Wonderful Singlish or is that just an error?

Apparently the Ministry of Communication wants anyone to report incorrect use of English. It’s brilliant; like the Stasi in post war Germany but with more focus on grammar, everyone is free to inform on everyone else!

At times the use of the English language in print is wonderful, simply magical in its descriptive power. Last week I read in the paper the story of an unfortunate young lady who was the victim of a drugged drink and she woke the morning after to find an older man “outraging her modesty”. “Outraging her modesty”? Where does one conjure up that turn of phrase? It’s glorious in it’s ability to not inform the reader of the facts but to still leave a tone of unpleasantness. Very Singaporean indeed.
However, in the same article is the detail of the man “licking her private parts” and also including the alleged victim’s address. Somewhere along the line the journalist lost their way and flicked from opaque to transparent in the sip of a late-night deadline coffee.

I saw an excellent sign at a taxi rank, see what you think of this one for punctuation. I think it’s alright. ” No Smoking While In Q’ ”How many apostrophes should there be after Q when you refer to the queue?

I’ll see what I can do to get a good collection for you, although I can assure you that this won’t become a crusade for me.
Shovel.

THE P.A.P. - Politics And Policies

A little general knowledge, just to keep the blog on the sensible and discussional.


The first elections in Singapore were held on 30 May 1959 with the People's Action Party (PAP) winning a landslide victory. Singapore eventually became a self-governing state within the British Empire on 3 June 1959 and Lee Kuan Yew was sworn in as the first prime minister of Singapore. Singapore declared independence from Britain unilaterally in August 1963, then exited the short-lived interim Federation of Malaysia in 1964. Singapore officially gained sovereignty on 9 August 1965, with Yusof bin Ishak sworn in as President, and Lee Kuan Yew the first prime minister of the Republic of Singapore. The two-tier governing system has remained in place ever since with the PAP setting the course and the President taking on mostly ceremonial duties. In Singapore, the PAP may officially be the “People’s Action Party” but it is more commonly refered to, somewhat bitterly I would say, as the “Pay And Pay” party, on account of the endless cashflow from one’s bank account to any service that one might need. Given that I am enjoying the lower tax rates and also paying the deposits, upfronts and seemingly endless bills, I can see what they mean.
It’s a type of government policy that says to the nation, ‘we will create the infrastructure for you to live in, yes. But, your part, as model, sensible and responsible citizens (which we know you are) is to take care of yourself. We give you lower taxes, but that extra cash in your pocket is to use to look after yourself and your children into your old age’. It’s a noble aim, to trust your people and to delegate the responsibility to them. Whether it is the correct policy, the world shall see in time.


Discussing this with a friend last night, we agree that this may have worked when the penalty for not complying with the Government line was a severe caning or imprisonment and that overriding family values were those of austerity and prudence from many generations of chinese. But now that the brutal stick has been largely removed from the equation, globalisation has shown the nation objects of material desire and things feel like they are relaxing a little, what incentive really is there to ‘do the right thing’? Who is taking on the jobs that no one can do or wants to do? Maybe not by numbers, but by earning position at both ends of the scale are foreigners: senior management expatriats and unskilled labour from the surrounding ASEAN nations. What is the message that the endless commercialism and shopping is sending to the next generation of Singaporeans, that the latest and greatest handbags and gladrags are what it takes to be at the top? My initial thoughts are that at some level the populace is running on a tangent to the original values that the PAP espoused. In two generations time, who will be sweeping the streets, washing the cars, serving the drinks, clearing the tables? Who will be sitting in the driving seat, inventing new ways of doing things and ultimately setting the direction for a diverse region that Singapore feels like it is already leading? I don’t know. I honestly don’t and couldn’t hope to say right now. But these are my first thoughts on coming to a new country. I will certainly be looking to understand the motivations and concerns of Singapore; why there is a need to own a Lamborghini, Ferrari, or heck, even a gigantic Mercedes in a nation where the average speed limit on a busy motorway is between 50 and 60km/h and there is always a scrape or a ding coming your way in the tight back streets. Or why there is the need to own the latest mobile phone at the expense of your healthcare or pensionable savings.


