Merlion Lai
By Delwyn, Darius and Lin Teck
(to the tune of American Pie)
Long, long time ago,
I can still remember,
How the island used to make me smile.
For yes, I too was a young pup once
When glad, I'd do my river dance,
And, sometimes, I'd chase guppies for a while
Yet to tell the truth, I was a little
Bored with so much time to whittle
Then I saw the coming
Of Malay ships sight-seeing!
But the winds were stirring up the tide
To the heavens the crew all cried
"Utama, get us off this ride
Or we gonna die..."
"Hey, hi hi huan yin ni men lai
I'm so sorry it's stormy
But inland is dry!"
Maybe though, the prince was slightly shy
When I waved at him to say goodbye
He cried and threw his crown in my eye.
The storm abated, just in time
They saw Mz. Lion, a friend of mine
(I'm prettier than her though.)
I saw them land on virgin shores
And name my island Singapore
I don't know why they rhymed it - with
Johor
Well, soon their village was happenin'
At noon their doors said "Gone Fishing"
They worked just five days too
Till Raffles came out of the blue.
Oh the fishermen they were suprised
They greeted him with their arms out wide
But Raffles folded his inside
Then they were colonised.
They started singin'
Hi hi, huan yin ni men lai
It's so stormy then it's sunny
It's so hot you can fry
Them fair brit boys, will come out
sunburnt and spry
They'll want to turn the fans up high
Let out an effeminate sigh (hai...)
Now the migrants all came to this place
To my balmy island's warm embrace
For they had hungry babes to feed.
And the river soon turned dark with grime,
All the guppies would have died in time
But the wealth, that came, was much indeed.
Oh, but these good times, they didn't roll
A worldwide war would take its toll
The bombs began to fall
Even on City Hall
And while Percy signed his name to rue
That fateful day of '42
We all sang dirges for the true
Who died for me and you
We started singing
Hi, I xi wang ni men zou kai
They print money that is funny
There is nothing to buy
A few turned rich, by agreeing to spy
But I think that's neither you nor I
We don't play for the Kempeitai
The war was won with a Boy so Little
The soldiers left us on our own.
We thought the strife was over then.
But the communists were hatching plans
To incite us, into fighting, for our clans.
Very soon we had the ISA
The trouble-makers were put away
We all got up to cheer
Then the Brits left with all the beer
Oh I wondered who would take their place
Be independence's human face
The PAP soon led the race
The day the merger died.
We started singin'!
Hihi, huan yin ni men lai
Bring your money to our country
We'll together fa cai
If you stir trouble, kiss your freedom goodbye
On Sentosa's beaches you will lie
Or to Down Under, you will fly.
The river is now clean and blue
I swim to see my own statues
In a city of work and play
I dived past ports of Singapore
There's less and less of ocean floor
They've reclaimed, much more than,
Marina Bay
And on the streets we walk real fast
We dodge the cars that just zoom past
Finish work exhausted
Our TFR's been lowered!
On weekends when we party most
Of St. James, we get a healthy does
On Monday we all look like ghosts
'Tis life in Singapore.
We're campaignin'!
So lai lai bring your FDI
Our offices have air-con
Our taxes aren't high
While lunch will be Hainan chicken thigh
During dinner you can sip on some Mai Tai
All our staff are paid to say hi!
We're repeating'!
So lai lai trust in MTI
Seeing is believing
We're cooler than Dubai
We build our buildings so they rival
Shanghai
So come see our zoo in Mandai
And the factories in Teck Whye
[One more time!]
So lai lai trust in MTI
Please come work in our fine city
Souvenirs you can buy
Our GDP is simply mighty and high
Our GDP is mighty and high
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