Singapore (Vanda Raffles)

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Appearance
Vanda has long, straight and black hair with bangs. (Her hair looks similiar to the Merlion of Singapore.) Usually, her hair is pinned loosely by a red and white hairclip with Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', the national flower of Singapore on it. She usually wears a white, knee-length dress with a cheongsam-like vest on the outside, having an extension behind which resembles a fish tail. She celebrates many festivals due to the vast ethnic races in Singapore and she would wear the traditional costumes of the festivals.

She also wears a white glove on her left hand.

Personality and Interests
She loves making friends and having fun with them. Being outspoken by nature, she likes to contribute ideas during meetings. She wouldn't hestitate to help if her friends are in need.

She can be a tsundere at times in order to hide her true feelings, because she found it too embarrassing to show.

She is also known as "kiasu", a Hokkien word describing someone who is afraid to lose out. She would frequently prepare herself for the worst in any situation.

However, when it comes to issues regarding the law, she'll become very stern and serious, sometimes known as her "dark side". She dislikes it when people call her a "fine" city because of the way she handles some people who commit minor offenses by making them pay fines and the ERP system implemented to ensure smooth traffic flow. She'll spare no mercy to people who commit their crimes and are unrepentant. She strongly believes in justice and therefore, has strict laws to ensure peace.

Despite being raised by England, who is not really good in cooking, she is good at cooking and is always looking for new ingredients to improve her own recipes. Her signature dish is the Chilli Crab and signature drink is Singapore Sling, a cocktail.

She invented "Singlish" when she accidentally spoke in English and replaced some English words with dialects because she couldn't express herself properly. As Singapore uses British English, Arthur was dismayed to learn that Singlish became a trend and more dialects and languages were mixed into it.

She is somewhat fearful of other countries, despite being friends, because of her size.

Name
Her name "Vanda" comes from her national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim. "Xing" is a Chinese word, translating it would mean "Star". It represents the 5 stars on her flag. Onthe other hand "Yue" is also a Chinese word, translating it would mean "Moon". It represents the cresent moon on her flag.

She was once known as "Vanda Kirkland" because she was once a colony(sister) of England, Arthur Kirkland.

Early Age
She was born in a jungle and wandered around alone, until Sang Nila Utama found her and gave her a name, "Singapura" which means Lion City. She really liked her name and has stayed with it ever since.

However, she was constantly bullied as the more powerful countries who wanted to expand their empires.

In the 1500s, she so badly wounded by the Portugese that she almost vanished/died. For almost two centuries, she struggled to live on, enduring the pain of her injuries and Malaya (present-day Malaysia) took care of her after the Portugese left.

In 1819, England found her. England then decided that she should be his adopted younger sister and founded her "Singapore" after several talks with Malaya.

She was made his crown colony in 1867 and he decided to groom her into a bustling trading port. Before the World War II started, he also made sure she was well equipped for the war and she was known as "The Impregnable Fortress."

<p class="MsoNormal">Japan made his way from China to Malaya during the course of the war. Malaya tried defending Singapore but she couldn't outwin Japan. Also, Australia tried to help Singapore fend off the Japanese troops too. Both Singapore and Malaya were frequently injured by Japan's air raids. When Japan defeated Malaya, he was prepared to take Singapore. Singapore, being heavily equipped but smaller in size, she couldn't attack fast enough. During her final strike, she faced the wrong way, giving Japan a chance to strike her and she was finally surrendered by England because he didn't want to see her fighting anymore. She was then under Japan's control and suffered massive tortures and massacres.

<p class="MsoNormal">She was badly wounded by the time the war ended when two atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August 1945 and 9 August 1945 respectively by America.

<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore was then returned to England.

<p class="MsoNormal">Years after the war, Singapore decided to be independent because she wanted to rely on herself. She was then seperated from England after she got married to Malaysia (merger with Malaysia). However, this merger did not last long and Singapore was seperated from Malaysia. Singapore had no choice but to declare herself independent. During the post war period, Singapore frequently had a bad headache because of the many riots like the Hock Lee Bus riots.

