The arrival in Singapore Thursday
of two Chinese VIPs—Very Important Pandas named Kai Kai (male) and Jia Jia
(female)—has given rise to a new sought-after commodity in the city-state:
panda swag.
Singapore is welcoming the furry
beasts in a manner befitting Southeast Asia’s financial capital, with the
Monetary Authority of Singapore issuing a silver-proof commemorative coin. The
5 Singapore dollar coin sports a color likeness of the ursine visitors next to
a stand of bamboo and comes “in a unique oval shape, the first of its kind in
Singapore,” according to the MAS.
There is no word yet on whether
the central bank plans a senior debt issue in honor of the panda pair. But
Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which will house the pandas at a new “River
Safari” attraction, has remembered the city-state’s legions of bankers and
entrepreneurs. Besides the traditional array of T-shirts and plush toys that
say “Kiss me” when squeezed, zoo gift shops will offer a business-card carrying
case bearing the pandas’ likenesses.
The bears, on a ten-year loan
from China, were flown Thursday nestled in custom-designed crates in the hold
of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 cargo jet with a team of five keepers and
vets. Well-known Singapore shopping districts like Orchard Road are festooned
with banners welcoming the animals as a symbol of the cozy ties between the two
nations.
Singapore Airlines has rolled out
its own line of limited-edition plushies, with Jia Jia sporting the “signature
SIA batik motif” worn by the airlines’ female flight attendants. The plush
bears will be doled out at local shopping centers this Saturday to those who
donate S$20 or more to a local charity.
Property developer CapitaLand which
funded the lavish S$8.6 million zoo habitat built for the bears along with
other conservation efforts, is also getting in on the trinket action. It
designed his-and-hers stuffed panda toys that when unzipped, pull out into
reusable bags “with Jia Jia or Kai Kai hanging snugly on the edge,” according
to a Capitaland spokesperson. But the bags won’t be widely available; they’ll
be distributed to the lucky kids who participate in conservation programs
developed by Capitaland and Wildlife Reserves.
CapitaLand’s sponsorship of the
pandas “attests to the Group’s long-term commitment in China,” the spokesperson
said. China is the developer’s single largest market and accounted for 41%, or
S$13.6 billion, of its total assets as at June 2012.
No expense seems to have been
spared to provide for the comfort of the bears so far, with Singapore Airlines
noting that cabin temperature was kept between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius,
“consistent with the temperature of the pandas’ natural habitat” in their home
province of Sichuan.
But their stay in Singapore won’t
be all fun and games. Singapore’s leaders, mindful of the island nation’s
declining birthrate, lately have been reminding citizens of their duty to
reproduce—and Kai Kai and Jia Jia are by no means off the hook.
Capitaland says their habitat has
been specially appointed to “promote the breeding of this extremely endangered
animal by replicating the conditions suitable to naturally or artificially assisting
the reproduction of giant pandas in Singapore,” the developer said in a news
release.
An informational video from the
zoo informs that Kai Kai has been doing trainer-guided squats to strengthen his
hind legs, “which will come in handy during mating season.”
Martin Vaughan
Business & Investment Opportunities
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