Char Siew of Singapore

In a kitchen lay a piece of meat

Priced as cheap as dirt

The rich won’t eat it

The poor see no value in it

Forever thinking highly of foods

Of the mountains and the seas.

IN the Pacific Ocean stands an island

Unknown to the outside world

Pioneers ignore it

Locals see no future in it

Who will? IT wasn’t Europe.

It wasn’t America

A man came

And in the meat saw a potential

He took it up

Added some seasonings

And left it in the stove

Cooking on its own

From a ship appeared Stamford Raffles

He knew we could be a port

Add some developing

A little industrializing

Our economy

Started to bloom

Left in the fire

With no one to tend

The meat laid alone

Struggling through the heat

While the man played a game of chess

World War 2

The Japanese came

Pain, suffering

Who was to blame?

We struggled alone

Forgotten once again

The agony was finally over

The man had remembered his meat

Rushing over he found

An delicacy of bright red

Soothing to the mouth

Great to eat

Singapore pulled through

Surprisingly alright

Becoming red as of brotherhood

White of pure and virtue

We became what we are

A great country

From an unexpected beginning

Just as of Char Siew.

Charmain Teo

3E