Is Merlion the best national icon for Singapore?

To me , the Merlion is indead the national icon of Singapore . 

A national icon is something of entity that represents the country . It can show the rich and mysterious history of the country , the goal that it is trying to achieve , and the life of the people in that country. 

The Merlion is a majestic creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish . The name combines "mer" meaning the sea , which represents Singapore's origin as a small fishing village which was called Temasek , while "lion" represents Singapore as the busy and prosperous city now .

The choice of the Merlion as a national icon for Singapore has its roots in history . The Merlion commemorates the legend taken from the "Malay Annals" explaining how Singapore received its present name . It describes how a prince from Palembang , Sang Nila Utama , reportedly encountered the majestic lion , which leads to him deciding to settle  here when he first stepped on the shore of Temasek , and to rename the island Singapura , which means " lion city ". This is the reason for its lion head , which now also reminds us that Singapore is a vary powerful country and well-respected in the world , just like how the lion is the king of the jungle.

Having the fish as the body of merlion also highlighted the fact that not only is Singapore a small fishing village from the past , but also a port city which was known for its maritime trade , which was a big factor in making singapore one of the richest country now .

Even though the story of Sang Nila Utama was just a fiction tale , it was still very impactful and a lot of people believe that the merlion will foretell the future of Singapore . This is showed when the Merlion in the Merlion Park was strucked by lightning in 28 February 2009 . Some people were worried that it was the Omen of bad times ahead for Singapore, that singapore was going to face a more difficult time . This means that people in Singapore really put trust in the Merlion , and not only treat it as any other statue . Hence I think Merlion is truely the national icon for Singaporeans .

Another significance of the Merlin is that we love it so much that as of February 2013, all new $1 coins feature the mythical creature !

I think another reason for the Merlion to be the best national icon for Singapore is because it teaches foreigners more about Singapore and its origin . The US-based and internationally respected Internet outfit, Trip Advisor website , has made many comments on the Merlion over the years . 421 reviewers commented on the Singapore merlion, 93 rated it excellent, 205 very good, 89 average, 25 poor and the remaining 9 terrible. Based on this, we can conclude that the Singapore merlion has been accorded a favourable world-wide endorsement by a diverse group of generally well travelled and worldly visitors . It has become our marketing icon because of all its specialties and has become a national personification of Singapore, where both the foreigners and us can better understand and learn more about Singapore and how we got to where we are today. 

Everyone will have different views on the Merlion .Tourists may find the Merlion just as an icon of Singapore as they see it when they come over to our country , but for us Singaporeans, we are proad of the Merlion . This is because the Merlion will always reminds us the hardwork our pioneers had put in to develope Singapore from the small fishing village to the successful country we have now . The Merlion encourages us to strive on to make Singapore a better place for us to live in . 

Thus I think that the Merlion is the national icon for Singapore as it make Singaporeans proud of our country and understand the country better