Looking at the early history of a self-governing Singapore may give me a hint. The very basics are that early after the split from Malaysia there was mass unemployment, housing shortages, and a serious shortage of land and natural resources. For those who haven’t been here, it’s important to know that the island is a diminutive 50km east/west and 20km north/south, and equally short of natural resources. On top of that it was mostly jungle back in the 1960s. About 23% of Singapore's land area consists of forest and nature reserves and seemingly relentless urbanisation has eliminated many areas of former primary rainforest, with the only remaining area of primary rainforest being a place called Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a big set of lungs for a small island, but poor Bukit Timah has to choke its way through a few hundred thousand cars on the island that idle at medium pace in fifth gear and the smog from the annual slash and burn fires from Indonesia’s reckless farming.


Taking the bull by the horns, during his first term as Prime Minister (1959-1990), Lee Kuan Yew’s administration tackled these problems, raising standards of living, extensive housing development and dredging up the very sea-bed to create more land. It was during this time that the foundation of the country's economic infrastructure was developed; the threat of racial tension was curbed; and an independent national defence system centering around compulsory male military service was created. Right from day one, the Government took on the responsibility to create the infrastructure, giving almost a blank canvas to new Singaporeans to build anew.


The PAP has been the ruling party in Singapore since self-government was attained. It’s got a lock on the driving seat, a tight Government system that has been described by The Economist Intelligence Unit as a "hybrid regime" of democratic and authoritarian elements. I like the following term from Freedom House, which ranks the country as "partly free". Partly Free, what exactly does that mean? Who is not free, who is free and what are they exactly free to do? Looking into the most simple barometer of openness, the media, it’s easy to see what this might mean. The Government says the media play an important role in the country, and describes the city as one of the key strategic media centres in the Asia-Pacific region and the aim is to be the major media hub in Asia. However, in line with the ‘partly free’ rating, Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore 147 out of 167 in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. That’s not a glowing endorsement for freedom of speech.

State-owned MediaCorp operates all seven free-to-air terrestrial local television channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 14 radio channels (that’s pretty much ALL the radio channels, but I look forward to finding the independents). Radio and television stations are all government-owned entities.
The print media are dominated by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), the government-linked publisher of the flagship English-language daily, The Straits Times. SPH publishes all other daily newspapers, including a free bilingual daily, My Paper, which claims to be the world's first with equal coverage in both English and Chinese. Having read a few editions of My Paper, it’s a far-cry from the regurgitation of news in the London Lite or Metro free papers in London. It’s more like reading the serialisation of Days of Our Lives, with action photography to match; very sensationalist and over-the-top chatty language. If it is an attempt to offer a less overbearing form of journalism, it’s somewhat below par. I think I’m missing the point here and need to really understand the purpose of the paper.

The government has also chosen not to follow some elements of liberal values in as much as I read that there are no jury trials and there are laws restricting the freedom of speech that may breed ill will or cause disharmony within Singapore's multiracial, multi-religious society. That’s an interesting standpoint to take. If you can’t say anything, you can’t annoy anyone. Surely though if you can’t say anything, where does the discussion and understanding go? That’s a tough nut to crack.

Beverages and Coffee Cards

I have been looking to try as many new things as I can recently. When I ask what people have to drink at the hawker stalls, I generally pick the one that I can’t understand. When I’m in the food centres, more notably Sheing Song (a malaysian lower cost group of stores, with more local foodstuffs) I’m drawn to the cans and bottles that I can’t quite read or which have fantastic names.


