Monday, July 26, 2010
Here’s a joke for you, “There’s nothing to do in Singapore “
One of our ongoing concerns about living in Singapore is what to do to fill our time when you’re not slaving away at work. In the last couple of weeks we’ve found some good things to do, oddly enough going to the Singapore Repertory Theatre twice in a week. Firstly, to see a friend’s self-written monologue in a show that she also produced and secondly, to laugh our Friday night away at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow. It seems that with a little nudge and the willingness to try new things, there’s plenty to do. Or that’s what we thought.
Between the handful of comics that were entertaining us this evening, we were hosted by a ‘brilliant’ (her words!) New Zealander MC, Cal Wilson. Her role was to engage the crowd, get some good vibes running around the hall and kick-start the banter. After going over the usual “where are we all from this evening?” round of questions, we reached the “so, what is there to do in Singapore?” section. And this is where it all got a little uncomfortable. The comics had already been to the zoo and had already ranted about the excessive shopping addiction and surplus demand in this city and with those two big tickets gone it left silence.
“The night safari...” some game lady chirped up....except the show is one during the night, you fool....you’d never been in a more uncomfortable comedy show. The audience corpsed and silence loomed as people raced through the things to do in Singapore. The wall of silence morphed into a swarm of bees as audible “mmms” buzzed about the theatre. And then it got really weird. Of all the things to do in Singapore, of all the things that could have been said; “eat”, “drink”, “visit Sentosa”, someone down the front passed Go, took a beer-induced ticket and suggested “four floors of whores”.
I’m sorry? “Four floors of whores”? Firstly, what is that and why is that what comes to your mind when you think of things to do during the day in Singapore? During the day? Following almost immediately came a suggestion to “visit Geylang”, which while dubious enough was misinterpreted as “visit Gay-Land” by our Kiwi MC and from then on the whole section became really, really awkward.
Needless to say, Lady and I did not take notes during this section of the evening and we’re on the look-out for alternative excursions.
Shovel
Monday, July 19, 2010
FLASH FLOODS IN SINGAPORE – What’s to say or do?
June and July have been a topsy-turvey couple of months for Singapore, meteorologically and economically speaking. All has been going well on the ever-important economic front. Singapore has put its best foot forward and is rewarded with number one spot in the list of fastest growing economies (14-16% growth in 2010). The Government says that it needs 100,000 more foreign expatriate workers to come to Singapore this year just to keep the economy growing.
At the same time, there are pressing questions about whether the small-scale city-state with the big ideas can keep pace with the infrastructural needs of a targeted population of 6.5 million. Dramatic and recurring flooding has stalled the City on three occassions in the space of a month. For a tropical location, this really shouldn't happen, so what's the cause and what's to do to balance the vision with the reality.
The month of July, I understand, is normally the drier time of the year. Locals and travel books tell me this. However since 16 June, on three occasions the weather has turned on a six-pence and Mother-Nature has dropped her rain cloud on Singapore with alarming intent.
Twenty years ago, the Rochor Canal in Little India would regularly burst its banks. That was when the population was small and the impact was not significant. People expected to have to mop out their front rooms once in a while and dodge the muddy puddles. Everyone knew that it rained in Singapore. A lot. Over time, the canal was widened and deepened to channel the flood-waters to reservoirs and the ocean. As the infrastructure improved, so did people's expectations. Has all that work made any difference as the population keeps on sky-rocketing and the rain keeps on falling?
It's funny that as I type this there is a global debate on the future of water supply happening right now in Singapore. The world's water infrastructure leaders are debating how we must manage the resources we have. How good it would be to say that while more than 100cm of rain fell in an hour this saturday morning that Singapore was able to harvest that into its new Marina Bay reservoir. How smug would we be then, eh?
Lady and I were woken at 4am this weekend to the sound of a biblical deluge hitting our balcony. Singapore’s main streets found themselves once again under several centimetres of water, in places where canals and gutters converge, almost a metre of water. The pictures captured by locals with camera phones ever-ready show the scale of the problem facing businesses, homeowners and authorities alike. While there's a lot of review to be done and a lot of action to take, what’s been interesting for me as always is the difference in reporting of the flash floods, comparing local and foreign angles on the story.
The Channel News Asia media coverage reads like a list of facts from the notebook of Joe Friday, the detective from the Dragnet movie; “I just want the facts, M’aam. Just the facts”. Clearly if there’s no good news about what Singapore is achieving, just stick to the facts. While the comments from Associated Press seem to show that their freer-minded journalists have been moonlighting with papparazzi photographers from The Sun, tweaking the edges of the story and spicing the sentiments with pointed barbs. I particularly like how ABC News groups Singapore in the same bucket as Manila and Jakarta on an arbitrary infrastructure index; a judgment that will no doubt stick in the throat of the PUB, while the Straits Times is referenced saying “restaurants lost fish that were in live tanks”. Need I say more?
Some sections I have removed so that you don’t have to read the whole report, but you can click through the link given.
Flash floods wreak havoc (Straits Times 16 June)
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_541057.html Straits TimesFLASH floods caused by heavy downpour on Wednesday morning wreaked havoc on many parts of central Singapore, flooding basement carparks and shops, and making roads impassable to cars.
The worst-hit area was the Orchard Road and Scotts Road intersection, with large stretches from Paterson Road - where Ion Orchard and Wheelock Towers are - to Ngee Ann City submerged in nearly half a metre of flood waters.
