Thursday 23 August 2018

What Is Your Colour? 你是什么颜色?

Have you wondered why your passport is this colour?

可有想过为什么你的护照是这个颜色?


The colour of passports worldwide can be divided into Red, Green, Blue, Black four colours.


全世界护照的颜色可分为绿四种。



Red Colour Passport / 红色护照

Mainly used in EU countries.

主要是欧盟国家在使用。

Or countries which want to join the EU, such as Turkey.

又或者是想加入欧盟国家的,比如土耳其。

Asian countries or regions that have previously been colonised by European countries, such as Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

以前曾被欧洲国家殖民过的亚洲国家或地区,比如香港、日本、马来西亚、新加坡。

Green Colour Passport / 绿色护照

Mainly used in Muslim countries.

主要是穆斯林国家使用。

Green is a very important colour in Muslim teachings.

绿色是穆斯林教义中很重要的颜色。

The Economic Community of West African States also uses green passports.

西非国家经济共同体也使用绿色护照。

Countries or regions with vague sovereignty, such as Taiwan, South Korea and North Korea.

主权模糊的国家或地区,比如台湾、韩国、朝鲜。

Blue Colour Passport / 蓝色护照

USA changed to blue passport in 1976.

美国于1976年改为蓝色护照。


Blue symbolises a free new world.

蓝色象征自由新世界。

Therefore, most of the later civilised countries like the South America, 15 Caribbean countries and Australia use blue passport. 

因此像是南美洲、15个加勒比国家、澳大利亚这些后来新文明国家多数使用蓝色护照。


Countries include Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, connection with Mercosur - a trade union, use blue passport too.

关税同盟的国家如巴西、阿根廷、巴拉圭也采用蓝色护照。

Black Colour Passport / 黑色护照

In contrast, black passports are used in fewer countries, but are recognised as the most suitable colour for passports.

相比之下,黑色护照较少国家使用,但却是被公认为最适合用来做护照的颜色。


The reason is that it is not easily dirty and looks more formal and solemn.

原因是它不容易肮脏,且看起来更正式和庄重。

The use of black passports is mainly concentrated in South Africa, such as Botswana and Zambia.

使用黑色护照的主要集中在非洲南部,比如博兹瓦纳、赞比亚。

New Zealand also uses black passport because black is its national colour.

新西兰也使用黑色护照,因为黑色是它的国色。

Now you know the meaning of your passport colour!

现在懂得你护照颜色的意义了吧!

Thursday 9 August 2018

Singapore 新加坡

Singapore

新加坡

Republic of Singapore is a sovereign city-state and island country in Southeast Asia.

新加坡共和国是东南亚的主权城邦和岛国。

Singapore lies one degree (137 kilometres) north of the equator.

新加坡位于赤道以北一度(137公里)处。

Singapore total area is 721.5 square kilometres.

新加坡总面积为721.5平方公里。

Singapore population is estimated to be 5.6 million, of which 3.9 million are citizens.

新加坡人口估计为560万,其中390万是公民。

The proportion of the population: Chinese (74.3%), Malay (13.3%), Indian (9.1%) others (3.3%).

人口比例为:华族(74.3%),马来族(13.3%),印度族(9.1%)其他族(3.3%)。

Although the Chinese population accounts for the largest proportion, Singapore is a Malay nation.

虽然华人的人口比例占最多,但新加坡是个马来国。

Singapore official languages: English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil.

新加坡官方语:英语、华语、马来语、淡米尔语。


Sir Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore in 1819.

史丹福莱佛士爵士于1819年在新加坡成立殖民地。

During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan.

在第二次世界大战期间,新加坡被日本占领。

Singapore gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 by federating with other former British colonies to form Malaysia.

新加坡于1963年通过与其他前英国殖民地联合组建马来西亚而从英国获得独立。

Two years later, Singapore was forced to leave because of differences in ideas with the federal government.

两年后,新加坡因理念与联邦政府分歧而被迫脱离。

Singapore became a sovereign nation in 1965.

新加坡于1965年成为一个主权国家。

Singapore is 53 years old today.

新加坡今天53岁了。

Happy Birthday Singapore!

新加坡生日快乐!