February 21, 02:09 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 Ah, 2006, when it was commonplace for others to assume Singapore to be a southern province of China. Our skylines lacked casinos and white elephants. Today's young professionals were still discovering YouTube on CRT monitors, probably bulky enough to be used as murder weapons. Nokias and Motorolas vibrated in our pockets.
In short, it was a great time to be alive.
What else has changed since 2006? For starters, people now prefer more pictures in their articles as opposed to walls of text. We'll spare you the agony. Scroll on, my friends.
1. We were introduced to Jade Seah
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The 2006 Miss Singapore Universe didn't give us a lot of things, but it did give us Jade Seah. Seah was only the 1st runner-up, which makes us wonder what happened to the winner, Carol Cheong?
2. mrbrown was killing it with his podcasts and columns
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Some of the Blogfather's best work was in 2006. With his irreverent podcasts and mildly sarcastic blog posts, he might have single-handedly inspired a new generation of Singaporean writers to push the boundaries of what was acceptable in our then-sterile media space. Who can forget the Bak Chor Mee podcast? And classics such as this, and this?
Thank you, mrbrown. So say we all.
3. Our Prime Minister had black hair
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Hey, look, black hair. Two years into the job, and our Prime Minister was still a young dude. Then he did a Barack Obama. Or was it vice versa?
4. Zoe Tay appeared in this distasteful (no pun intended) ad
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Poor Zoe Tay. This ad made use of a double-entendre and made everyone do a double take.
5. This picture of Orchard Road
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Are those red tiles? And where are those glass panels that people walk past without looking help the street become a collection of "urban green rooms"?
6. This poster of Zoukout
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"Papa, what is this Zoukout, and when can I go?"
7. LKY met the Queen
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Queen Elizabeth II sharing a toast with Singapore’s then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew during a state banquet in Singapore on March 17, 2006. The Queen visited Singapore in 1972, 1989 and 2006. This was the last time the both publicly met.
8. We just started season 2 of Singapore idol
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"Move over, Taufik, Olinda and Sylvester! Check out the next biggest names in Singapore showbiz!"
9. We had these non-watershed elections before the famous (or infamous, depending which camp you sit in) one in 2011
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Walkovers, walkovers everywhere! And Chiam See Tong was still going strong in Potong Pasir.
10. We had our last national day at the National Stadium
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The old Kallang Stadium was a legend. It afforded no defense against our tropical storms, nor the scorching Singapore sun. It did not have synthetic grass. But everybody loved it. Completed in 1973, she was obsolete and way past her prime. But she had soul. And did not cost us a bomb to build or maintain. And we did not need to pay to use it for NDP, either.
11. We had our last decent NDP song
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2006 was the last year we had a decent NDP song that everyone could sing along to. What came after this? Can't remember? Exactly.
12. SPH launched STOMP
The United States had to deal with the threat of Al Qaeda. Indonesia had to fight Jemaah Islamiyah. We had to struggle with STOMP, the voyeurism 'citizen journalism' site that terrorised us for years.
We gave up our morals for the sweet promise of becoming $50 richer and left the privacy of our countrymen in the dirt. Fortunately, we've moved on from social shaming to shaming people who practice social shaming. Today, STOMP continues to serve Singaporeans with its annual Valentine Day entries – Singapore's largest database of some-what questionable love stories.
(Also, the logo is as hideous as it was 2006.)
13. We still used the words “Uniquely Singapore” to sell our country
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The current campaign, "Your Singapore" was launched in 2010.
14. Vivocity was a new mall
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Look at that pristine, enamel-white facade. Any dentist would have been proud.
15. Our buses had TV Mobile
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TVMobile – might have been a sneaky way to advertise to commuters under the pretext of entertaining them. I guess we'll never know. What we do know, though, is that we were hardly entertained as reception was even worse than GPRS. The service was scrapped in 2009. You probably didn't even notice.
16. One of the biggest charities here had a scandal
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The NKF saga gave us many things, but you'll probably remember the phrases "gold-plated tap" and "peanuts" the most. TT Durai, the main figure embroiled in the scandal, repaid the full amount (over 4 million) in instalments.
17. Wireless@SG was all the rage
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It was completely free, but that did not stop you from stealing your neighbour's Wifi, you horrible person.
18. Our skyline looked like this
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No marvel of modern architecture. No record-breaking tourist attraction. No DNA-inspired pedestrian bridge. No roaring engines of F1 cars. No hopeful pleas to host the Youth Olympic games. No floating platform.
Just the quiet of Marina Bay over calm waters.
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