The basement of Liat Towers was flooded, affecting shops like Starbucks and Hermes, which reported goods destroyed by floodwaters. A number of cars stalled in the rising floodwaters, stranding motorists. Many passengers were also reported to be stuck in buses in areas where traffic was impassable. Traffic lights were out at some inter-sections.
A tree fell near the Buyong Road exit of the Central Expressway Tunnel, towards Ayer Rajah Expressway, blocking traffic across three lanes. The CTE was closed as a result, partly to prevent traffic from going into Orchard Road.
PUB, in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, said almost 100 mm of rain fell within a two-hour period from about 9 am to 11 am. 'The amount of rainfall is approximately more than 60 per cent of the average monthly rainfall for June,' it said.
PUB, Traffic Police and SCDF officers were at the various sites providing help to motorists and directing traffic. The PUB advises the public to exercise caution as flash floods may still occur in the event of heavy storms. The cause of the flood is still being investigated.
Flash floods stain Singapore's urban paradise reputation (ABC News – 18 July 2010)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/18/2957114.htm?section=justin Singaporeans were salvaging cars, soaked belongings and damaged goods on Sunday after a third flash flood in two months submerged low-lying areas of the city-state.
Shops and houses along posh Orchard Road were again hit by floods on Saturday after heavy rain overwhelmed the drainage system of the wealthy metropolis, which is often lauded for its excellent urban management.
The flooding took place just before parliament was to debate the issue on Monday following public clamour for explanations for earlier floods, which are normally associated with neighbouring capitals like Manila and Jakarta.
"We never had floods like that," said Peter Wong, 49, a long-time resident in a row of houses in eastern Singapore invaded by calf-high floodwaters on Saturday. Everything was gone, the carpets as you can see are damaged, the bottom of all the sofa seats are still soaking wet now, after 24 hours. We had to replace a new fridge, the fridge is totally damaged," Mr Wong said.
The Straits Times said some restaurants lost live fish stored in tanks.
A major highway was also closed for two and a half hours, while motorists and commuters had to be rescued from stranded vehicles, but there were no reports of major injuries.
Critics had blasted the Public Utilities Board for not being prepared to handle the first two floods, while the department defending itself by saying abnormal weather conditions and clogged drains were to blame.
Delfi flooded again (Straits Times 17 July) By Bryan Huanghttp://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_554657.html AFTER being hit by the worst flooding in 26 years last month, Delfi Orchard was again flooded on Saturday morning.A tenant of the building, Ms Shanta Sundarason, said she arrived to work to find the basement three carpark flooded with 'waist-deep' waters. Ms Sundarason also told straitstimes.com that tenants at Orchard Towers and Palais Renaissance were 'also mopping up after the waters gushed in'.
'So much for the 'once in 50 years Freak Flood' along Orchard Road,' said Ms Sundarason. 'It would be nice for the problem to be addressed and dealt with, rather than a sweeping statement from the ministry,' she added.
In the June floods, shoppers in the prime Orchard Road area around Scotts Road had to wade to safety through swirling brown water the colour of milk tea, when heavy rain caused a huge flood. One of the worst-hit places was Liat Towers, where a new branch of Wendy's burger restaurant had opened just three days before. The restaurant had to close as $500,000 worth of furnishings and equipment was damaged by waist-high floodwaters.
Authorities later found that a drain the width of a bus near Delfi Orchard was so choked with leaves that it triggered a run-off enough to fill 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. The run-off gushed into basement shops and carparks in Liat Towers, Lucky Plaza, Delfi Orchard and Tong Building.
Be careful what you say! – photographer arrested for taking pictures of the flooded streets!http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/07/18/newspaper-photographer-detained-for-taking-flood-photos/
You know, it could be worse. I could be living in southern China right now. Spare a thought for the millions of people who are losing their entire livelihoods (and lives) in the worst flooding there in years. Puts the loss of your morning coffee from a flooded Starbucks into perspective, doesn't it.
Shovel
At the same time, there are pressing questions about whether the small-scale city-state with the big ideas can keep pace with the infrastructural needs of a targeted population of 6.5 million. Dramatic and recurring flooding has stalled the City on three occassions in the space of a month. For a tropical location, this really shouldn't happen, so what's the cause and what's to do to balance the vision with the reality.
The month of July, I understand, is normally the drier time of the year. Locals and travel books tell me this. However since 16 June, on three occasions the weather has turned on a six-pence and Mother-Nature has dropped her rain cloud on Singapore with alarming intent.
Twenty years ago, the Rochor Canal in Little India would regularly burst its banks. That was when the population was small and the impact was not significant. People expected to have to mop out their front rooms once in a while and dodge the muddy puddles. Everyone knew that it rained in Singapore. A lot. Over time, the canal was widened and deepened to channel the flood-waters to reservoirs and the ocean. As the infrastructure improved, so did people's expectations. Has all that work made any difference as the population keeps on sky-rocketing and the rain keeps on falling?
It's funny that as I type this there is a global debate on the future of water supply happening right now in Singapore. The world's water infrastructure leaders are debating how we must manage the resources we have. How good it would be to say that while more than 100cm of rain fell in an hour this saturday morning that Singapore was able to harvest that into its new Marina Bay reservoir. How smug would we be then, eh?
Lady and I were woken at 4am this weekend to the sound of a biblical deluge hitting our balcony. Singapore’s main streets found themselves once again under several centimetres of water, in places where canals and gutters converge, almost a metre of water. The pictures captured by locals with camera phones ever-ready show the scale of the problem facing businesses, homeowners and authorities alike. While there's a lot of review to be done and a lot of action to take, what’s been interesting for me as always is the difference in reporting of the flash floods, comparing local and foreign angles on the story.