Two interesting drinks I discovered this way are firstly Kickapoo Joy Juice (I kid you not, a superb name)– a Singaporean drink of water, sugar, tartrazine and caffeine. That’s it, that’s all it is. It’s not worth mentioning that there is a diet version, as I’m not at all worried about the sugar content. Pouring it out, Yikes! It’s bright green! It’s something like Mountain Dew or Pib, highly caffeinated drinks I’ve had in the US. Secondly but no less colourful is Bandung – a drink I chanced upon at the East Coast/Eunos hawker centre. It’s hot pink, honestly, hot pink and super sweet. Flavour wise it is liquid turkish delight, a slightly milky, aromatic rose water drink that would go well with anything really spicy. I had it with bak kut teh in a rich gravy. Not quite the perfect match.Other good drinks taken so far are lime juice, wonderfully refreshing, sugar cane juice, freshly squeezed from two-feet-long canes and something that I think is rice-water.


Now to coffee cards. Gosh, I shake my head. The expansion of coffee houses here is astonishing; the market-place harkens back to the Spanish Royal court when the Conquistadors returned with the cocoa bean and some luke warm water from the Americas. Starbucks, The Coffee Connoisseur, Coffee Bean to name but three major chains, drip out the black stuff like a texan gusher. The range of drinks is bursting the seams of the cardboard cup holders, with green teas, chai teas, soy latte and as I heard this weekend, a soy, green tea latte. No, don’t ask. Don’t try, just order a coffee.


To my point, you’d think the market would be tripping over itself to garner addict’s loyalty to their bean of choice using the innoquous coffee card, tucked into your wallet, stamped and traded like Panini football stickers in a ten year-old’s playground. I was conditioned, I had the expectation to buy nine and tenth is free. Simple, effective, easy. It fits into your working week, anything else is a bonus. It reasonably means that a one-a-day regular enjoys a free cup of coffee every two weeks.


I asked at one reputable establishment this morning how their card worked. As per the deposit culture, you pay S$1.50 upfront (non refundable) and for every dollar you spend you get one point. Each point, I was told is just like cash and when you reach 500 points you can redeem them. Wow, sounds good, doesn’t it! I asked how much cash 500 points gets you. Five bucks. Five measly dollars. That’s a 1% rebate on your money. Which, to be honest isn’t bad compared to the bank’s interest rates of 0.1% (even on savings accounts).
So using the same logic as above, to save for S$5 rebate, that’s $500 coffee spend. At S$4 a coffee, that’s 125 days, or 25 weeks of regular coffee buying. Essentially I would ‘earn’ enough redeemable cash to have two free coffees a year.

I declined the card.
Shovel.

