Singa The Courtesy Lion Still Exists

photo by bookjunkie

I thought they did away with this mascot a long time ago. Singa the courtesy lion was part of Singapore’s Courtesy Campaign in 1979. It’s slogan was ‘Make Courtesy A Way of Life’. It doesn’t seem like we have made much headway since then. When my partner saw the mascot at the Ang Mo Kio Hub Mall near the public bus interchange part of it, he started singing the courtesy song in his lamest voice possible, just to annoy me. I told him that I actually remember the lyrics to the song and I liked the melody. I was such a nerdy kid. I even had a courtesy lion T-shirt when I was about 8, and I liked it so much I wore it till it was worn out. Not because of the logo, but because it was just one of those super comfy T-shirts that got better with age. It just goes to prove how much we were brainwashed in school that we remember the lyrices so many years later. It’s practically imprinted in my brain. We sang it quite a lot during our 25 minute music period and I actually found the song pretty melodic then.

Anyway this is what stays in my memory. I may have missed out some bits and kinda forget what the chorus was:

Courtesy is for free
Courtesy is for you and me.
It makes for gracious living and harmony
Living could be a treat
If people could be so sweet
Make courtesy our way of life

Courtesy is for free
Courtesy is for you and me.
It makes for gracious living and harmony
It is rude to be abusive
Just to prove you are right
Instead we could be nice about it if we tried

Make courtesy our way of life.

Singa the Courtesy Lion somehow made me think of Southpark’s Sexual Harrassment Panda! Now that’s a great mascot. I think with that one, Southpark was spoofing how mascots patronize kids.

About bookjunkie

Blogging about life in Singapore & recently cancer too.
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2 Responses to Singa The Courtesy Lion Still Exists

  1. J says:

    Geez! You still remember the whole song! Now I have that tune ringing in my ears, but only for the first few lines.

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