The Channel News Asia media coverage reads like a list of facts from the notebook of Joe Friday, the detective from the Dragnet movie; “I just want the facts, M’aam. Just the facts”. Clearly if there’s no good news about what Singapore is achieving, just stick to the facts. While the comments from Associated Press seem to show that their freer-minded journalists have been moonlighting with papparazzi photographers from The Sun, tweaking the edges of the story and spicing the sentiments with pointed barbs. I particularly like how ABC News groups Singapore in the same bucket as Manila and Jakarta on an arbitrary infrastructure index; a judgment that will no doubt stick in the throat of the PUB, while the Straits Times is referenced saying “restaurants lost fish that were in live tanks”. Need I say more?
Some sections I have removed so that you don’t have to read the whole report, but you can click through the link given.
Flash floods wreak havoc (Straits Times 16 June)
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_541057.html Straits TimesFLASH floods caused by heavy downpour on Wednesday morning wreaked havoc on many parts of central Singapore, flooding basement carparks and shops, and making roads impassable to cars.
The worst-hit area was the Orchard Road and Scotts Road intersection, with large stretches from Paterson Road - where Ion Orchard and Wheelock Towers are - to Ngee Ann City submerged in nearly half a metre of flood waters.
The basement of Liat Towers was flooded, affecting shops like Starbucks and Hermes, which reported goods destroyed by floodwaters. A number of cars stalled in the rising floodwaters, stranding motorists. Many passengers were also reported to be stuck in buses in areas where traffic was impassable. Traffic lights were out at some inter-sections.
A tree fell near the Buyong Road exit of the Central Expressway Tunnel, towards Ayer Rajah Expressway, blocking traffic across three lanes. The CTE was closed as a result, partly to prevent traffic from going into Orchard Road.
PUB, in a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, said almost 100 mm of rain fell within a two-hour period from about 9 am to 11 am. 'The amount of rainfall is approximately more than 60 per cent of the average monthly rainfall for June,' it said.
PUB, Traffic Police and SCDF officers were at the various sites providing help to motorists and directing traffic. The PUB advises the public to exercise caution as flash floods may still occur in the event of heavy storms. The cause of the flood is still being investigated.
Flash floods stain Singapore's urban paradise reputation (ABC News – 18 July 2010)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/18/2957114.htm?section=justin Singaporeans were salvaging cars, soaked belongings and damaged goods on Sunday after a third flash flood in two months submerged low-lying areas of the city-state.
Shops and houses along posh Orchard Road were again hit by floods on Saturday after heavy rain overwhelmed the drainage system of the wealthy metropolis, which is often lauded for its excellent urban management.
The flooding took place just before parliament was to debate the issue on Monday following public clamour for explanations for earlier floods, which are normally associated with neighbouring capitals like Manila and Jakarta.
"We never had floods like that," said Peter Wong, 49, a long-time resident in a row of houses in eastern Singapore invaded by calf-high floodwaters on Saturday. Everything was gone, the carpets as you can see are damaged, the bottom of all the sofa seats are still soaking wet now, after 24 hours. We had to replace a new fridge, the fridge is totally damaged," Mr Wong said.
The Straits Times said some restaurants lost live fish stored in tanks.
A major highway was also closed for two and a half hours, while motorists and commuters had to be rescued from stranded vehicles, but there were no reports of major injuries.
Critics had blasted the Public Utilities Board for not being prepared to handle the first two floods, while the department defending itself by saying abnormal weather conditions and clogged drains were to blame.
Delfi flooded again (Straits Times 17 July) By Bryan Huanghttp://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_554657.html AFTER being hit by the worst flooding in 26 years last month, Delfi Orchard was again flooded on Saturday morning.A tenant of the building, Ms Shanta Sundarason, said she arrived to work to find the basement three carpark flooded with 'waist-deep' waters. Ms Sundarason also told straitstimes.com that tenants at Orchard Towers and Palais Renaissance were 'also mopping up after the waters gushed in'.
'So much for the 'once in 50 years Freak Flood' along Orchard Road,' said Ms Sundarason. 'It would be nice for the problem to be addressed and dealt with, rather than a sweeping statement from the ministry,' she added.
In the June floods, shoppers in the prime Orchard Road area around Scotts Road had to wade to safety through swirling brown water the colour of milk tea, when heavy rain caused a huge flood. One of the worst-hit places was Liat Towers, where a new branch of Wendy's burger restaurant had opened just three days before. The restaurant had to close as $500,000 worth of furnishings and equipment was damaged by waist-high floodwaters.
Authorities later found that a drain the width of a bus near Delfi Orchard was so choked with leaves that it triggered a run-off enough to fill 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. The run-off gushed into basement shops and carparks in Liat Towers, Lucky Plaza, Delfi Orchard and Tong Building.
Be careful what you say! – photographer arrested for taking pictures of the flooded streets!http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/07/18/newspaper-photographer-detained-for-taking-flood-photos/
You know, it could be worse. I could be living in southern China right now. Spare a thought for the millions of people who are losing their entire livelihoods (and lives) in the worst flooding there in years. Puts the loss of your morning coffee from a flooded Starbucks into perspective, doesn't it.
