I have fully admitted that I'm Singaporean in more than one occasion, post or comment.

Now, I can't be any more proud of my nationality than now.

Why?

Those who have watched the 'Pirates of the Caribbean 3' trailer would know.

It's absolutely awesome of the storywriters behind the movie to pull Singapore into the big story! Finally! After its quizzical and interesting mention in the first movie, people have wondered if Singapore was a pirate state.

And here, they fully show it, even if it's Chow Yun-Fatt - of China origin - starring as the head pirate.

But that's correct. Partly correct.

Because, my fellow landlubbers, Singapore was, and still is, a pirate land.

Now, the modern pirates are either those who sell those bugged discs, videos and blah or shippers of illegal wildlife and they still use Singapore as a shipping base to hide their cover. (Darn them. Darn them, but the two new imports of pirated-CD-sniffy dogs will snuff the problem out, I hope.)

But, rewind the track of time and you'll see Singapore as a British port but infested, literally infested, with not only British ships but Malayan ships, Chinese ships, Indian ships. They belong to merchants, missionaries, traders, the rich travellers (Remember the reference of Singapore in 'King Kong'?) and, of course, pirates.

I would suppose that the pirates of then were Chinese (as we saw in the trailer), but I hope that in the movie, they'd also tie up with the Malayan pirates too. They are very impressive with their cutlasses and swords and are fearsome in their tan skin instead of white.

You should see a cutlass of theirs, developed by the pirates and now infamous: the keris is a special blade that has, instead of a straight metal blade, has a wavy flat blade, with a groove running through the middle from hilt to tip.

The special thing about this knife: Whoever who gets stabbed by this knife won't get it out so easily (it's locked inside the body thanks to the blade shape). He would die a bloody death, just the way these pirates like it, especially if it were a mutiny.

And, ah yes, Elizabeth's new shirt! It was labelled as the 'Singapore Disguise', and I would agree only to a certain extent. No doubt, it's the shirt and pants that the common women wore and the straw hat that those in the padi fields would use, but the shirt was too ornate (the design is used more on luxurious textiles than the commoner cotton) and the colour was black. A red, green, pastel yellow, any other faded or soft colour is common but black stands out quite easily. You guys should know that black (and white) are not lucky colours for the Chinese.

If my grandma saw Ms Swann in that suit, she'd add a red pendant or something on her, or mutter something about ill luck.

And, lastly, y'know what I'd like to see in the movie?

"Welcome to Singapore," the leader of the Chinese pirates bowed.

"Thank you," Captain Jack Sparrow nodded as he entered, Captain Barbarossa following quickly behind and Elizabeth and Will covering the rear.

"Take a seat, take a seat," the Asian pirate continued in his accented English, a hand gestured at the mats on the floor, "We prepared your dinner for you."

The guests sat on the floor, each crossing their legs on the rattan mats. Before them was a cutlery set - or at least they thought it was a cutlery set. There was a plate, but a small cup without a handle was to the plate and a pair of white sticks next to the plate.

Will Turner didn't mind that. He minded something else.

"I'm havin' a bit of a thirst. Y'got a drink?"

"Let me help you, young man," the leader replied, as he handled a small brown pot from the middle of the low table and poured the contents of it - a brown, rich liquid - into Will's cup.

His eyes grew.

"That isn't rum."

"That is Chinese tea, young man. Do try it."

His eyebrows shot up as he picked up the cup with two fingers.

He gave the cup a sniff.

"Smells funny."

He peered down into the cup. It was easy to guess that the other guests looked as apprehensive as he did - all, save Jack and Barbarossa. Both of them looked on with amusement.

"Looks funny."

And finally, he gave it a sip.

He tasted it, making noises with his tongue as he assessed the after-taste of the warm liquid.

"But it tastes better than English tea!"

The Chinese man laughed heartily, loud and whole guffaws leaving his wide mouth as he leaned back, his face in a grin.

"Thank you, young man. I hope you all would enjoy the meal. We ordered some delicacies: Pig trotters, frog leg porridge, vegetables with oyster sauce, steamed freshwater fish with soya sauce, pork rib soup for the men and herbal chicken soup for the lady..."

He did not notice the change of expression on his guests' faces as he went on.

Oh dear, do I have any space to mention about the question?

No matter, in the next post I shall put that question to rest.

Why did Jack Sparrow say to the two guards, "Then you haven't been to Singapore," when he tore apart Elizabeth's corset (from behind!) and saved her?

I know the answer.