A Not So Trivia(l) Matter

Over the past few weeks, 91.3FM has been running a competition called "faster than the speed of sound". It involves a lucky caller having the opportunity to answer as many questions in 90 seconds as possible without a wrong answer. Each person is allowed one pass. Up for grabs was a Breitling Blackbird Chronograph worth S$10,000. I have been trying desperately to get through and to have a shot at the watch but I haven't had any luck. Sadly, the competition is over and Ivan with 16 correct answers (a very good score) deservedly won.

The frustrating thing was having to sit in the car every morning listening to the people who did get a chance to win the watch foul up in the most stupendous fashion. I have discovered that the average Singaporean has an absolutely shocking lack of general knowledge (and I really am trying not to sound too snobby about this). Case in point: today's contestant. The final chance to dethrone Ivan who was sitting in the studio. One would hope that he would at least have a go at it. This is what happens. Question: What is the official language of Egypt? Answer: Egyptian. I nearly choked to death. To top it all off, the deejays decided to try a few more questions, strictly for fun: Question: In what year did the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor take place? Answer: (long pause for over 15 seconds) 1919? Not even the right World War, and even then, World War I was over by 1919.

This last contestant was probably a rather extreme example of daily proof that many Singaporeans have rather poor general knowledge. As a quiz fanatic and trivia afectionado, it has been rather painful to listen to. I know many others will have a different attitude from mine. They would question what is the use of knowing, say, that Pretoria (not Johannesburg or Cape Town) is the capitol of South Africa. Will it fundamentally improve your life? I really enjoyed teasing the Girlfriend about the fact that she had answered Adelaide when I had asked her what the capitol of Australia was and, panicking, claimed that Quebec was the capitol of Canada (she did get Ottawa after a minute or so which was a relief given that she went to Toronto on exchange for a term).

I guess I just take trivia and general knowledge a bit too seriously. Part of all the angst was due to the fact that I do really miss all the quizzing I was doing in the UK, whether as part of the Oxford University Quiz Squad or just random weekly pub quizzes from friends. I think I have been getting withdrawal symptoms. If anyone knows of fellow quiz fans, trivia whizzes, or pub quizzes in Singapore, I'm the first person you should call.

In case you wondered: the capitol of Australia is Canberra. Here is an old chestnut: what is the capitol of Brazil? And no, it's not Sao Paolo or Rio de Janerio