Shovel
Sunday, July 18, 2010
A sense of spacial awareness wouldn’t go amiss
The last few weeks have been a bit busy, hence my lack of blog activity. We’ve been away for a long weekend to Phuket and I have been swamped with work. I feel like I’m getting pulled into the black hole of Singapore’s work ethic which is work, work, work until it’s done, even if you realise there’s still tomorrow to get it done. It’s also not helped by the cross-over of timezones with the US. I find myself on calls at 9, 10 and 11 at night. That’s not right in anyone’s book. In the word’s of one of my former mentoring partners at an accounting firm, “that’s just not sustainable”.
What I have gained from the last month is a growing understanding of how commuting works and how people interact with each other at street-level. You’d expect there to be some sense of order about how things work here, after all there are arrows on the subways to tell you which sides to walk on, signs on the escalators to tell you where to stand, even painted footprints on the steps to show you where to put your feet. However, an email I received from a professional colleague sums up the duality of life in Singapore pretty well:
“It is wise to check although if truth be known, not all practices are regulated and sometimes it is just hit and miss. The practitioners will tell you to proceed as if it is not required and if X or Y decides otherwise, you can always arrange for an audit. There is unfortunately no definitive answer and this flies somewhat in the face of the impression that Singapore is totally regulated.”
That's an interesting statement.
When I compare that to my dealings with people on the street, on the buses, on the MRT, there generally seems to be a cloud of ignorance, a shroud of unawareness about the general public at large. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t every person on the island, it’s not even specific groups of the population, it’s the overriding sense that I get as I go about my daily business.
It’s as if there’s a bubble around people that stops them seeing others or judging their movements. It’s a dim understanding of where they are in relation to objects (moving and stationary) and thinking about how their actions may impact people on the street. If you’re coming from London or New York or Beijing where the bodies per square meter ratio is significantly higher, you would expect a commute in Singapore to be a walk in the park in comparison. A few examples for you which confront me on a daily basis;
1) There is no concept of queuing or any sense of priority when boarding or alighting from public transport (I admit that the British invented queuing and I should have no expectation that other nations would do the same. The British also invented fish and chips and that hasn’t caught on too much either.)
2) People will adamantly stand on the designated walking side of the escalators or stopping at the top of the escalators instead of walking off them. It slows down an already slow process and actually creates a hazard at the top of the escalator. If I trip over another old person and get cursed by the person behind me one more time, seriously....there will be face-losing words.
3) Shoppers will stop abruptly while walking in the middle of the street or mall, will walk phenomenally slowly or meander while texting. Taking a leaf from the “don’t drive and text” message that Oprah’s pushing for the USA, maybe “don’t walk and text” would be more appropriate. There’s been a saying for a while that certain people can’t walk and chew gum, let me tell you, it’s funny because it’s true.
4) A growing number of people will not hold doors open for others, be they Ladies or Gentlemen. Again, the British have pioneered chivalry for many centuries and to some extent it’s in a British Gentleman’s DNA, so I should have no expectation of it from Singapore which is more akin to the wild-west where it’s every man for themselves.
5) Commuters will rigidly stand directly in the doorway of the MRT instead of moving down inside the train. I’m not one for overt physical contact at 8am but there’s got to be some sense about you that if people want to get into the train and there’s space available, that they’re going to have to enter through the door, which means they have to enter through YOU, Buddy, so move down inside the car! They moan about the people per square meter during rush hour, but believe me, it’s positively pleasant and roomy.
I don’t think I’m expecting too much, to have a sense of common decency, courtesy and respect for a fellow citizen. It seems that the many dollars spent by the Govt. to spell out the “be courteous” message has to some extent been wasted on a nation of people who’d rather join the front carriage of a train because it physically arrives at the station first, sneak through a closing door because it means that the person behind them has to open it themselves, overtake you in traffic because then they’re one car ahead of you. The list could go on. Competition is fine, as long as it’s not at the expense of the common society. Once it is defined in terms of Me V Neighbour, the whole community loses.
Shovel
What I have gained from the last month is a growing understanding of how commuting works and how people interact with each other at street-level. You’d expect there to be some sense of order about how things work here, after all there are arrows on the subways to tell you which sides to walk on, signs on the escalators to tell you where to stand, even painted footprints on the steps to show you where to put your feet. However, an email I received from a professional colleague sums up the duality of life in Singapore pretty well:
“It is wise to check although if truth be known, not all practices are regulated and sometimes it is just hit and miss. The practitioners will tell you to proceed as if it is not required and if X or Y decides otherwise, you can always arrange for an audit. There is unfortunately no definitive answer and this flies somewhat in the face of the impression that Singapore is totally regulated.”
That's an interesting statement.
When I compare that to my dealings with people on the street, on the buses, on the MRT, there generally seems to be a cloud of ignorance, a shroud of unawareness about the general public at large. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t every person on the island, it’s not even specific groups of the population, it’s the overriding sense that I get as I go about my daily business.
It’s as if there’s a bubble around people that stops them seeing others or judging their movements. It’s a dim understanding of where they are in relation to objects (moving and stationary) and thinking about how their actions may impact people on the street. If you’re coming from London or New York or Beijing where the bodies per square meter ratio is significantly higher, you would expect a commute in Singapore to be a walk in the park in comparison. A few examples for you which confront me on a daily basis;
1) There is no concept of queuing or any sense of priority when boarding or alighting from public transport (I admit that the British invented queuing and I should have no expectation that other nations would do the same. The British also invented fish and chips and that hasn’t caught on too much either.)
2) People will adamantly stand on the designated walking side of the escalators or stopping at the top of the escalators instead of walking off them. It slows down an already slow process and actually creates a hazard at the top of the escalator. If I trip over another old person and get cursed by the person behind me one more time, seriously....there will be face-losing words.
