SPH (Singapore Press Holdings);
NTUC (National Trade Union Congress); and
NHB (National Heritage Board).
Nowadays, it is increasingly common to find shopping centres, food and beverage outlets, and even cars named by letters of the alphabet, in particular, P's and Q's:
It is a mystery why the letters P's and Q's are preferred over other letters of the alphabet. Also, why must they be repeated most of the time? Could it be because good things always come in pairs? I know that the letter Q stands for (and sounds like) "queue". Perhaps the businesses are hoping for long queues of customers to form outside their doors? QQ also means "springy" in Hokkien and could be interpreted as a description of the texture of mee (e.g. Sarawak's Kolo mee) or rice (e.g. QQ rice).
Despite having an auspicious name, if the business is not making money, it will be closed down eventually. Q Bar which opened only in June 2006 amidst much fanfare, might be closed soon because of "cash flow" problems. (Read the New Paper article here.) How long the "QQ-rice fad" will last is anyone's guess. Surely we all remember what happened to the bubble-tea and coffee-bun crazes not too long ago, don't we?
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