S'poreans eat 'battleship' to remember Mr Lee Kuan Yew

S'poreans eat 'battleship' to remember Mr Lee Kuan Yew

You've heard of the phrase "eat snake" (which means skiving in Hokkien).

Now, prepare yourself to "eat battleship".

The phrase was coined after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong uploaded an old telegram (below) from his father in 1958 on his Facebook page this week.

The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew wanted to tell his family that he wanted steam boat for dinner but since telegrams charged by the word, PM Lee said his father chose the cryptic "battleship" instead to save on words and money.

Unfortunately, his wife didn't understand what he meant.

Now that the puzzle's explained, Singaporeans have taken to using it in his honour.

Some people even claimed that they've started craving steamboat after they read about the telegram - eating it is a way for them to remember Singapore's founding prime minister.

Photo: Facebook/PM Lee Hsien Loong

A check with popular steamboat restaurants like COCA showed they are seeing an increase in customers over the last few days.

But the outlets declined to reveal exact numbers.

On Instagram, Singaporeans both at home and abroad are doing their part to make sure Mr Lee's legacy is felt.

How? By posting the hashtag, accompanied with many images of delicious-looking steam boat fare.

Gazing into our crystal ball, we foresee that steamboat will not just be standard Chinese New Year fare from now on. You'll probably be eating plenty of #battleship in the days ahead.

Here are some of the tributes on social media:

1.

 

XLB!! #steamboat #battleship

A photo posted by @joise on

2.

3.

4.

 

BATTLESHIP #RememberingLKY

A photo posted by joyz (@joyzxu) on

5.

6.

 

Having a craving for #battleship all becos of LKY's old telegram

A photo posted by Kunhua (@kunhua_c) on

This article was first published on April 8, 2015.
Get The New Paper for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.