3) Shoppers will stop abruptly while walking in the middle of the street or mall, will walk phenomenally slowly or meander while texting. Taking a leaf from the “don’t drive and text” message that Oprah’s pushing for the USA, maybe “don’t walk and text” would be more appropriate. There’s been a saying for a while that certain people can’t walk and chew gum, let me tell you, it’s funny because it’s true.
4) A growing number of people will not hold doors open for others, be they Ladies or Gentlemen. Again, the British have pioneered chivalry for many centuries and to some extent it’s in a British Gentleman’s DNA, so I should have no expectation of it from Singapore which is more akin to the wild-west where it’s every man for themselves.
5) Commuters will rigidly stand directly in the doorway of the MRT instead of moving down inside the train. I’m not one for overt physical contact at 8am but there’s got to be some sense about you that if people want to get into the train and there’s space available, that they’re going to have to enter through the door, which means they have to enter through YOU, Buddy, so move down inside the car! They moan about the people per square meter during rush hour, but believe me, it’s positively pleasant and roomy.
I don’t think I’m expecting too much, to have a sense of common decency, courtesy and respect for a fellow citizen. It seems that the many dollars spent by the Govt. to spell out the “be courteous” message has to some extent been wasted on a nation of people who’d rather join the front carriage of a train because it physically arrives at the station first, sneak through a closing door because it means that the person behind them has to open it themselves, overtake you in traffic because then they’re one car ahead of you. The list could go on. Competition is fine, as long as it’s not at the expense of the common society. Once it is defined in terms of Me V Neighbour, the whole community loses.
Shovel
Can’t I just do that right now? The perils of on-the-spot decision making
My lovely Lady has been out and about in the City for the last couple of weeks, immersing herself in how things work and meeting as many people as possible. It’s been an interesting adventure that is recounted to me each evening on the couch or over some noodles at a restaurant.
The current learning event of the week (read “frustration of the week”) is that there doesn’t seem to be much of sense of the impromptu. Lady, bless her cotton-socks, has high standards from her background in five-star hotels and expects the same when presented with a service opportunity. However, it’s not all been going to plan recently, nothing that she tries to do seems possible without extensive forward planning.
A few examples range from recruitment agencies that won’t even take five minutes to talk to you unless you have an appointment in advance, sewing classes that you can’t put your name down for unless you’ve called ahead, but get this, you can buy cinema tickets from the box office but all the seats (except the rubbish ones at the side and the front three rows) have all been booked in advance!
This was demonstrated to us today on a wet weekend as we searched on line through five different cinemas for a pair of seats that weren’t three-meters-from-the-screen neck-breakers; it’s almost impossible to get impromptu seats here, so book early. However, what stuns us is that you still need to queue up at the box-office with your on-line print-out to get hold of the paper tickets anyway. Pointless. For somewhere so technologically advanced, this seems utterly backwards.
Needless to say, Lady’s pretty ticked about all this inability to react on the spot and the dearth of spontaneity unless there is a check-list of spontaneous responses taped beneath the counter, but has learned an important lesson; always call ahead to make sure that the journey you’re about to make will lead to the outcome you’re seeking. After all, it’s way too hot for a stroll down Orchard Road only to have to stroll all the way back again with no result.
Shovel
The current learning event of the week (read “frustration of the week”) is that there doesn’t seem to be much of sense of the impromptu. Lady, bless her cotton-socks, has high standards from her background in five-star hotels and expects the same when presented with a service opportunity. However, it’s not all been going to plan recently, nothing that she tries to do seems possible without extensive forward planning.
A few examples range from recruitment agencies that won’t even take five minutes to talk to you unless you have an appointment in advance, sewing classes that you can’t put your name down for unless you’ve called ahead, but get this, you can buy cinema tickets from the box office but all the seats (except the rubbish ones at the side and the front three rows) have all been booked in advance!
This was demonstrated to us today on a wet weekend as we searched on line through five different cinemas for a pair of seats that weren’t three-meters-from-the-screen neck-breakers; it’s almost impossible to get impromptu seats here, so book early. However, what stuns us is that you still need to queue up at the box-office with your on-line print-out to get hold of the paper tickets anyway. Pointless. For somewhere so technologically advanced, this seems utterly backwards.
Needless to say, Lady’s pretty ticked about all this inability to react on the spot and the dearth of spontaneity unless there is a check-list of spontaneous responses taped beneath the counter, but has learned an important lesson; always call ahead to make sure that the journey you’re about to make will lead to the outcome you’re seeking. After all, it’s way too hot for a stroll down Orchard Road only to have to stroll all the way back again with no result.
Shovel
Monday, July 12, 2010
National Day Parade – military advertising gone nuts
Singapore has many different people but how do they get moulded into singaporean citizens who will all pull together under one national identity? A few decades ago the concept of mandatory national service was given life whereby at the age of 18 all males must perform two years national service and then remain available for some years after, performing a week or so duties every year. Just to keep active.
As an idea, it’s worked very well and there are many relationships that are formed in those two years and which remain for many years after. These men have pulled together for the same aims and for the same nation and as such have the same sense of national pride.
Every year the military joins in on national day, 9 August, to celebrate the anniversary of Singapore exiting from the Malaysia Federation in 1965. The National Day Parade (NDP) brings together all things Singaporean and fosters that national pride. To rehearse for the NDP (which is essentially the leaders speaking to the people about how great Singapore is and promenading their military might to the masses) the military spends six hours every weekend for two months shifting tanks and guns and fighter-jets about the city streets and above the towering sky-scrapers to make sure that if anything goes pear-shaped, the president and prime-minister can make a sharp secure exit in their shiny plane.
