Relax - S'pore's giant pandas named Kai Kai and Jia Jia

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[Photo: (left) The male giant panda, Kai Kai, and his female companion Jia Jia (right).]

THE pair of giant pandas which Singapore will receive from China early next year has been christened Kai Kai and Jia Jia, following a six-month long contest calling for names to give the bears.

Among the 1,000 entries gathered from the public, Kai Kai and Jia Jia was the overwhelming favourite of the judges, as it embodied the close relationship between Singapore and China, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) said on Wednesday.

The pandas will make their debut in early 2012 at Singapore’s $180-million River Safari attraction in Mandai. Their 10-year loan from China is a joint collaboration between the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) and WRS to raise awareness of the endangered animals, of which there are reportedly only 1,600 left in the wild.

Kai Kai, the name for the three-year-old male giant panda, was chosen as it means “victorious” in Chinese (as in 凯旋, 凯歌) and is testament to the 20 triumphant years of Sino-Singapore relations, WRS said.

The name given to the two-year-old female, Jia Jia, means beautiful and fine, and is another reference to the harmonious ties between the two nations.

On another level, the Chinese character “Jia” (嘉) was used in the old Chinese reference for Singapore (星嘉坡). The phonetic pronunciation of “Jia” is equivalent to the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese character “加", which is not only an integral part of Singapore’s current Chinese name (新加坡), but also means “to add” – representing the wish to expand the giant panda family in Singapore through a successful breeding programme.

Singapore is the seventh country in the world to receive pandas from China. China has used panda diplomacy worldwide since the days of the Cold War, most famously when it helped cement a rapprochement with the United States in the early 1970s by sending a pair of the animals.

In late 2008, it sent a pair of pandas to Taiwan amid a thaw in relations between mainland China and the self-ruled island, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

The winning names for Singapore’s pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, were submitted by a 38-year-old local, Ms Angeline Fong.

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S'pore's giant pandas named Kai Kai and Jia Jia

AsiaOne, AFP | Wed, Mar 16 2011

The male and female pair, on loan from China, will debut at Singapore's River Safari in early 2012.

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[Photo: (left) The male giant panda, Kai Kai, and his female companion Jia Jia (right).]

THE pair of giant pandas which Singapore will receive from China early next year has been christened Kai Kai and Jia Jia, following a six-month long contest calling for names to give the bears.

The name given to the two-year-old female, Jia Jia, means beautiful and fine, and is another reference to the harmonious ties between the two nations.

In late 2008, it sent a pair of pandas to Taiwan amid a thaw in relations between mainland China and the self-ruled island, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

The winning names for Singapore’s pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, were submitted by a 38-year-old local, Ms Angeline Fong.

Read also:
	Wanted: Bamboo and tender loving care
	China's panda diplomacy

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Readers' Comments

Why the agony in choosing a name? Just name them smickno and smeagol!

by smickno, posted on 18 03 2011, 12:59

Or the best name is Sleep King and Sleep Queen.

by potkettle, posted on 18 03 2011, 11:21

Maybe just call them Sleep One and Sleep Two. I paid a visit to the Panda House in Beijing Zoo. All pandas were sleeping in a vivid daytime, I could not even see their faces. My ticket was just a waste.

by potkettle, posted on 18 03 2011, 11:20

in Hokkien, "sian long" & "kan sian"

by perceivedtobe, posted on 02 11 2010, 18:30

Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum?

Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu?

Guo Jig and Wang Rong?

Wang Sa and Ya Fong?

Batman and Robin.

by ShekSunn, posted on 02 11 2010, 18:23

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