It was nice not to have to wake up early before dawn to get to the starting line for once.
The 21km flag-off was 7pm, but I was in the second wave which started 16 minutes later.
Because of the pain I have been feeling in my left leg for the past few weeks, I started the half marathon as slowly as I could.
By the time I reached East Coast Park, I was going faster than I should. It was still early in the race and I knew I would pay for it later, but I couldn't help myself.
As anticipated, I pretty much ran out of steam even before reaching East Coast U-turn around the half-way mark.
Then someone gave me a banana.
Usually, the banana is handed out at the end of a race. This was the first time I got a banana in the middle of a race.
Hey, who am I to look a gift banana in the mouth?
Even though it went against my rule of never eating and drinking on the run, I just can't say no to free food.
I hoped the banana would give me an energy boost for the rest of the race, but I think it just slowed me down even more.
It got kinda eerie to be so far behind on a deserted road with only a few other runners late at night.
I regretted not being in the first wave. I really didn't want to be last for this race.
In contrast, later on, runners had to share a narrow path with runners going the opposite direction (because of another U-turn) plus cyclists, e-scooters, skateboarders and what have you to dodge.
As usual, the last 5km were the hardest.
At least, unlike in a morning race where slower runners like me have to deal with increasing heat as the sun rises, a night race is cool throughout. Well, unless you take more than 12 hours to finish a race.
I finally crossed the finish line in just over three hours. My worst half marathon time.
But I was surprised my left leg didn't hurt. That is, apart from the pain I usually get after a long run.
I consider that a win.
I have five more races this year to improve my half marathon time.
Usually after a morning race, the atmosphere at the event area is like the party is just getting started. But in this case, the party was over and the volunteers were packing up to go home.
Granted, it was almost 10:30pm by then. Still, it was a bit of a let-down after all you went through to get to the finish line.
I was half-expecting to get another banana or other food at the end of the race, but alas, no such luck. This wasn't the Newton Challenge.
I overheard another runner asking for a banana after the race too.
I made a New Year's resolution not to join any more 10km races.
I broke that resolution two weeks ago when I signed up for the 10km Star Wars Run.
Because Star Wars.
But all my other races this year are half marathons.
I have already signed up for more 21km races this year than I've run my entire life.
I avoided half marathons in the past and joined mostly 10km races because running 21km was just too hard. Forget about full marathons.
My two Army Half Marathons were miserable experiences. But I enjoyed the Newton Challenge last year and decided to run only half marathons from then on.
I wanted to break out of my comfort zone as I was getting bored with 10km races.
2017 will be my year of halves (except for the Star Wars Run):
Tomorrow night's Marina Run will be my first race of the year.
Just my bad luck, for the past few weeks, I've been struggling with persistant pain in my left knee and upper left leg in addition to my now permanent left heel pain due to plantar fasciitis. So I haven't been training as much as I should.
I will be happy if I could just finish tomorrow night's race in under three hours and not too much agony.
I hope it won't be like this for the rest of the year or my year of halves is going to suck.
I once told a taxi driver I wanted to go Marina Square and was driven to Novena Square instead.
I was nonplussed.
“You said Novena Square, right?” he said.
Did I?
That was when I realised how similar “Marina Square” sounds to “Novena Square”.
For a split-second, I half-considered getting out of the taxi and taking the train from Novena station just to avoid the awkwardness.
I felt foolish. And I was about to make the cabbie feel foolish too.
“No, Marina Square,” I said.
The driver was not having a good day.
“Aiyah, next time can say properly or not?”
So the cabbie very resentfully drove me to Marina Square while I sat in mortified silence.
Yah, I definitely should've taken the MRT instead.
You know who I blame for this? Whoever decided there would be a place in Singapore called Novena Square when there's already a place called Marina Square.
Why are we so bad at naming stuff?
Yes, that taxi anecdote was just my roundabout way (literally) to get to the topic of Syonan Gallery.
The name of the permanent World War II exhibition at the Former Ford Factory museum was criticised, you know, because Japanese Occupation.
It is roughly the same reason my father refused to buy a Japanese car. We had a Volkswagen and then a Ford. I doubt he had ever eaten sushi. He’s dead now. I’m not sure how he would feel about Pokemon Go or Syonan Gallery.
On Wednesday at the exhibition’s opening, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim defended Syonan Gallery, saying the naming did not express approval of the Japanese Occupation.
He said:
“Some among older Singaporeans who lived through that dark period feel that the name legitimises the Occupation. Others among them say that Syonan was a painful fact of history, and we should call it what it was.”
But two days later, the name was gone.
Dr Yaacob said:
“I have reflected deeply on what I heard. We must honour and respect the feelings of those who suffered terribly and lost family members during the Japanese Occupation.
“I have therefore decided to remove the words ‘Syonan Gallery’ from the name of the exhibition, and name it Surviving The Japanese Occupation: War And Its Legacies.”
He also apologised “for the pain the name has caused”.
So sayonara, Syonan Gallery, we hardly knew ya.
Also this month, it was reported that Changi Naval Base will be renamed “RSS Singapura — Changi Naval Base” to help commemorate the Republic of Singapore Navy’s 50th birthday this year.
Apparently, our navy is going through some sort of mid-life crisis.
Can't it just buy a sports car and have an affair like everyone else?
The backstory is that RSS Singapura is the name of one of our navy’s first ships half a century ago.
At least one person has written to The Straits Times to complain about the naval base’s waterlogged new name.
Dr Sunny Goh wrote:
“Most people — visitors and taxi drivers included — will pick either RSS Singapura or Changi Naval Base. No one is going to blurt out the entire mouthful in everyday situations.”
Yah, Singaporeans already have enough trouble deciding whether to say Espla-naid or Espla-nard.
Dr Goh also pointed out that the abbreviation of the new name, RSSSCNB, is “unwieldy”.
I would add that at first glance, it appears vaguely vulgar too.
The name has since been dropped despite it having nothing to do with the Japanese Occupation and the mall is now Compass One.
And yet people are okay with Tampines, the spelling of which is so close to tampons but it’s pronounced Tam-penis.
That’s wrong on so many levels.
Is the problem the names or is it sometimes our overreaction to the names?
Whatever happened to sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never cause me to go on a social media rant?
Just remember, the next time you tell the taxi driver you want to go to Marina Square, enunciate.
- Published in The New Paper, 20 February 2017
Dear Sir,
I read your article with interest as you can imagine, how confusing it can be to direct taxi operators (when I visit Singapore) to the Singapore Institute of Management, which did not work. I then went through a few permutations of "SIM" or S-I-M and in some instances, giving the actual address.
Now, I found that with the more experienced (not older) drivers, telling them about "chee-pow-kai" or the Union Farm Chicken Eating House also works in getting me to SIM.
I can identify with Dr. Sunny Goh's comments which were refuted by accusations that Dr. Goh was "ignorant" of Singapore Navy history. To be honest, visitors wouldn't care. Nonetheless, I suppose in terms of international visitors, only locals would call upon RSS Singapura Changi Naval Base.
Dr. Sunny Goh's comments were pragmatic, and should not be taken as being disrespectful nor ignorant or history.
Singaporeans seem to have a fun, perhaps cynical streak, and it is bemusing to see that taxi drivers now accept the "Durian" as accurate instructions for the Esplanade.
To the chagrin of the naval traditionalists, perhaps one day taxi drivers will be confused over the old "Rasa Singapura" food centre which will be a manifestation of a Singaporean style tension between food history and naval tradition.