Now, I’ve been present for one national day a few years ago, and noted that from the beginning of July everyone flies the S’pore flag from their balcony to show that they are good citizens and a few thousand go to see the national day parade; either at the Padang or another large venue. I’ve spoken to a few locals about whether they’re excited about it and to be honest, the answer has been a resounding “no”. Most people would prefer to work and earn money rather than take the day off and watch the event. Most people would prefer to be able to drive about the City on a Saturday night without massive traffic jams for two months (which will then role into three months when the inaugural Youth Olympics in August and then the F1 Grand Prix in September come to town) and from the looks of one irate pale-face at a gridlocked Mountbatten/Nichol Highway junction it’s just about everyone who is ticked about it.
It’s not my national day, it never will be and I’ll probably end up working anyway, so as long as the endless rehearsals stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of theirs.
Interestingly, I read in the weekend paper (I-S Magazine, if anyone wants a controversial read, http://is.asia-city.com/ but find the paper version, much better) that as Sweden votes to cease its policy of mandatory national service, Singapore chooses not to reduce the minimum two years. There's vocal dissent in the ranks as local authors speak about their incredulity at their nation's spending on defense. "not one of the neighbours would want to invade Singapore; it has no natural resources, is dependent upon other countries for water and has no strategic importance any more". Well, contentious indeed.
Shovel
As an idea, it’s worked very well and there are many relationships that are formed in those two years and which remain for many years after. These men have pulled together for the same aims and for the same nation and as such have the same sense of national pride.
Every year the military joins in on national day, 9 August, to celebrate the anniversary of Singapore exiting from the Malaysia Federation in 1965. The National Day Parade (NDP) brings together all things Singaporean and fosters that national pride. To rehearse for the NDP (which is essentially the leaders speaking to the people about how great Singapore is and promenading their military might to the masses) the military spends six hours every weekend for two months shifting tanks and guns and fighter-jets about the city streets and above the towering sky-scrapers to make sure that if anything goes pear-shaped, the president and prime-minister can make a sharp secure exit in their shiny plane.
Now, I’ve been present for one national day a few years ago, and noted that from the beginning of July everyone flies the S’pore flag from their balcony to show that they are good citizens and a few thousand go to see the national day parade; either at the Padang or another large venue. I’ve spoken to a few locals about whether they’re excited about it and to be honest, the answer has been a resounding “no”. Most people would prefer to work and earn money rather than take the day off and watch the event. Most people would prefer to be able to drive about the City on a Saturday night without massive traffic jams for two months (which will then role into three months when the inaugural Youth Olympics in August and then the F1 Grand Prix in September come to town) and from the looks of one irate pale-face at a gridlocked Mountbatten/Nichol Highway junction it’s just about everyone who is ticked about it.
It’s not my national day, it never will be and I’ll probably end up working anyway, so as long as the endless rehearsals stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of theirs.
Interestingly, I read in the weekend paper (I-S Magazine, if anyone wants a controversial read, http://is.asia-city.com/ but find the paper version, much better) that as Sweden votes to cease its policy of mandatory national service, Singapore chooses not to reduce the minimum two years. There's vocal dissent in the ranks as local authors speak about their incredulity at their nation's spending on defense. "not one of the neighbours would want to invade Singapore; it has no natural resources, is dependent upon other countries for water and has no strategic importance any more". Well, contentious indeed.
Shovel
SINGAPORE RIVER FESTIVAL – Clarke Quay
One of the things that still worries us about living here in such a small city is the number of entertainment options that are available without spending excessive money on tickets or travel. A real positive is that the Government commands institutional authorities who can pull these big national events together and get people interested. Along Clarke Quay we had seen huge signs hung from every flagpole over the last couple of weeks, heralding, by way of a media onslaught, the forthcoming River Festival. With the recent downpours and interest in the clogging waterways, anything that could be done to get people back to the river is a bonus, especially considering the recent tragic drowning of a worker who was sleeping off the effects of a night on the drink and smokes along the steps of Clarke Quay itself.
we watched brightly lit boats with booming sound systems drift past us, sailors waving hello, twirling flaming batons and reminding us that we were experiencing “My Singapore”.
Further upstream at Clarke Quay was the real spectacle, not actually a spectacle we knew much about, but it consisted of two shows at 19:30 and 22:00 containing aerial art, high-wire ballet floating inches over the water, dancers twirling across the Clarke Quay bridge, Renaissance music (and wigs), filling the air with atmosphere with the whole show culminating in fireworks that arced across the liquid, reflective floor of the Singapore River.
While the display unfolded a good distance in-front of us, the detail of the costumes and story-line somewhat obscured by smoke from more flaming wands of light, we realised that the true spectacle was not the art we were watching but that rather the thousands of people in attendance, locals and tourists alike, watching the events unfold and recording the moment with camera and video.
Much credit must go to the organisers and publicists who had successfully captured the imagination of thousands of people to come down to the river on a hot muggy evening and watch some fancy nonsense going on before eating and drinking themselves to sleep in typical Clarke Quay fashion. If they keep knocking out events like this which pique the interest and provide an evening of entertainment on the cheap, I shall be rather happy.
Well done Singapore, well done indeed.
Shovel
Asia Beerfest 2010 and NDP Rehearsals – don’t drink and drive a tank
The Asian Beerfest 2010 was held in Singapore recently, along the F1 pit straight and below the Singapore Flyer, an iconic setting for the City. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from such an event, given the love of alcohol from both local and majority of expats alike, but also given that the venue is pretty small. We dutifully booked tickets early and were looking forward to having a couple of free beers and immediate access to the festival site.