Out running for the first time in weeks

Finally, finally, I found myself an hour to get back on the exercise schedule. Running in the 25th storey gym, one that has a view of nothing much, is no substitute. In fact it was still hot and even more dull than running can be; I’m not exploring anywhere on a treadmill and am resigned to watching Singapore’s Channel 8, the mandarin channel, with the subtitles on.
So, in an effort to start to explore this city and to improve my woeful sense of direction (talk to my Lady about that), I took myself out along clarke quay, still humming quietly at 8pm on a Sunday evening, out to the esplanade with its dual durian marvels of architecture, their pin-prick LEDs destroying any night sky that might be on display (for example the near-full moon), onto the marina promenade, dodging past groups of amahs and youths enjoying the darkness for a final meeting before the work-week kicks off at its full-tilt pace, underneath the spinning Singapore flyer (largest in the world, also filling the night with neon pink), the slick-tarmaced F1 pit-lane and finally underneath the soaring, harbour-crossing Benjamin Sheares bridge before turning round.
It was so nice to be out and bouncing along the busy city that I had kicked along Clarke Quay at a healthy pace wanting to get past the tourists. Even though it was evening, it was still warm. Actually it was on the hot side of warm. Warm enough that within 6 minutes I was sweating and within 15 minutes I was thirsty: the hot breeze was helping to evaporate the sweat but was also ripping the moisture off my tongue. I pretty much knew I’d gone out too hard and resolved to buy myself one of those waist-belt water carriers, no matter how short a distance I may be running.
Coming back past the esplanade, still heaving with tourists and locals alike, I am staggered by how bright everything is. For a country that just ‘did it’s bit’ to raise the green bar, by partaking in the Earth Hour, I didn’t see too many establishments turn off their lights for the ear-marked sixty minutes, in fact our own hotel simply dimmed their lights. I can’t say that at street-level Singapore is the greenest or most eco-aware country, but everyone has to start somewhere. Don’t get me started on the paucity of recycling facilities, I’ll have to save that for when I have a little more knowledge.
Back to the esplanade, lit up like Changi runway, I took a right turn past the Fullerton Hotel, sitting gloriously in its little bubble of architectural history. It used to be the General Post Office and to be honest reminds me a little of the GPO in Sydney, a little nostalgia may have been the reason for what happened next.
After my right turn I suddenly realised I didn’t know where I was. Jogging slower, I saw a street sign that I recognised, Chulia Street, but that’s in the banking district. And then I ran past Raffles Place MRT, clearly now I had no idea where I was so I stopped at a coffee store and asked two guys where Circular Quay was. Blank looks. “Circular Quay?”, again mumbles in tamil, but nothing. A third chap joined them, “Circular Quay”? Nope, no idea either. And then it dawned on me, slowly, like the dehydration that had taken hold in the last 40 minutes. In my head I was asking about Singapore, but coming out of my mouth was Circular Quay, Sydney Australia. I apologised with a smile to the guys who duly cracked up with laughter and pointed in unison the same way down the street.
Off I set again, hoping that I was just a step away but reassuring myself that the longer the run the better it was for me. Too many noodles and the odd laksa here and there have added a few extra fat cells round my waist (although my doctor’s scales weigh me 4kg less than when I left the UK – I refuse to spend my time wondering why). Before I knew it, I was running onto Eu Tong Sen St, past Central Mall, across the Singapore River, past the 5G reverse bungy catapult contraption and back amongst the tourists of Clarke Quay, all looking like they were far more comfortable in the warmth than I was, despite my skinny runny clothes.
Sliding apart the hotel doors, the sexily cold air-conditioned lobby greeted me and in return my heart-attack face greeted the receptionist. Not wanting to stink up the poor man’s front desk, I skipped straight to the pool. The luxury of having a swim straight after a run in this hot stick country is not to be underestimated and I am looking forward to kicking along the East Coast in a couple of weeks when we move into our own place.
To be running by the ocean as the sun comes up and then to be able to cool off in our unit’s pool will be wonderful. The benefits of a regular schedule cannot be underestimated and I’d like to think (after a few weeks of trying to get my feet under not one, but two desks) that I can get back onto a good schedule, whatever that might be here. Here, where the sun comes up at the same time, sets at the same time and knows no difference on the weather, why would a schedule need to change?
Shovel

Chope that table man!

I learnt a new verb in the first couple of weeks here. It’s a mighty useful action and good to know about from the get-go:
I/You chope. He/She chopes. We chope, You all chope, They chope.

To Chope is to reserve a table at a busy foodcourt (called Kopitiam over here, the Malay words Kopi (Coffee) and Tiam (Shop) I believe) by way of placing a small token of yours in the centre of the table, leaving you free to visit the foodstall and return with your lunch. It’s brilliantly simple; a small pack of tissues will do it, and it is unbendingly observed by all visitors to the establishment. Though shalt not ignore or move the choping-token. My only problem is to make sure that I carry something small and of no value in my pocket when I go for lunch. We have tested this with a colleague’s faux-leather blackberry case, that worked too!

Go nuts, chope away and always have a seat to come back to.

The lay of the land - original and reclaimed land that is...

I figured I’d put down some basic facts about Singapore, (borrowed from my high-school atlas and the some-time oracle Wikipedia) to cover the period between the last time I was here, about 10 years ago until current day. As I said, it’s a forward moving nation, moving at some pace, so bear that in mind when reviewing these basics.
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsular, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. At 710.2 km² (274.2 sq mi), Singapore is the smallest nation in South-East Asia but is substantially larger than Monaco and Vatican City, the only other surviving sovereign city-states on the changing map of the world.
From taxi drivers that I’ve spoken to, I hear that in 1880 there were tigers and wild boars still roaming the island, although the british soldiers, an arsenal of muskets and a hundred released prisonners put pay to that, clearing the island of animal threats in the blink of a colonial eye.



