Singapore is completely freaked out by Swine Flu. They have good reason. SARs really crippled the economy as they are so tourist and transit-based, so they are not about to let an epidemic strike without a real fight.
They already have enough Tamiflu for the whole country. That has been done for a while.
They scan every passenger coming into Singapore--flights, boats, driving, buses...for a fever. They screen kids at every school before they go into class. They screen every person who comes to a medical center, hospital or doctor's office. They not only take temperatures, they get a full history of travel for last 14 days and address, id and phone numbers. I do think its a little ironic that they are telling some people who are at the doctor's office that they are sick--I mean, that is generally the reason you go to a doctor....Anyway, they will find case zero here and they will find it before the doctor does!
Anyone who gets back from any country where there is swine flu cannot go to school for 7 days.
There is a quarantine for everyone coming from Mexico and some others who come from Hong Kong or have some symptoms. The government puts these quarantined people up in a "resort" for 7 days with meals included (and delivered) if you cannot (because you have other family members who work/go to school) do your quarantine at home or you don't live in Singapore. If you do choose to do your quarantine at home they have CCTC that they can get you to stand in front of whenever they call. In both situations, there is someone who comes to monitor your symptoms and temperature 3 times a day.
If you break your quarantine you are fined $10,000 and can go to jail for 6 months (presumably when they are sure you are not contagious) and a second infraction is $20,000 and 1 year in jail.
None of the niceties of whether this infringes on your privacy--your privacy is of no consequence or import when there is an infectious disease that could do a SARs on their economy.
I have told you that if you want to see the right way to do things you should see how its done here. This applies to anything that takes planning and coordination (from metro systems to health screening to Formula One racing). This does not apply to creating a free-thinking, quick-witted and courteous work force. Perhaps you can see some cause and effect. Obviously every quick-witted, free-thinking person is in the government.
Things that may not interest anyone:
1) There is no way to get a proper eyebrow waxing here. Apparently in an Oriental-heavy society, eyebrows must be hard to grow so there is no way they are going to shape the eyebrow if it means diminishing the quantity...I have got to get back to NYC!
2) I had no idea that toe nail length could be culturally influenced. I thought there was a world-wide preference and anything longer than that was in between the stages of having been trimmed and going to be trimmed in a short while.
This is not true. Much like fingernails, there is variability in desired length--with the default length long enough for me to feel that one has forgotten to look at one's feet in some time. This is not just unkempt feet--this is true for ladies with polished and primped toes--its like long fingernails. I guess when you never wear a shoe with a closed toe it can actually work. I don't think this is a fashion import the US has to rush to accept.
Alright, that should be it!
Faith
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Last Notes from the East April 22, 2009
We are moving back to the US--to northern NJ--in the next months or so. We are very excited about it and Leon is excited to start his new position (still in JP Morgan) in Whippany.
I am looking forward to being back in the same general time zone as my office and being able to go to Austin quarterly. We all are excited about being closer to family and friends.
We have finished all the places on our travel list and have made it to 11 different countries and made it to many of them more than once in the last 16 months!
Here are a couple more things that I find funny/interesting.
Taxis
You guys know my never-ending fascination with their inability to drive and lack of knowledge of both English and directional layout of Singapore. I have made some progress in my research into this phenomenon. Taxi driving is not a highly sought after profession. Apparently it is basically a last ditch effort by those unemployed (married and older than 35--otherwise the gov't won't give you a taxi license) to make some money. Many of these cab drivers (which I have verified by speaking to many) learned to drive a car only when they found themselves in need of this last chance of employment.
Not only have they been driving for less than 3 months--they have never driven around (or been driven around (because they take the bus or subway or walk in their neighborhoods)) anywhere to have any idea how things are laid out and have no real facility in driving anyway.
This is like a nation of newly minted 16-year old cab drivers!! I cannot believe we ever get anywhere safely with them!!
Exact Numbers
You know how fascinated I am with the reporting of exact numbers--2,406 divorces last year, 1,326 underage kids having sex, etc. In the paper on Monday they told us how a hawker area (where they have the inexpensive food that all Singaporeans (and visitors) love) had numerous cases of severe food poisoning and 4 people died. They shut down the whole area and did a huge cleaning and fumigation and (here is the bit I love) exterminated 16 rats. Exactly 16 rats!
Zip Codes
How did I not know this until now? Zip codes are specific to each building. Works well if you have a country with 1/2 the buildings that are in Houston.
Guests of Honor
These people love their government Ministers. They want a Minister at every single possible function. The Rotary Club is having a movie screening to raise money for a children's cause. They are very excited to announce that
the Minister of some such is coming. This Minister is in no way involved
with children, film or the charity--he is like Gardening Minister or something, but it is a big draw that he will be there! This is the oddest thing to me?!
Deaths
Okay, I don't really find this funny, but I don't think I have mentioned before in these rantings how when someone dies they have this wake wherein for about a week there is a big tent set up near the person's HDB (housing
flat/building) under which are incense burning drums, drums on which the official mourner (or whomever) beats the drum every so often (maybe every
hour) and there is food for mourners who come by. As we live right next to an HDB we have experienced this quite a few times in the last year, I like the drum beat, but it took me some months to recognize that the tents and drums do not mean there is a street fair coming up!
That's it for this issue. Perhaps the last one. Although when we get back I may have observations on the "home versus host" country cultural shock.
Faith
I am looking forward to being back in the same general time zone as my office and being able to go to Austin quarterly. We all are excited about being closer to family and friends.
We have finished all the places on our travel list and have made it to 11 different countries and made it to many of them more than once in the last 16 months!
Here are a couple more things that I find funny/interesting.
Taxis
You guys know my never-ending fascination with their inability to drive and lack of knowledge of both English and directional layout of Singapore. I have made some progress in my research into this phenomenon. Taxi driving is not a highly sought after profession. Apparently it is basically a last ditch effort by those unemployed (married and older than 35--otherwise the gov't won't give you a taxi license) to make some money. Many of these cab drivers (which I have verified by speaking to many) learned to drive a car only when they found themselves in need of this last chance of employment.
Not only have they been driving for less than 3 months--they have never driven around (or been driven around (because they take the bus or subway or walk in their neighborhoods)) anywhere to have any idea how things are laid out and have no real facility in driving anyway.
This is like a nation of newly minted 16-year old cab drivers!! I cannot believe we ever get anywhere safely with them!!
Exact Numbers
You know how fascinated I am with the reporting of exact numbers--2,406 divorces last year, 1,326 underage kids having sex, etc. In the paper on Monday they told us how a hawker area (where they have the inexpensive food that all Singaporeans (and visitors) love) had numerous cases of severe food poisoning and 4 people died. They shut down the whole area and did a huge cleaning and fumigation and (here is the bit I love) exterminated 16 rats. Exactly 16 rats!
Zip Codes
How did I not know this until now? Zip codes are specific to each building. Works well if you have a country with 1/2 the buildings that are in Houston.
