

Call us sour grapes for all we care. We reckon that if banks are giving away SG50 gifts and civil servants are getting SGD$500 to celebrate SG50, then can we beg powers that be to also grant privately or self-employed folks a pittance of SGD$50 too? It's not a huge sum to ask for, really.

Have more suggestions? Feel free to email hello@trezo.sg and check out Trezo's blog for more.