Before European settlement, the island now known as Singapore was the site of a Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Singapore River. Malay refers to the racial group of people that live in the peninsular, covering mostly Malaysia, southern Thailand, most of the populations of Indonesia and Brunei as well as a minority in southern parts of the Phillipines. Several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people also lived along the nearby coast, rivers and on smaller islands. In 1819, the British East India Company, led by Sir Stamford Raffles, established a trading post on the island, which was used as a port along the spice route. Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire, and the hub of British power in South-East Asia, providing a rival port to the Dutch port of Malacca in Malaysia.



During the 2nd World War, the British colony was occupied by the Japanese after the Battle of Singapore, which Winston Churchill called "Britain's greatest defeat". Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945, immediately after the war. Eighteen years later, in 1963, the city, having achieved independence from Britain, merged with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia. However, the merger proved unsuccessful for Singapore, and, less than two years later, it seceded from the federation and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations on 9 August 1965. Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on 21 September of that year.



Since independence, Singapore's standard of living has risen dramatically. Amazingly for a population of so few, Singapore is now rated in the top ten wealthiest countries in the world in terms of gross domestic product per person. And of course with high income per capita comes a similar rating for being one of the most expensive cities in the world. You have to then remember that this is all built on the back of a country that was 18% smaller in terms of land mass in the 1960s than it is now. With a strong and on-going land reclamation program that takes earth from Singapore’s own hills, the seabed, and neighbouring countries it has grown to 710 km² today, and may indeed grow by another 100 km² by 2030. While Hong Kong and Japan have resolved to build skywards to house their massive populations, Singapore has just decided that if there isn’t enough land, it will make some more.
Logical really when you think about it. It’s like America in the 19^th century, boldly pushing west-wards towards uncharted territory, the promise of your own land, your own domain, except this time there are more diggers, dredgers and water pumps involved. See the fiberglass rocks in the picture on t he left. Singapore can build anything!
Shovel

New beginnings - a fresh start

Shovel digs…one foot in Singapore. The learning of a new arrival to the Lion City in the year of the tiger.

Having just moved to Singapore, this is a chance to exercise my traveller instincts, observations and vocabulary gained from the last few years of seeing the world. Singapore’s a magnetic place for me; it holds a distant personal history and then late in 2009 it offered a professional future in a manner that you normally read about in mid-tier pool-side novels or in mid-afternoon American TV dramas. But, novels and dramas aside, here I find myself, with my wonderful wife, shipping our well travelled furniture through one of the busiest ports in the world (Port of Singapore, second busiest in 2005), to take up residence on this small but energetic city-state that is bigger than either Monaco or the Vatican City but also the second-most densely populated independent country in the world after Monaco. Interesting to note that Singapore is in the process of opening two super-casinos. Free to foreign passport holders, S$100 entry to locals.
When I was offered the role out here, Lady and I had been in the UK for three years and four months. Looking back on our recent countries of residence, that’s the longest we’ve stayed in a country for a while and we were ready for a change. Not that it’s itchy feet, as we were very happy where we were, but ready for a new challenge. It just so happened that this challenge was sitting just one degree or so from the equator and not really anywhere in relation to either of our notional homes; whatever home is any more. Answers on a postcard please.

Thinking it through, a role in Asia could be located in several places when the global economy is thrown into the mix: Shanghai or Beijing, Tokyo, Bangalore, Singapore. Any one could suit a multinational centre of expertise, but with operations in all of these places, Singapore wins from a geographical superiority. It’s right in the centre of things, 8hrs to China, Australia, 5hrs to India (although I am yet to test this one out) and a hop to anywhere in South East Asia. The decision itself was not too difficult; Singapore is a great place to live and, by extension, to work. The English language is so rigorously implemented (except for maybe the most local of wet-markets) that it makes day one easy to navigate, an effective administration and a direct and forward focussed government makes for logical and constant planning and execution.
All that said, I happily accepted the move.