Guests of Honor
These people love their government Ministers. They want a Minister at every single possible function. The Rotary Club is having a movie screening to raise money for a children's cause. They are very excited to announce that
the Minister of some such is coming. This Minister is in no way involved
with children, film or the charity--he is like Gardening Minister or something, but it is a big draw that he will be there! This is the oddest thing to me?!
Deaths
Okay, I don't really find this funny, but I don't think I have mentioned before in these rantings how when someone dies they have this wake wherein for about a week there is a big tent set up near the person's HDB (housing
flat/building) under which are incense burning drums, drums on which the official mourner (or whomever) beats the drum every so often (maybe every
hour) and there is food for mourners who come by. As we live right next to an HDB we have experienced this quite a few times in the last year, I like the drum beat, but it took me some months to recognize that the tents and drums do not mean there is a street fair coming up!
That's it for this issue. Perhaps the last one. Although when we get back I may have observations on the "home versus host" country cultural shock.
Faith
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Little India, taxi drivers and the Merlion
Above is a sign we saw up in Little India—services that they will provide for Indian passport holders. Some of these things I can see needing to be changed—say your wife needs to be added to your passport (apparently in India you do not need to be an individual—you can just be part of your husband), or changing your address—or even deleting your spouse (hopefully she has her own passport so that she does not end up being a non-entity), getting an extension of its validity… But, do you really think all of these are legal? Changing the name of your parents? Changing your birth date?
I have some clue as to why taxi drivers are so bad here—we get the “I’m new driver” all the time. Apparently the taxi license is given to men over 30 with families first. Then, if they decide (that is, if the Government decides) that there are still more taxi drivers needed they may allow women to do it as long as they are of a mature age and have families to help support. There is nominally a test, which I believe has to do with English, but this cannot be verified by anecdotal evidence. There is certainly no exam for how to drive a car—meaning when one goes from a lower gear to a higher one and there is no “where in Singapore is...” kind of test. The “new driver” thing is a bit scary because presumably these people had other jobs before (as they are at least 30) and I can’t figure out what it could have been. It was not in customer relations or map reading I think.
The other day our cab driver was having some (not too unusual) difficulty understanding that the road that I wanted was called Orchard Boulevard and the place was “at the end of the Road, almost to Grange Road, opposite Camden Medical Center.” Siena told me, “You don’t speak his language.” Which I was pretty sure was true. Siena then told him—in Singlish, not Mandarin, “Go now. This side. It car left. Go. Go. Here. Here” (or something very similar to that) The driver followed her instructions and got us there.
Do you think it is time for me to give up or to rush her from the country immediately?
A couple weeks ago a man who was visiting from Holland jumped in the river to save a woman who had tried to kill herself. He was a hero and was treated at the hospital for some cuts on his feet and then he was charged $90 for the treatment. The newspaper ran a story about him and how he was surprised that he had been given a bill. But, he had paid it. Basically the person at the hospital—all those involved said something like, “Well, we have to follow the rules.” Who will pay if we don’t bill him. We just follow the rules.” It was so perfectly Singapore. On the other hand, it was also Singapore that the next day about 30 people had called the paper and said that they would pay the bill for the hero and that he should not have been charged.
Apparently Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightening activity in the world. I know I have been amazed over the last year at how violent the rain storms are here. I love to watch them come in over the water from our apartment. Last Saturday the Merlion was even hit by lightning (see his bald spot on the back). By Sunday they had the scaffolding up to repair him, of course. But, then there was another huge storm so the work was delayed.
I hope everyone is having a lovely sunny day like we are!!! HA!
Faith
I have some clue as to why taxi drivers are so bad here—we get the “I’m new driver” all the time. Apparently the taxi license is given to men over 30 with families first. Then, if they decide (that is, if the Government decides) that there are still more taxi drivers needed they may allow women to do it as long as they are of a mature age and have families to help support. There is nominally a test, which I believe has to do with English, but this cannot be verified by anecdotal evidence. There is certainly no exam for how to drive a car—meaning when one goes from a lower gear to a higher one and there is no “where in Singapore is...” kind of test. The “new driver” thing is a bit scary because presumably these people had other jobs before (as they are at least 30) and I can’t figure out what it could have been. It was not in customer relations or map reading I think.
The other day our cab driver was having some (not too unusual) difficulty understanding that the road that I wanted was called Orchard Boulevard and the place was “at the end of the Road, almost to Grange Road, opposite Camden Medical Center.” Siena told me, “You don’t speak his language.” Which I was pretty sure was true. Siena then told him—in Singlish, not Mandarin, “Go now. This side. It car left. Go. Go. Here. Here” (or something very similar to that) The driver followed her instructions and got us there.
Do you think it is time for me to give up or to rush her from the country immediately?
A couple weeks ago a man who was visiting from Holland jumped in the river to save a woman who had tried to kill herself. He was a hero and was treated at the hospital for some cuts on his feet and then he was charged $90 for the treatment. The newspaper ran a story about him and how he was surprised that he had been given a bill. But, he had paid it. Basically the person at the hospital—all those involved said something like, “Well, we have to follow the rules.” Who will pay if we don’t bill him. We just follow the rules.” It was so perfectly Singapore. On the other hand, it was also Singapore that the next day about 30 people had called the paper and said that they would pay the bill for the hero and that he should not have been charged.
Apparently Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightening activity in the world. I know I have been amazed over the last year at how violent the rain storms are here. I love to watch them come in over the water from our apartment. Last Saturday the Merlion was even hit by lightning (see his bald spot on the back). By Sunday they had the scaffolding up to repair him, of course. But, then there was another huge storm so the work was delayed.
I hope everyone is having a lovely sunny day like we are!!! HA!
Faith
Monday, February 2, 2009
Notes from the East February 3, 2009
Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!
The Singapore population at present is about 4.8 million people and about $850,000 of those are foreigners. The population has grown from $2.7 million 16 years ago. The government’s goal is for Singapore to have 6.5 million people in 17 years. They are getting this growth by two methods, 1) trying to get “foreign talent” to become permanent residents or citizens, and 2) getting Singaporeans to have procreate more.
They are fine with adding foreigners to the population and expect it to be between 1 to 1.5 million when they are at 6.5 million population, but they really want those foreigners to stay here permanently.
Two years ago (last data I have), the government granted permits for 58,200 permanent residency (PR) and 13,900 citizenships to foreigners. That total was almost double the 38,000 babies born to Singaporeans that year.
This is not an intro into a confession that we are becoming citizens here, only an introduction to one more Singaporean “campaign” to win the hearts and minds of the citizens. This is called the “Marriage and Parenthood Package” which has been enhanced.
Here are some amazing parts of what this whole package offers:
A Working Mother’s Tax Credit Basically, this is to get people to get Singapore citizenship for their kids (or reward those who have it automatically) and keep women in the workforce after they have kids. It boils down to the fact that a woman can get credit (so that she does not pay taxes on income) of up to $50,000 per child (with a couple of caveats, but they do not diminish this too much) in a step-up for each child. See this chart:
How much you can claim
The amount of WMCR claimable for each child is based on a specified percentage of the working mother's earned income corresponding to the child order.