Well, what a trial! I’ve never known a harder situation to get a beer in such a small place. First, our bus was stuck in traffic that was backed up and bottlenecked on account of the road closures from the National Day Parade rehearsals, the weekly National Day Parade rehearsals, every Saturday 5pm – 11pm for two months. We arrived some two hours late. On the upside, we watched from a road-bridge while a column of tanks, cranes, jeeps and mobile rocket launchers rumbled their treads beneath us, their young drivers smiling through camouflaged faces.
Second, we arrived at Suntec Mall and walked for 20 minutes to the site, only to be directed by Festival signs around the F1 pit straight, around the back of the tents and then in a large circle back to where we started underneath the flyer. Grrrr...
Third, when we arrived, two hours late, we were met with a line-up that was 200m long. There were people still queuing, all with pre-purchased tickets, waiting to get in and the reason why? It was because there were two people checking tickets at entry, TWO! For the Asian BeerFest, it’s not a small event. If this is some indication of how logistics work (or don’t work) around a large event, I fear for the Youth Olympics where the volume of people will be much greater.
Fourth, and this really gets me to this day, we received our free drink tokens which could only be redeemed against specific free beers, mostly generic beers that the world has tried before. We’re not here to try Budweiser, thanks, we’re here for random brews from unusual countries; like Bali! The festival was a ‘no cash’ zone so you had to purchase more poker chips with cash and then carry them around the site exchanging them for beverages or food. Which is fine, it’s novel and easier than messing about with change, but what annoyed me was that you can only exchange chips for cash at the end of the night for 80% of their face value and only in whole dollar amounts, so my $4 of chips became $3.20 which then became only $3 in my pocket. I admit I’m tight when it comes to cash, but being short changed with a smile really, REALLY gets me.
Other than that, the crowded tents, the lack of seating, the scarcity of non-alcoholic beverages to rehydrate, the beer-stained concrete smelling of yesterday’s revelry, really gave it the sense of a thrown-together event. Not brilliant, but some tasty beverages none the less.
Shovel
Well, what a trial! I’ve never known a harder situation to get a beer in such a small place. First, our bus was stuck in traffic that was backed up and bottlenecked on account of the road closures from the National Day Parade rehearsals, the weekly National Day Parade rehearsals, every Saturday 5pm – 11pm for two months. We arrived some two hours late. On the upside, we watched from a road-bridge while a column of tanks, cranes, jeeps and mobile rocket launchers rumbled their treads beneath us, their young drivers smiling through camouflaged faces.
Second, we arrived at Suntec Mall and walked for 20 minutes to the site, only to be directed by Festival signs around the F1 pit straight, around the back of the tents and then in a large circle back to where we started underneath the flyer. Grrrr...
Third, when we arrived, two hours late, we were met with a line-up that was 200m long. There were people still queuing, all with pre-purchased tickets, waiting to get in and the reason why? It was because there were two people checking tickets at entry, TWO! For the Asian BeerFest, it’s not a small event. If this is some indication of how logistics work (or don’t work) around a large event, I fear for the Youth Olympics where the volume of people will be much greater.
Fourth, and this really gets me to this day, we received our free drink tokens which could only be redeemed against specific free beers, mostly generic beers that the world has tried before. We’re not here to try Budweiser, thanks, we’re here for random brews from unusual countries; like Bali! The festival was a ‘no cash’ zone so you had to purchase more poker chips with cash and then carry them around the site exchanging them for beverages or food. Which is fine, it’s novel and easier than messing about with change, but what annoyed me was that you can only exchange chips for cash at the end of the night for 80% of their face value and only in whole dollar amounts, so my $4 of chips became $3.20 which then became only $3 in my pocket. I admit I’m tight when it comes to cash, but being short changed with a smile really, REALLY gets me.
Other than that, the crowded tents, the lack of seating, the scarcity of non-alcoholic beverages to rehydrate, the beer-stained concrete smelling of yesterday’s revelry, really gave it the sense of a thrown-together event. Not brilliant, but some tasty beverages none the less.
Shovel
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Visiting Guests - Raffles Long Bar, Swisshotel Equinox high-tea
On the Sunday we took our friends to the Long Bar at Raffles, THE singapore tourist spot for anyone who enjoys a bit of the decadent colonial past.
The Long Bar is famous for being the birth-place of the Singapore Sling (mostly premixed now, with gin and a cherry brandy base, but apparently if you ask for a fresh cocktail they’ll oblige). Raffles Hotel was founded in a beach-front bungalow in 1887 by the Armenian Sarkies Bros. and saved from modernisation by being raised to historic monument status on Singapore’s centennial. The hotel is the epitome of colonial grandeur, shining marble floors, sparkling brass light fittings and it even comes complete with a front-drive manager in bright, white colonial uniform and turban.
The Long Bar is famous for being the birth-place of the Singapore Sling (mostly premixed now, with gin and a cherry brandy base, but apparently if you ask for a fresh cocktail they’ll oblige). Raffles Hotel was founded in a beach-front bungalow in 1887 by the Armenian Sarkies Bros. and saved from modernisation by being raised to historic monument status on Singapore’s centennial. The hotel is the epitome of colonial grandeur, shining marble floors, sparkling brass light fittings and it even comes complete with a front-drive manager in bright, white colonial uniform and turban.
