Across the Causeway Trivia Quiz

Answer: TIGERS

The centre-piece of the Malaysian Coat of Arms is a shield which is supported by two rampant tigers. This pair symbolize both strength and courage, which goes hand in hand with the motto emblazoned below the shield... "Unity is Strength". The tigers are also the national animals of the country.

Answer: RITES

In various denominations of Christianity, rites will mean a liturgical tradition or a sacred ritual. This may also include sacraments, such as baptism, communion or the last rites for those in their final moments of life.

Answer: STIR

Stir is an interesting word and it has so many connotations. To stir, for example sugar in a cup of tea, is an action generally undertaken with a spoon and is completed with a circular motion. However, to stir can also mean to rouse oneself from a slumber or a previous position of no movement. The wind can stir the leaves when it blows by.

It may also apply to agitation, as in stirring up trouble or creating a commotion. And, if that stir ends up causing too much agitation, the stirrers may find themselves in stir, which is an informal term for prison.

Answer: SIT

Take a chair or maybe, even a seat
Then put yourself in a position
The weight's on your bum, not your feet.

I think you get the picture. Alternatively, a mother hen will "sit" on her eggs while she waits for them to hatch. Sit may also mean the way clothes might hang on a person.

Answer: IT

"It" is a creature created by horror author Stephen King and is the main antagonist of the 1986 novel that bears its name. It is also known by the name Pennywise (the clown). He/she is known as a Glamour, who are shape-shifting fear-eaters in the King universe. It has been described as a being from a dimension in space known as the Macroverse and, while it has been on Earth for many years, is considered to be more than a billion years old.

The creature also appears as a main antagonist in the novels "Dreamcatcher" (2001), "Hearts in Atlantis" (1999), "Insomnia" (1994), and "Elevation" (2018). In addition, you will find it in King's 1973 short story "Gray Matter", the 2017 film "The Dark Tower" and the 2013 novel "NOS4R2" (pronounced Nosferatu) by Stephen King's son, Joe Hill.

Answer: I

"I (Who Have Nothing)" began life as the Italian song "Uno dei Tanti". This was written by Carlo Donida and Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti and was initially recorded in 1961. Two years later, Ben E. King would record the first English version of the track, with amended lyrics created by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Whilst King's version did well for him, making the Top 30 of the US Billboard Hot 100, a version by Welsh singer Tom Jones, some seven years later, would do even better, settling just outside the Top Ten on the same charts.

Answer: OI

Oi! originated in the late 1970s as a result of supporters of punk rock becoming disenchanted with the direction of the movement. They saw it becoming the domain of "long-haired" university students and becoming a commercial beast rather than the voice of the working class. Sadly, over time, the genre (Oi!) became associated with skinheads and violence though its initial purpose was to cover those artists that could not be slotted into categories such as punk rockers or skinheads.

Answer: OIL

Burning the midnight oil is phrase that implies staying up late to work on a project, study or, simply, read. The idiom originates from the 17th century when oil lamps were used to provide lighting.

One of Australia's premier rock bands was known as Midnight Oil. Fronted by Peter Garrett, they formed in 1972 and produced a brand of post-punk, alternative music for 30 years, before going into a hiatus in 2002. Ironically, their biggest hit and best known song involved burning; "Beds are Burning" (1987), which highlighted the plight of the indigenous population and how they were (often) forcibly removed from their lands.

Answer: SILO

No, it is not the name of a 1970 Neil Diamond single ("Shilo"), it is a facility for storing bulk materials such as grain, coal, sawdust or cement. There are three types of silos: the Tower, which can be between ten to ninety feet in diameter and rise anywhere from 30 to 270 feet in height.

The Bunker, which are trenches with concrete walls that are then covered with tarpaulins and the Bag silo, which is, basically, a big plastic tube.

Answer: LIONS

Singapore in Malay is Singapura, which is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning "lion city". That's the scholarly version, the romanticized version, which comes from the "Malay Annals", is a far better one. The "Malay Annals" were recorded somewhere between the 15th and 16th centuries and provide a colourful history, origin and demise of the great Malay maritime empire. Within is the tale of Sang Nila Utama, who was hunting in Temasek, and spotted a strange beast with a "red body, black head, and white breast and was slightly bigger than a goat". He was informed that it had to be a lion, which led him to name the city accordingly.

As lions are not native to this area scholars have poured scorn on the concept but, hey, it makes for a far better story than "it was derived from a Sanskrit word". (Footnote) Singapore is also nicknamed the Garden City, thanks to it beautiful parklands and tree lined streets.