New! With effect from Year of Assessment (YA) 2009, the percentage quantum for WMCR has increased and WMCR is now extended to all qualifying children. Working mothers can claim WMCR up to 100% of their earned income for all her qualifying children. In addition, the total amount of QCR/ HCR and WMCR claimable for each child is capped at $50,000.
Child order
WMCR (YA 2008 and before)
WMCR (YA 2009)
1st
5% of mother's earned income
New! 15% of mother's earned income
2nd
15% of mother's earned income
New! 20% of mother's earned income
3rd
20% of mother's earned income
New! 25% of mother's earned income
4th
25% of mother's earned income(for child born in or after 1987 but excludes child adopted before 1 Jan 2004)
New! 25% of mother's earned income
5th and beyond
0%
New! 25% of mother's earned income
Maximum claim allowable*
QCR/ HCR + WMCR is capped at $25,000 per child
New! QCR/ HCR + WMCR is capped at $50,000 per child
Cumulative WMCR percentages are capped at 100% of mother's earned income
* QCR/ HCR, regardless of whether it is claimed by the father or mother, will be allowed first and WMCR will be limited to the remaining balance.
Baby Bonuses and Children Development (Savings) Accounts
You will get a cash gift of up to $4,000 each for your 1st and 2nd child and $6,000 each for your 3rd and 4th child. All your children born on or after 17 August 2008 will also enjoy Government contributions in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching for the amount of savings you contribute to your child’s Children Development Account (CDA). If your child is born before 17 August 2008, he or she will enjoy the Government matching contributions in the CDA if he or she is your second to fourth child. The CDA is a special savings account that you open at any OCBC Bank or Standard Chartered Bank branch for your child who is eligible for CDA. You can save in the CDA any time until 31 December in the year your child turns 6 years of age. The savings will be matched up to the cap of $6,000 each for the 1st and 2nd child, $12,000 each for the 3rd and 4th child and $18,000 each for the fifth and subsequent child. The Government will match your savings in the following month. The savings in the CDA may be used to pay fees for all your children who are attending Approved Institutions registered with MCYS under the Baby Bonus Scheme. These include child care centres, kindergartens & special education schools registered with the Ministry of Education, and early intervention programmes registered with the National Council of Social Service. The CDA savings can also be used to purchase MediShield or Medisave-approved private integrated plans for all your children and pay for all your children’s medical-related expenses. These would include consultation fees, treatment fees and prescription costs incurred at healthcare institutions.
Just in case you are wondering, this is not an introduction to news of us deciding to have a Singaporean baby, just things I thought you might find interesting.
Its almost time for the Finance Minister to give the speech where they tell you how much money (if any) is left over from the budget expenditures/ inflows last year and dole out the goodies to people as they did last year. Despite the fact that I personally get none of the largesse, I love reading what they are using their money for—the whole thing is an economics case study.
Here is what they have come up with for the next year’s budget. It is going to be a very bad year for the Singapore economy…
$5.1 billion from government coffers to save jobs: Government will give all employers money for every Singaporean (or permanent resident) on their payrolls—12% of the first $2,500 of each month’s wages for each employee.
$5.8 billion from government to help small businesses: Government will get involved in trade financing and unsecured loans because small companies can not get credit in the markets.
$2.6 billion in tax rebates for families; $2.6 billion property tax rebate for factories, offices and shops that will hopefully lead to lower rents for the tenants.
$4,4 billion on public infrastructure, education, health care, sustainable development projects. These are not campaign promises—these are in the actual budget for next year!
On January 1, the government mandated that there cannot be smoking within 15 feet of the entrance to buildings, elevator lobbies, parking garages. Okay, that is pretty much in line with all kinds of initiatives in the US and elsewhere. Here is the difference, “About 100 plain clothes enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) fanned out across the island yesterday (1-2-09) to issue friendly reminders to smokers who were still puffing away in now out-of-bounds areas…NEA has put more officers on the beat—120 daily [my emphasis], up from 50—to enforce the ban and also to catch litterbugs. Another 500 public health enforcement officers are on duty daily to check cleanliness and hygiene in public areas, as well as smokers and litterbugs”
“Smokers who infringe on the smoking bans can be fined up to $1,000. Operators who fail to advise their patrons against lighting up can be fined up to $2,000. Those caught with duty-unpaid cigarettes (which they do by not allowing any un-official import and all imported cigarettes have a legend printed on them (on each cigarette) will be fined at least $500 for each pack [my emphasis] found on them.” All that from the Straits Times.
As I have often said, when you look at a situation (like the “drug war” in the US or whatever) and say, “Well, if they really wanted to solve the problem, this is how they would do it…” that is how they have done it in Singapore. They may not have a sense of humor, really cannot speak English correctly and cannot possibly be talked poorly about in the Wall Street Journal, but they do know how to get the results they are after!
Last bit! This is not from Singapore, but from the Invocation Card in the seat back pocket on Indonesian airline Lion Air. I have left the spelling and grammar as reproduced on the card:
Islam
“We seek the help of Allah, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful…Who has bestowed upon us the will and ability to use this aircraft, without Whom we are helpless. Verily, God, alone we worship and to God alone we shall return. Oh Allah, shower us with your blessings and protect us on this journey from any hardship or danger and protect also our family and our wealth.”
Protestant
“Lord in heaven, we praise and thanks of Thy bless and endless love in our live. In this opportunity, We call They holly name to accompany our journey. We believe Thou will guard and protect our plane from any disturbance and danger. To the all air crew, Thou will lead their duty in order for us to arrive to destination in time and save. Thank you for Thy help and firm love from beginning, now and forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.”
Catholic
“In the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Long ago You save the children of Israel who crossed the sea with dry feet. And three wise kings from the east received Your command with the guidance of a star. We beg You. Bless us with a safe trip, with good weather. Bless us with the guidance from your angels, so that crew of this aircraft will lead us to our destination safely. We also hope that our family remain happy and peaceful until we land safely. Blessed be Your name, now and forever, Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Hinduism
“Keep our minds and manners pure and let us attain inner peace and happiness.”
Buddhism
“Homage to Him, the Blessed One, the Perfected One, the Supremely Enlightened On (3x). May all beings be well and happy.”
Faith (that’s my name, not the last part of the Invocation Card).
The Singapore population at present is about 4.8 million people and about $850,000 of those are foreigners. The population has grown from $2.7 million 16 years ago. The government’s goal is for Singapore to have 6.5 million people in 17 years. They are getting this growth by two methods, 1) trying to get “foreign talent” to become permanent residents or citizens, and 2) getting Singaporeans to have procreate more.
They are fine with adding foreigners to the population and expect it to be between 1 to 1.5 million when they are at 6.5 million population, but they really want those foreigners to stay here permanently.
Two years ago (last data I have), the government granted permits for 58,200 permanent residency (PR) and 13,900 citizenships to foreigners. That total was almost double the 38,000 babies born to Singaporeans that year.
