So good news to brighten our spirits for Chinese New Year -- our nine Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICVs) are coming home in a week's time.
If all goes well, the Terrexes would be released by the Hong Kong customs and be transported directly by the commercial shipper APL from Hong Kong back to Singapore without any intermediate stops.
About two months ago (Nov. 23), the Terrexes were travelling on route from Kaoshiung, Taiwan and bound for Singapore but were held by Hong Kong customs after a routine inspection.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the Hong Kong customs had queries about the paperwork that was submitted by APL.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and right now, we are enamoured with these hulking chunks of metal.
Here, we compiled a Spotify playlist to help you relive the eventful 60 days of waiting for our 9 Terrex vehicles to come home. 9 love songs for 9 home-bound Terrexes. Enjoy!
1. Baby Please Come Home - U2
Remember when it was Christmas and our Terrex vehicles weren't home?
We can imagine the good folks at MINDEF wishing for their vehicles back ala Bono in U2's cover of Baby Please Come Home.
They're singin' 'deck the halls'
But it's not like Christmas at all
I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year
If there was a way, I'd hold back these tears
But it's Christmas day, Baby please come home
2. Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx
Wherever you go, whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes (even 60 days of nail-biting), we'll be right here waiting for all nine of them.
Bonus: 我等着你回来 (Waiting For Your Return) - 白光
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See #2. Except this time, it's in Chinese.
3. A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton
Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles
If I could just see you, tonight
Actually the Terrexes don't really need to walk 1,000 miles.
It will be back in Singapore by sea within a week.
4. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift
Yes, Hong Kong has the glitzy lights, night markets blah blah blah. But can't you see me 'standing by and waiting at your back door? All this time how could you not know Baby - you belong with me'
So come home can?
5. Stationary Stationery - Anberlin
I thought you said that you'd come find me
I thought you said you'd be home by now
I heard you say that you'd come back here
So I wrote to remind you somehow
Oh the horrors of 'improper paperwork'.
6. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
Or more aptly, 'Chasing Terrexes'.
7. Help! - The Beatles
60 days in a lonely warehouse far from home, we would imagine our Terrex vehicles silently screaming for an escape:
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my (wheels) back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me?
8. Ship To Wreck - Florence + The Machine
As Florence so delicately puts it: Was it something we said? Something we did? Did we drink too much? Are we losing touch?
So many questions.
9. Get Here - Oleta Adams
You can reach me by railway, you can reach me by trailway
You can reach me on an airplane, you can reach me with your mind
You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man
I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can
Now that the Terrex vehicles are home-bound, everyone can breathe easy. Yay.
Clueless? Here's the background on our Terrex ICVs:
S’pore’s 9 Terrex vehicles ‘suddenly vanished’: Hong Kong media
Three reasons why our 9 Terrex vehicles won’t be home for Christmas
Terrexes coming back: Ng Eng Hen
Top photo from Spotify
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