America
<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore became friends with America/Alfred F. Jones when she was still under the British. They became good friends shortly after she gained independence. They learn from each other, for example, education and military.

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Canada
<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore became friends with Canada/Matthew Willams and did not view him as a "ghost" but as a human/country. She doesn't ignore and pass him off as a 'ghost' like other countries do. She likes talking to him even though he is soft and other countries couldn't really hear him.

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Russia
<p class="MsoNormal">They met when she was still a little child, and when she was under England. She then became friends with Russia/Ivan Braginski a few years after she gained independence, in 1968. They remained as good friends and learn alot from each other. She did not fear him as much as how the other countries did.

England
<p class="MsoNormal">She was under England's/Arthur Kirkland's influence for more than 100 years. He slowly developed her into trading port during her early years. Even after her independence, they still remained as close friends. She still respects him as a big brother.

<p class="MsoNormal">She once rebelled against him for independence and it reminded him of himself and America. He didn't want to give her independence at first, but after seeing how persistent she was, she was granted independence slowly. He felt that she changed alot after the war as she became more rebellious and violent.

<p class="MsoNormal">In present day, he often lectured her for her "broken English/Singlish" as he found that it was not appropriate for her to mix British English with other dialects and languages.

China
<p class="MsoNormal">Even though the China's/Wang Yao's and Singapore's relationship has ups and downs, they still remain as good friends. China recently let Singapore have two of their pandas for 10 years in recognition of their friendship.

Brunei
<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore is good friends with Brunei and their currencies are on par. They conduct military exercises together annually.

Malaysia
<p class="MsoNormal">She was once raised by Malaysia before handing her over to Britain. After her independence, she was once a part of Malaysia but was seperated soon after. Overall, she has a friendly relationship with Malaysia. However, both of them quarreled quite a few times but has resolved their problems peacefully.

Hong Kong & Taiwan
<p class="MsoNormal">Including Singapore and South Korea, they are known as the "Four ASEAN Tigers". Little information is known about their relationships.

<p class="MsoNormal">

South Korea
<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore considers South Korea her very good friend and usually hangs out together. He introduced her to K-Pop (dance and music) and she loved it, and it is also the current trend in Singapore.

Japan
<p class="MsoNormal">She was once named "Syonan-to", Light of the South by Japan/Honda Kiku during his rule. Even though Japan caused her to suffer during World War II, she decided to forgive his actions as she didn't want to drag the hatred from generations to generations. They became good friends and they had alot of cultural exchanges. She liked Japan's music, anime and manga.

Indonesia
<p class="MsoNormal">Singapore is Indonesia's is her friend and neighbour, despite having conflicts and a few tensions.

Trivia

 * She has a pet, the Merlion. It has the head of a lion and has a body of a fish with a fish tail.
 * She doesn't mind eating Arthur's scones. (Even though she still has her sense of taste.)
 * She once disliked Arthur for 'abandoning' her, leaving her alone with Kiku.
 * She once disliked Kiku to a large extent because he was mean to her when she was at his house.
 * She has many cuts, bruises and scars on her back, considering the many riots and battles she went through.
 * A deep, red scar is found on her back, caused by the Portugese in the 1500s.
 * Her birthday is the very day that she seperated from Malaysia, 9 August.
 * She restrains herself from speaking Singlish during World Meetings but she would speak in Singlish when talking to her very close group of friends.
 * There is an extension behind her cheongsam-like vest because it reminds her of the fishtail of the Merlion.
 * She secretly wishes that she can cook for her (once)brother, England/Arthur, to eat one day.
 * She believes in magic even though she doesn't find it practical.
 * She has a water spirite following her, named Temasek. She watches over Singapore since the day she was born and protected her from disappearing when the Portugese attacked her.
 * Her house is : The Istana.
 * She is very supersitious and even celebrates the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Additional Information

 * Singapore doesn't have her own army in World War II so her military outfit is made-up by MaidenPhoenix.
 * She is made-up and doesn't appear in the anime.