This is not an intro into a confession that we are becoming citizens here, only an introduction to one more Singaporean “campaign” to win the hearts and minds of the citizens. This is called the “Marriage and Parenthood Package” which has been enhanced.
Here are some amazing parts of what this whole package offers:
A Working Mother’s Tax Credit Basically, this is to get people to get Singapore citizenship for their kids (or reward those who have it automatically) and keep women in the workforce after they have kids. It boils down to the fact that a woman can get credit (so that she does not pay taxes on income) of up to $50,000 per child (with a couple of caveats, but they do not diminish this too much) in a step-up for each child. See this chart:
How much you can claim
The amount of WMCR claimable for each child is based on a specified percentage of the working mother's earned income corresponding to the child order.
New! With effect from Year of Assessment (YA) 2009, the percentage quantum for WMCR has increased and WMCR is now extended to all qualifying children. Working mothers can claim WMCR up to 100% of their earned income for all her qualifying children. In addition, the total amount of QCR/ HCR and WMCR claimable for each child is capped at $50,000.
Child order
WMCR (YA 2008 and before)
WMCR (YA 2009)
1st
5% of mother's earned income
New! 15% of mother's earned income
2nd
15% of mother's earned income
New! 20% of mother's earned income
3rd
20% of mother's earned income
New! 25% of mother's earned income
4th
25% of mother's earned income(for child born in or after 1987 but excludes child adopted before 1 Jan 2004)
New! 25% of mother's earned income
5th and beyond
0%
New! 25% of mother's earned income
Maximum claim allowable*
QCR/ HCR + WMCR is capped at $25,000 per child
New! QCR/ HCR + WMCR is capped at $50,000 per child
Cumulative WMCR percentages are capped at 100% of mother's earned income
* QCR/ HCR, regardless of whether it is claimed by the father or mother, will be allowed first and WMCR will be limited to the remaining balance.
Baby Bonuses and Children Development (Savings) Accounts
You will get a cash gift of up to $4,000 each for your 1st and 2nd child and $6,000 each for your 3rd and 4th child. All your children born on or after 17 August 2008 will also enjoy Government contributions in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching for the amount of savings you contribute to your child’s Children Development Account (CDA). If your child is born before 17 August 2008, he or she will enjoy the Government matching contributions in the CDA if he or she is your second to fourth child. The CDA is a special savings account that you open at any OCBC Bank or Standard Chartered Bank branch for your child who is eligible for CDA. You can save in the CDA any time until 31 December in the year your child turns 6 years of age. The savings will be matched up to the cap of $6,000 each for the 1st and 2nd child, $12,000 each for the 3rd and 4th child and $18,000 each for the fifth and subsequent child. The Government will match your savings in the following month. The savings in the CDA may be used to pay fees for all your children who are attending Approved Institutions registered with MCYS under the Baby Bonus Scheme. These include child care centres, kindergartens & special education schools registered with the Ministry of Education, and early intervention programmes registered with the National Council of Social Service. The CDA savings can also be used to purchase MediShield or Medisave-approved private integrated plans for all your children and pay for all your children’s medical-related expenses. These would include consultation fees, treatment fees and prescription costs incurred at healthcare institutions.
Just in case you are wondering, this is not an introduction to news of us deciding to have a Singaporean baby, just things I thought you might find interesting.
Its almost time for the Finance Minister to give the speech where they tell you how much money (if any) is left over from the budget expenditures/ inflows last year and dole out the goodies to people as they did last year. Despite the fact that I personally get none of the largesse, I love reading what they are using their money for—the whole thing is an economics case study.
Here is what they have come up with for the next year’s budget. It is going to be a very bad year for the Singapore economy…
$5.1 billion from government coffers to save jobs: Government will give all employers money for every Singaporean (or permanent resident) on their payrolls—12% of the first $2,500 of each month’s wages for each employee.
$5.8 billion from government to help small businesses: Government will get involved in trade financing and unsecured loans because small companies can not get credit in the markets.
$2.6 billion in tax rebates for families; $2.6 billion property tax rebate for factories, offices and shops that will hopefully lead to lower rents for the tenants.
$4,4 billion on public infrastructure, education, health care, sustainable development projects. These are not campaign promises—these are in the actual budget for next year!
On January 1, the government mandated that there cannot be smoking within 15 feet of the entrance to buildings, elevator lobbies, parking garages. Okay, that is pretty much in line with all kinds of initiatives in the US and elsewhere. Here is the difference, “About 100 plain clothes enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) fanned out across the island yesterday (1-2-09) to issue friendly reminders to smokers who were still puffing away in now out-of-bounds areas…NEA has put more officers on the beat—120 daily [my emphasis], up from 50—to enforce the ban and also to catch litterbugs. Another 500 public health enforcement officers are on duty daily to check cleanliness and hygiene in public areas, as well as smokers and litterbugs”
“Smokers who infringe on the smoking bans can be fined up to $1,000. Operators who fail to advise their patrons against lighting up can be fined up to $2,000. Those caught with duty-unpaid cigarettes (which they do by not allowing any un-official import and all imported cigarettes have a legend printed on them (on each cigarette) will be fined at least $500 for each pack [my emphasis] found on them.” All that from the Straits Times.
As I have often said, when you look at a situation (like the “drug war” in the US or whatever) and say, “Well, if they really wanted to solve the problem, this is how they would do it…” that is how they have done it in Singapore. They may not have a sense of humor, really cannot speak English correctly and cannot possibly be talked poorly about in the Wall Street Journal, but they do know how to get the results they are after!
Last bit! This is not from Singapore, but from the Invocation Card in the seat back pocket on Indonesian airline Lion Air. I have left the spelling and grammar as reproduced on the card:
Islam
“We seek the help of Allah, the most Gracious, the Most Merciful…Who has bestowed upon us the will and ability to use this aircraft, without Whom we are helpless. Verily, God, alone we worship and to God alone we shall return. Oh Allah, shower us with your blessings and protect us on this journey from any hardship or danger and protect also our family and our wealth.”
Protestant
“Lord in heaven, we praise and thanks of Thy bless and endless love in our live. In this opportunity, We call They holly name to accompany our journey. We believe Thou will guard and protect our plane from any disturbance and danger. To the all air crew, Thou will lead their duty in order for us to arrive to destination in time and save. Thank you for Thy help and firm love from beginning, now and forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.”
Catholic
“In the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Long ago You save the children of Israel who crossed the sea with dry feet. And three wise kings from the east received Your command with the guidance of a star. We beg You. Bless us with a safe trip, with good weather. Bless us with the guidance from your angels, so that crew of this aircraft will lead us to our destination safely. We also hope that our family remain happy and peaceful until we land safely. Blessed be Your name, now and forever, Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Hinduism
“Keep our minds and manners pure and let us attain inner peace and happiness.”
Buddhism
“Homage to Him, the Blessed One, the Perfected One, the Supremely Enlightened On (3x). May all beings be well and happy.”
