Funny Things That Came out from the Trump-Kim Summit

The historical summit between US president Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has certainly shoved Singapore into the spotlight. The event is momentous on numerous fronts: for one, no sitting American president has ever had a chance to meet with a North Korea leader. Even more incredulous was that the meeting came at the back of the two world leaders trading insults throughout last year, and the summit almost cancelled.

But more importantly, this historic summit highlighted the fact that many people known very, very little about our tiny country. Here are some of the funniest things that have surfaced.

An “unknown man” in a selfie with Kim

The Guardian reportedly ran a photo caption (it has since been removed): “Singapore’s foreign minister tweeted a selfie with Kim and an unknown man during the tour.” That unknown man in question? Our Education Minister Ong Ye Kung. Okay, but to be fair, we’re assuming that most Singaporeans would not have been able to correctly identify him either.

Where is Singapore?

According to an article by Mothership, the recent news has resulted in an increase in more Americans Googling ‘Where is Singapore?’. The results from Google Trends showed a surge in the search term between May 6 to 12. The short answer? Singapore is not in China.

And definitely not part of Malaysia.

Sentosa = Singapore

It’s common knowledge that we’re a small country. But according to this tweet by @mrbrown, BBC mistook the whole of Sentosa for Singapore instead. Shangri-La Hotel, St. Regis, and Capella were shown to be located on the offshore island.

Sentosa’s dark past

This one’s actually true. Did you know that Sentosa used to be known as Pulau Belakang Mati, or the island of death from behind due to pirates that occupied the area. It’s hard to think that the island filled with numerous family-friendly activities used to have such a bloody past.

Who is “lee has-ee-en lang”?

Because our Chinese names are so different to pronounce, the Washington Post had to add an even more complicated clarification on how to pronounce our Prime Minister’s name.

Memes, memes, and more memes

Behold the most ambitious crossover for world peace.

Singaporeans will be Singaporeans.

Must be careful later kena summon.

Party of the year!!!

Header image: © Bwag/Wikimedia