The Long Bar is the only place in Singapore where you are encouraged to litter, it’s a cheeky hook to bring in the supremacists who enjoy acting guilt free, although the harm done by asking a cleaner to clean and then creating more mess by throwing peanut shells on the floor in a society where the gap between top and bottom is ever widening is yet to be quantified. It’s a crunchy affair walking between the tables of expats and tourists who sip away merrily on their $30 cocktails and $30 half-yards of Tiger beer.
To be honest, while it’s a part of Singapore that everyone knows, it wouldn’t be in my top-five choices of location or clientele to take a friend for anything more than a beer and a photo-opp.
So, with one Singapore icon down, we trotted our way merrily out of the bar, through the wonderful open courtyard and around to the five star Swisshotel for high-tea on the 70th floor’s Equinox restaurant.
Singapore has some great facets to show off, you just need someone to show them off to.
Shovel
Visiting guests – Boat Quay, Clarke Quay
What to do on the weekends in Singapore? There’s always eating, right?
Picking our friends up from Changi airport on a Friday night we dropped the bags and went out to eat at Sin Hoi Sai Eating House on East Coast Road. For a pretty reasonable $60 for the four of us, we enjoyed excellent food from the extensive menu and large bottles of Tiger beer. To be honest, the beers were the majority of that, but Sin Hoi is just the slightest bit higher in price than other ‘street’ based restaurants for a couple of reasons; 1) it has the BEST reputation, having served food here for a couple of decades. Even though it’s on the wide pavement between Joo Chiat Road and Still Road there are enough tables around you and enough buzzing chat that it feels like you’re inside, all be it a warm restaurant. And 2) that large restaurant has a large floor plan to pay rent on. It’s not cheap to own a large establishment on East Coast Road and to have to pay the expensive business licenses that are at a premium. As the jet lag crept up on our guests we left the crew at Sin Hoi to continue until gone 4am.
On Saturday after the mandatory tour of Orchard Road, we stopped into Brewerkz on Clarke Quay for lunch, escaping the mid-afternoon heat of a muggy day. Brewerkz is one of Singapore’s fermenting brew-houses and makes its golden nectar on site. With the standard beer accompaniments of burgers, ribs and steaks, it’s very western and pretty stodgy stuff. The aussie rules footy on the television was a suitably masculine accompaniment to the red meat and a welcome diversion from the heat outside.
The brews are pretty varied though, definitely the reason to go there with a group of friends, and they’re strong. Starting at 4.9% golden ale, they move on to 7% head-thumpers! There are tasting menus available which allows you to sample whatever you’ve not tried before, before diving into a pint of new beer. Bottled beers are on the menu too and they have chosen interestingly boutique and global varieties; my favourites coming from the small UK breweries of Wychwood and Brakspears.
As one of our friends is a vet, we were obliged to visit the Night Safari, which you can see my blog entry about earlier. After meeting the animals we took a late-night taxi to Boat Quay, arriving about 00:30. We thought it would still be busy, seeing that it’s a long drag of restaurants and bars and Singapore likes to party on the weekend, but to our surprise a lot of the restaurants had already packed up their tables and chairs. We managed to find an indian/chinese crossover that was willing to serve us and we did get some very good curry and rice before they chivied us along and asked us to finish up and leave.
Shovel
Picking our friends up from Changi airport on a Friday night we dropped the bags and went out to eat at Sin Hoi Sai Eating House on East Coast Road. For a pretty reasonable $60 for the four of us, we enjoyed excellent food from the extensive menu and large bottles of Tiger beer. To be honest, the beers were the majority of that, but Sin Hoi is just the slightest bit higher in price than other ‘street’ based restaurants for a couple of reasons; 1) it has the BEST reputation, having served food here for a couple of decades. Even though it’s on the wide pavement between Joo Chiat Road and Still Road there are enough tables around you and enough buzzing chat that it feels like you’re inside, all be it a warm restaurant. And 2) that large restaurant has a large floor plan to pay rent on. It’s not cheap to own a large establishment on East Coast Road and to have to pay the expensive business licenses that are at a premium. As the jet lag crept up on our guests we left the crew at Sin Hoi to continue until gone 4am.
On Saturday after the mandatory tour of Orchard Road, we stopped into Brewerkz on Clarke Quay for lunch, escaping the mid-afternoon heat of a muggy day. Brewerkz is one of Singapore’s fermenting brew-houses and makes its golden nectar on site. With the standard beer accompaniments of burgers, ribs and steaks, it’s very western and pretty stodgy stuff. The aussie rules footy on the television was a suitably masculine accompaniment to the red meat and a welcome diversion from the heat outside.
The brews are pretty varied though, definitely the reason to go there with a group of friends, and they’re strong. Starting at 4.9% golden ale, they move on to 7% head-thumpers! There are tasting menus available which allows you to sample whatever you’ve not tried before, before diving into a pint of new beer. Bottled beers are on the menu too and they have chosen interestingly boutique and global varieties; my favourites coming from the small UK breweries of Wychwood and Brakspears.
As one of our friends is a vet, we were obliged to visit the Night Safari, which you can see my blog entry about earlier. After meeting the animals we took a late-night taxi to Boat Quay, arriving about 00:30. We thought it would still be busy, seeing that it’s a long drag of restaurants and bars and Singapore likes to party on the weekend, but to our surprise a lot of the restaurants had already packed up their tables and chairs. We managed to find an indian/chinese crossover that was willing to serve us and we did get some very good curry and rice before they chivied us along and asked us to finish up and leave.
Shovel
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