Faith (that’s my name, not the last part of the Invocation Card).
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Notes from the East
Where to start?
I’m going to clump these by overall topic, but if I were more intelligent, or gave it more time (most likely both), I might be able to tie the whole thing into a cultural narrative. But, this is what you get. Perhaps I have mentioned one or all of these things before. Refer to the sentence above. If I were more intelligent or diligent about looking back I would know for sure.
Cars
To purchase a car in Singapore you must do the following:
Buy/Own a Certificate of Entitlement (COE). These are basically a license to be allowed to own a car. You have to have one—they are good for 10 years. The prices have been between $10,000 and $20,000 generally. This money goes right to the government. The prices have tanked lately because of the economy—down to $2 for the “smaller” cars (like up to 1600 ccs or whatever). The prices are higher for bigger cars. The idea to regulate the growth/number of cars on the road each year to about a 3% increase and they use an auction to determine the price that clears the market to do that—that is why when people are worried about jobs and the economy they do not bid as high and so the bid goes to $2 (which is unprecedented).
Anyway, you get your license to be able to buy a car; then, you have to pay for the
Registration and Import Taxes As no cars are made in Singapore you cannot get away from import taxes—of 41% of the value of imported cars. This amount goes to the government. You also have to pay $1,000 for Registering the Vehicle (a very minimal sum at this point). And, here is the whopper!!! When a car is first registered (whether new or used), an Additional Registration Fee (ARF) of 150 per cent of the car's Open Market Value is payable.
There are all kinds of toll roads and road taxes each year (like inspection stickers more or less) that add to the cost of operating a car.
But, to buy a new BMW 328 (A) (2.8cc) would cost you about $238,000—that is Singapore dollars. So at the current exchange rate it would be about USD$162,000! From a website I found a price in the US of USD $41,000.
To put this in perspective: if I took a cab every single place I go in a month and so did Leon and even Siena it would cost us at the most about $400—Singapore dollars. The bus ride from Siena’s school to our house costs me $0.67 and I believe its about the same to Leon’s work from here.
Crazy. I just cannot see where they get the money. I have heard that the loans are huge amounts and that often when you sell a car in three years or so you have to write a check to cover the shortfall between the resale price (especially for export) and the balance on the loan. Also, Singapore is the 2nd or 3rd largest exporter of used cars in the world—this from a country 1/100th the size of the King Ranch that does not even make cars! People love to have new cars and new phones—they change cell phones every 3 months or so and cars every three years.
Public Sector Pay
Apparently civil servants receive a 13th month salary as a bonus each year and also get Annual Variable Components bonuses (for CPI) and Growth Bonuses-w-hen the economy grows. They don’t get as much of the AVC and GB bonuses—or none at all when the economy is in the shape it is now (and expected to be for 2009).
The pay of the Ministers is very high. This is the way in which corruption is never allowed to take hold. For example, top officer holders (President and PM) get $3.1 million per year and entry grade Ministers get $1.57 million this year. However, this is a 19% cut from last year. The Members of Parliament get $190,000—down 16% from last year. Here is a direct quote from the venerable Straights Times:
“The pay of Cabinet ministers and top civil servants has been pegged to the taxed income of top earners in six professions in the private sector since 1994. Last year, an additional mechanism was introduced to link a “significant” portion of pay—close to 25% this year—to the performance of the economy, to allow for more rapid adjustments to changing market conditions…Since the pay formula was introduced, top civil servants and ministers have seen their pay go down several times along with the county’s economic fortunes—in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.”
The Judiciary, the City-State, LKY and the Press
This excerpt will have to speak for itself:
Singapore's High Court has found the Wall Street Journal Asia in contempt of court for a commentary it published about the city-state in June and July. The court fined Dow Jones Publishing Co (Asia), a subsidiary of News Corp's Dow Jones & Co unit and publisher of the Wall Street Journal's Asian edition, 25,000 Singapore dollars (US$16,573)—the highest amount ever levied for such a case in Singapore.
Justice Tay Yong Kwang ruled Tuesday against the newspaper and two of its editors, three weeks after Attorney-General Walter Woon argued the editorials published in June and July questioned the judiciary's independence from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the ruling People's Action Party, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Not meting out punishment in this case would undermine the country's rule of law, the court said.
The letter to the editor was written by Chee Soon Juan, head of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party. The editorials and the letter "contained insinuations of bias, lack of impartiality and lack of independence and implied that the judiciary is subservient to Lee and/or the PAP and is a tool for silencing political dissent," Tay wrote in the ruling. "There can be no doubt that allegations of the nature mentioned above would immediately cast doubts on the judiciary in Singapore and undermine public confidence."
Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the ruling. "Even if the fine is not colossal, the ruling very clearly shows that Singapore’s judges have no intention of letting the foreign media express themselves freely about the country’s judicial system, which is lacking in independence," it said.
"Another Dow Jones publication, the Far Eastern Economic Review, has also been prosecuted in Singapore," RSF added. "The way this company is being hounded by the government and judicial system—which takes its orders from Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong—is utterly deplorable. We urge the Singaporean authorities to stop prosecuting foreign news media."
A Dow Jones spokesman told RSF, "Dow Jones is extremely disappointed with the ruling of the high court and strongly disagrees with the court’s analysis that the editorials and letter to the editor constitute contempt of court. Also, contrary to what the attorney general has alleged, the Wall Street Journal Asia has not engaged in a ’campaign’ of any sort against the Singapore judiciary. We will in the future continue to defend the right of the Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matters of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore."
The prosecution was brought by the attorney general, who said the editorials and the letter, published in June and July of this year, "impugned the integrity, impartiality and independence of the Singapore judiciary."
Denying any illegal intent on the part of the newspaper, its lawyer, Philip Jeyaretnam, said it had simply wanted to inform a readership that knew the difference between information and criticism. The letter was written by Chee Soon Juan, one of the leading members of the Singaporean opposition. It was an article about Chee that led the prime minister and his father, Lee Kuan Yew, to sue the Far Eastern Economic Review. The high court ruled at the end of September that the magazine had libelled the Lees ordered it to pay damages. The size of the damages award has not been released.
Exciting place to be living.
Movie Theaters
Seats are reserved.
There are whole food courts outside the theaters where you can buy all kinds of food and take it in. Somehow I have not found it very smelly as you would imagine. There are two kinds of popcorn-sweet (caramel corn) and salted (the normal kind), but no butter-lard!
Each theater has a restroom off to the side where the sound for that movie is on so you really don’t miss much. Its not just one bathroom its like the normal one you would have—3 stalls for women (I assume something of the like for men) and its behind a curtain that then leads to the doors so it stays dark in the theater—its very civilized.
Public restrooms
Other than (and probably even including) Japan, these are the cleanest anywhere in the world. Its really a surprise because Singaporeans don’t clean up their table after eating, the movie theater upon leaving, anything, but they do seem to keep a toilet clean.
Christmas Decorations
Yes. You complainers about Christmas starting too soon and being too commercialized in the US have no idea! The first Christmas tree in the mall was up November 5th. The entire main shopping district is more lit up than 5th Avenue and there is no qualm about a country of only 15% Christians having giant Merry Christmas banners all over. It is a shopping excuse and that is what really matters here.
We miss Thanksgiving in the US, but are going to do up a Singapore-style one here on Saturday with some friends—pool party, BBQ, some turkey and cranberry..traditional November activities.
Faith
I’m going to clump these by overall topic, but if I were more intelligent, or gave it more time (most likely both), I might be able to tie the whole thing into a cultural narrative. But, this is what you get. Perhaps I have mentioned one or all of these things before. Refer to the sentence above. If I were more intelligent or diligent about looking back I would know for sure.
Cars
To purchase a car in Singapore you must do the following:
Buy/Own a Certificate of Entitlement (COE). These are basically a license to be allowed to own a car. You have to have one—they are good for 10 years. The prices have been between $10,000 and $20,000 generally. This money goes right to the government. The prices have tanked lately because of the economy—down to $2 for the “smaller” cars (like up to 1600 ccs or whatever). The prices are higher for bigger cars. The idea to regulate the growth/number of cars on the road each year to about a 3% increase and they use an auction to determine the price that clears the market to do that—that is why when people are worried about jobs and the economy they do not bid as high and so the bid goes to $2 (which is unprecedented).
Anyway, you get your license to be able to buy a car; then, you have to pay for the
Registration and Import Taxes As no cars are made in Singapore you cannot get away from import taxes—of 41% of the value of imported cars. This amount goes to the government. You also have to pay $1,000 for Registering the Vehicle (a very minimal sum at this point). And, here is the whopper!!! When a car is first registered (whether new or used), an Additional Registration Fee (ARF) of 150 per cent of the car's Open Market Value is payable.
There are all kinds of toll roads and road taxes each year (like inspection stickers more or less) that add to the cost of operating a car.
But, to buy a new BMW 328 (A) (2.8cc) would cost you about $238,000—that is Singapore dollars. So at the current exchange rate it would be about USD$162,000! From a website I found a price in the US of USD $41,000.
To put this in perspective: if I took a cab every single place I go in a month and so did Leon and even Siena it would cost us at the most about $400—Singapore dollars. The bus ride from Siena’s school to our house costs me $0.67 and I believe its about the same to Leon’s work from here.
Crazy. I just cannot see where they get the money. I have heard that the loans are huge amounts and that often when you sell a car in three years or so you have to write a check to cover the shortfall between the resale price (especially for export) and the balance on the loan. Also, Singapore is the 2nd or 3rd largest exporter of used cars in the world—this from a country 1/100th the size of the King Ranch that does not even make cars! People love to have new cars and new phones—they change cell phones every 3 months or so and cars every three years.
Public Sector Pay
Apparently civil servants receive a 13th month salary as a bonus each year and also get Annual Variable Components bonuses (for CPI) and Growth Bonuses-w-hen the economy grows. They don’t get as much of the AVC and GB bonuses—or none at all when the economy is in the shape it is now (and expected to be for 2009).
The pay of the Ministers is very high. This is the way in which corruption is never allowed to take hold. For example, top officer holders (President and PM) get $3.1 million per year and entry grade Ministers get $1.57 million this year. However, this is a 19% cut from last year. The Members of Parliament get $190,000—down 16% from last year. Here is a direct quote from the venerable Straights Times:
“The pay of Cabinet ministers and top civil servants has been pegged to the taxed income of top earners in six professions in the private sector since 1994. Last year, an additional mechanism was introduced to link a “significant” portion of pay—close to 25% this year—to the performance of the economy, to allow for more rapid adjustments to changing market conditions…Since the pay formula was introduced, top civil servants and ministers have seen their pay go down several times along with the county’s economic fortunes—in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.”
The Judiciary, the City-State, LKY and the Press
This excerpt will have to speak for itself:
Singapore's High Court has found the Wall Street Journal Asia in contempt of court for a commentary it published about the city-state in June and July. The court fined Dow Jones Publishing Co (Asia), a subsidiary of News Corp's Dow Jones & Co unit and publisher of the Wall Street Journal's Asian edition, 25,000 Singapore dollars (US$16,573)—the highest amount ever levied for such a case in Singapore.
Justice Tay Yong Kwang ruled Tuesday against the newspaper and two of its editors, three weeks after Attorney-General Walter Woon argued the editorials published in June and July questioned the judiciary's independence from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the ruling People's Action Party, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Not meting out punishment in this case would undermine the country's rule of law, the court said.
The letter to the editor was written by Chee Soon Juan, head of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party. The editorials and the letter "contained insinuations of bias, lack of impartiality and lack of independence and implied that the judiciary is subservient to Lee and/or the PAP and is a tool for silencing political dissent," Tay wrote in the ruling. "There can be no doubt that allegations of the nature mentioned above would immediately cast doubts on the judiciary in Singapore and undermine public confidence."
Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the ruling. "Even if the fine is not colossal, the ruling very clearly shows that Singapore’s judges have no intention of letting the foreign media express themselves freely about the country’s judicial system, which is lacking in independence," it said.
"Another Dow Jones publication, the Far Eastern Economic Review, has also been prosecuted in Singapore," RSF added. "The way this company is being hounded by the government and judicial system—which takes its orders from Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong—is utterly deplorable. We urge the Singaporean authorities to stop prosecuting foreign news media."
A Dow Jones spokesman told RSF, "Dow Jones is extremely disappointed with the ruling of the high court and strongly disagrees with the court’s analysis that the editorials and letter to the editor constitute contempt of court. Also, contrary to what the attorney general has alleged, the Wall Street Journal Asia has not engaged in a ’campaign’ of any sort against the Singapore judiciary. We will in the future continue to defend the right of the Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matters of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore."
The prosecution was brought by the attorney general, who said the editorials and the letter, published in June and July of this year, "impugned the integrity, impartiality and independence of the Singapore judiciary."
Denying any illegal intent on the part of the newspaper, its lawyer, Philip Jeyaretnam, said it had simply wanted to inform a readership that knew the difference between information and criticism. The letter was written by Chee Soon Juan, one of the leading members of the Singaporean opposition. It was an article about Chee that led the prime minister and his father, Lee Kuan Yew, to sue the Far Eastern Economic Review. The high court ruled at the end of September that the magazine had libelled the Lees ordered it to pay damages. The size of the damages award has not been released.
Exciting place to be living.
Movie Theaters
Seats are reserved.
There are whole food courts outside the theaters where you can buy all kinds of food and take it in. Somehow I have not found it very smelly as you would imagine. There are two kinds of popcorn-sweet (caramel corn) and salted (the normal kind), but no butter-lard!
Each theater has a restroom off to the side where the sound for that movie is on so you really don’t miss much. Its not just one bathroom its like the normal one you would have—3 stalls for women (I assume something of the like for men) and its behind a curtain that then leads to the doors so it stays dark in the theater—its very civilized.
Public restrooms
Other than (and probably even including) Japan, these are the cleanest anywhere in the world. Its really a surprise because Singaporeans don’t clean up their table after eating, the movie theater upon leaving, anything, but they do seem to keep a toilet clean.
Christmas Decorations
Yes. You complainers about Christmas starting too soon and being too commercialized in the US have no idea! The first Christmas tree in the mall was up November 5th. The entire main shopping district is more lit up than 5th Avenue and there is no qualm about a country of only 15% Christians having giant Merry Christmas banners all over. It is a shopping excuse and that is what really matters here.
We miss Thanksgiving in the US, but are going to do up a Singapore-style one here on Saturday with some friends—pool party, BBQ, some turkey and cranberry..traditional November activities.
Faith
Thursday, October 2, 2008
October 3, 2008
We fly out tomorrow for the US, but I wanted to send a quick update--although it wouldn't be that long even if I had lots of time. I guess things are getting more routine here and the cultural differences are either not that glaringly obvious or I have already mentioned them enough.
Here are some things that could not be mentioned enough:
If you want an event planned and it carried out flawlessly, outsource it to the government of Singapore. The F1 Night Race and the whole set up was not only perfect and executed exactly as planned, but they had ideas--like night clubs--including DJs and dance floors and cocktail waitresses (covered, but open) in the F1 walk-about area. The portable bathrooms have foot pedals, flushes, running water, soap and toile paper--and can be locked and unlocked using the elbow only. Oh yeah, and a mirror.
The parking garages--this is not for F1, but all the time, have signs before you get to them--where you have to make a decision to turn or not--telling you how many open spaces there are. They also have a sign as you enter the garage and it tells you how many spaces on each floor and these are real time. When you get to an aisle you can look down the aisle to see green lights above empty spaces and red lights above full spaces. There are no garage attendants--everything is done electronically--with the same device that does the toll roads--like EZ pass.
Here are some photos to round out this epistle:
The first one--6894 is an advertisement in a mall. They are going to help your child excel in: handwriting, coordination, and HYPERACTIVITY? I would have thought your child excelled at that and you needed them to not be quite so good at it. They can also help your child excel in clumsiness!? More evidence that too many people here are tourists with English grammar!
the second one--6823 is the seating capacity in a taxi. All seems well until you get there to the end--6 kids can go in this cab? Does anyone else think a cab driver with a bag of candy and 6 kids in his cab should be noted pretty carefully?
the third one--54 is what the sign said on the door (that itself was within a bathroom stall) in a mall restroom. I do not know what it is. I tried to open it (of course), but it was locked. I think I will use it as the name of the Time Out area for Siena when she is a tween.
the lat one-0003 is just plain odd. This never happens in Singapore. Just in case you are thinking--as you New Yorkers certainly are--that these are homeless people--think again. These are all work men on the lunch break sleeping in the shade. I have never seen this before here and doubt I will see it again once the authorities figure out that a random tourist may leave with anything other than a (well deserved) impression of Singapore.
The government has set aside an area (a small park) as a free speech area for protestors and the like. So far it has been used once--the first day by a group who is against the mistreatment of maids. That is not really a hard sell! the government has a good plan and punishments for people who do that, but this group is trying to get the regular people to modify their less-than-loving attitudes. The "protest" lasted about 15 minutes. There is one guy--yes, one guy, who now has a reservation to have a rally for gay rights--or against gay discrimination (whichever). They had some other gay guy in the paper saying how he thought it was a good idea if that (the planner) wanted to do it, but he (the speaker) didn't think it was his cup of tea and would not attend the rally.
There are all kinds of opinions about how Singaporeans have nothing to complain about so they don't have any use for the space, or they do not know how to protest, or that they are scared to do so even if they are told they can. I assume that its a combination of all of them, but I would LOVE to see just a handful of the groups from UT's west mall come for a week!
Faith
Here are some things that could not be mentioned enough:
If you want an event planned and it carried out flawlessly, outsource it to the government of Singapore. The F1 Night Race and the whole set up was not only perfect and executed exactly as planned, but they had ideas--like night clubs--including DJs and dance floors and cocktail waitresses (covered, but open) in the F1 walk-about area. The portable bathrooms have foot pedals, flushes, running water, soap and toile paper--and can be locked and unlocked using the elbow only. Oh yeah, and a mirror.
The parking garages--this is not for F1, but all the time, have signs before you get to them--where you have to make a decision to turn or not--telling you how many open spaces there are. They also have a sign as you enter the garage and it tells you how many spaces on each floor and these are real time. When you get to an aisle you can look down the aisle to see green lights above empty spaces and red lights above full spaces. There are no garage attendants--everything is done electronically--with the same device that does the toll roads--like EZ pass.
Here are some photos to round out this epistle:
The first one--6894 is an advertisement in a mall. They are going to help your child excel in: handwriting, coordination, and HYPERACTIVITY? I would have thought your child excelled at that and you needed them to not be quite so good at it. They can also help your child excel in clumsiness!? More evidence that too many people here are tourists with English grammar!
the second one--6823 is the seating capacity in a taxi. All seems well until you get there to the end--6 kids can go in this cab? Does anyone else think a cab driver with a bag of candy and 6 kids in his cab should be noted pretty carefully?
the third one--54 is what the sign said on the door (that itself was within a bathroom stall) in a mall restroom. I do not know what it is. I tried to open it (of course), but it was locked. I think I will use it as the name of the Time Out area for Siena when she is a tween.
the lat one-0003 is just plain odd. This never happens in Singapore. Just in case you are thinking--as you New Yorkers certainly are--that these are homeless people--think again. These are all work men on the lunch break sleeping in the shade. I have never seen this before here and doubt I will see it again once the authorities figure out that a random tourist may leave with anything other than a (well deserved) impression of Singapore.
The government has set aside an area (a small park) as a free speech area for protestors and the like. So far it has been used once--the first day by a group who is against the mistreatment of maids. That is not really a hard sell! the government has a good plan and punishments for people who do that, but this group is trying to get the regular people to modify their less-than-loving attitudes. The "protest" lasted about 15 minutes. There is one guy--yes, one guy, who now has a reservation to have a rally for gay rights--or against gay discrimination (whichever). They had some other gay guy in the paper saying how he thought it was a good idea if that (the planner) wanted to do it, but he (the speaker) didn't think it was his cup of tea and would not attend the rally.
There are all kinds of opinions about how Singaporeans have nothing to complain about so they don't have any use for the space, or they do not know how to protest, or that they are scared to do so even if they are told they can. I assume that its a combination of all of them, but I would LOVE to see just a handful of the groups from UT's west mall come for a week!
Faith
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Things I Miss and Things I Don't
Most of the grocery stores here are in large part owned by some branch of the government. One very annoying aspect of that is that there may be a product there one week and not there the next. It does not mean—as it would in the U.S.—that 1) they are getting ready to stock the shelves and you happened to be unlucky as to when you arrived, or 2) they are no longer going to carry the product. It means that they have sold out and the other stores in the entire country (of all names and types) will sell out of that product too before they reorder it. Honey Nut Cheerios will be on the shelves for months, then it disappears from one store after the other until there are none left. Then, 3 months later, every store has them again.
Before you think that I am making too grand an interpretation of this, I can tell you it has happened with about 10 things—only 7 of which are back now. A couple other expat women have told me that this is the case—many of them have been here for years—4 to 6 years and say that it has always been thus.
I got a note from the Rotary Club I attend the other day. Here it is in its entirety:
Dear Fellow Rotarians:
As you are aware, our Rotary Meetings are now conducted every Wednesday, at 12.30pm at The Tanglin Club, 5 Stevens Road.
The Tanglin Club has requested that we inform our members of their following club by-laws:
- Mobile telephones are not permitted at air-conditioned areas.
- No domestic servants shall be allowed in the club premises.
We kindly request members to comply with the above terms and the Tanglin Club's by-laws.
I guess you can figure out the sentence I was surprised about. I’m not sure if I am offended that domestic servants are less welcome than other non-members or if I am offended because it needs stating that they are not covered in a membership or if it is because some members would not think that domestic servants rate as separate people to be considered as not members or whether it is just the term “domestic servant.” In any case, I was offended by the sentence. It is for me as I read in a book once, “give me long enough and the jet stream will personally offend me.”
Siena and I saw three police men in the mall the other day. Those are the first police officers I have seen that are not on tv or in the airport. It is the highest number of them together that I have ever seen other than when they showed the whole police force looking for the escaped terrorist –whom they never found.
Number of out-of-wedlock births in Singapore: 481 in 2005, 495 in 2006 and 561 in 2007. I only bring this up to once again revel in the exactitude of the numbers that are printed in the newspaper. The story was about how many women were not even putting father’s names on the birth certificates because it is too much trouble to find them later to register a kid for school and so on. I think they are so keen for any births in this country that they even forgot to say that they would prefer to have marriages with the kids.
The English fluency of the service personnel (like waiters) here is remarkably bad for people who went to school for 15 years in English. Every school is in English. It is shocking. Its not just the accent-which is dreadful, but has an explanation. It’s the fact that any sentence that one has not heard before cannot be interpreted!! They had better ratchet up that Speak Good English program—and add the addendum Try to Realize that People Actually Expect You to Understand it Too.
Things I Miss:
Fresh Direct (if you don’t know what this is, don’t find out—you’ll miss it too, even if you never had it)
Food (restaurant delivery
Dark chocolate covered raisins (you may have heard that before)
Inexpensive wine
Our friends and family
Battery Park City
People complaining about things
Target / Wal Mart
Grocery stores that consistently have stock of the same thing
People making jokes
Cab drivers who know the roads
Actual online shopping and directions and information
Real opinion in newspapers
Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Funny television shows
Net flix
Instant-on hot water
Central AC (not that we had that in NYC)
Mailing things from my own mail box
Sensible login policies and convenient online banking
Wheat Thins
Things I Don’t Miss:
Dirty public bathrooms (really, the filthy ones here are cleaner than the ones that are clean in the U.S.)
Ugly scenery
Litter
Any airport other than Changi
People complaining about things (its complicated)
Crime
Reality tv and the weird voyeurism that it shows me about other people
NY state and City taxes
Catalogs in the mail (well, maybe I miss some of them, but you get NONE here, basically no junk mail)
Colder weather coming…
Unironed clothes (and sheets and pajamas)
Going to the doctor and then a pharmacy instead of getting it all in one place
Horns and sirens
Time to go for now.
Faith
Before you think that I am making too grand an interpretation of this, I can tell you it has happened with about 10 things—only 7 of which are back now. A couple other expat women have told me that this is the case—many of them have been here for years—4 to 6 years and say that it has always been thus.
I got a note from the Rotary Club I attend the other day. Here it is in its entirety:
Dear Fellow Rotarians:
As you are aware, our Rotary Meetings are now conducted every Wednesday, at 12.30pm at The Tanglin Club, 5 Stevens Road.
The Tanglin Club has requested that we inform our members of their following club by-laws:
- Mobile telephones are not permitted at air-conditioned areas.
- No domestic servants shall be allowed in the club premises.
We kindly request members to comply with the above terms and the Tanglin Club's by-laws.
I guess you can figure out the sentence I was surprised about. I’m not sure if I am offended that domestic servants are less welcome than other non-members or if I am offended because it needs stating that they are not covered in a membership or if it is because some members would not think that domestic servants rate as separate people to be considered as not members or whether it is just the term “domestic servant.” In any case, I was offended by the sentence. It is for me as I read in a book once, “give me long enough and the jet stream will personally offend me.”
Siena and I saw three police men in the mall the other day. Those are the first police officers I have seen that are not on tv or in the airport. It is the highest number of them together that I have ever seen other than when they showed the whole police force looking for the escaped terrorist –whom they never found.
Number of out-of-wedlock births in Singapore: 481 in 2005, 495 in 2006 and 561 in 2007. I only bring this up to once again revel in the exactitude of the numbers that are printed in the newspaper. The story was about how many women were not even putting father’s names on the birth certificates because it is too much trouble to find them later to register a kid for school and so on. I think they are so keen for any births in this country that they even forgot to say that they would prefer to have marriages with the kids.
The English fluency of the service personnel (like waiters) here is remarkably bad for people who went to school for 15 years in English. Every school is in English. It is shocking. Its not just the accent-which is dreadful, but has an explanation. It’s the fact that any sentence that one has not heard before cannot be interpreted!! They had better ratchet up that Speak Good English program—and add the addendum Try to Realize that People Actually Expect You to Understand it Too.
Things I Miss:
Fresh Direct (if you don’t know what this is, don’t find out—you’ll miss it too, even if you never had it)
Food (restaurant delivery
Dark chocolate covered raisins (you may have heard that before)
Inexpensive wine
Our friends and family
Battery Park City
People complaining about things
Target / Wal Mart
Grocery stores that consistently have stock of the same thing
People making jokes
Cab drivers who know the roads
Actual online shopping and directions and information
Real opinion in newspapers
Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Funny television shows
Net flix
Instant-on hot water
Central AC (not that we had that in NYC)
Mailing things from my own mail box
Sensible login policies and convenient online banking
Wheat Thins
Things I Don’t Miss:
Dirty public bathrooms (really, the filthy ones here are cleaner than the ones that are clean in the U.S.)
Ugly scenery
Litter
Any airport other than Changi
People complaining about things (its complicated)
Crime
Reality tv and the weird voyeurism that it shows me about other people
NY state and City taxes
Catalogs in the mail (well, maybe I miss some of them, but you get NONE here, basically no junk mail)
Colder weather coming…
Unironed clothes (and sheets and pajamas)
Going to the doctor and then a pharmacy instead of getting it all in one place
Horns and sirens
Time to go for now.
Faith
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