Who I am who you are

Who am I? So Jackie Chan's character in his movie of the same name asked after he forgot his identity through amnesia. But that's exactly what we should asked ourselves in this multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-national country of ours. Throw a stone into a crowd and you can bet it will hit a person who speaks a different 'mother' language, or who speaks English but has a different skin colour from yours, or who looks the 'same kind' as you but speaks in a language totally foreign to yours. The social makeup of Singapore has become so diverse that it dwarfs my experience growing up in the Naval Base, where you can find Malays, Indians, Chinese and Eurasians all living within a community called the Naval Base.

Why are all these important? Well, when you have different peoples living amongst you, some of whom look very different and, to others, not too 'pleasant', because of smell, colour and even diet, you will get conflicts and misunderstandings sooner rather than later. Take that unfortunate incident of a Chinese boy bashing up an Indian migrant worker accused of starring at him. There is no doubt that what that boy did was wrong. But part of the problem really, is the lack of understanding and, dare I say, appreciation for people who are different from us. Government policy in Singapore has gone out of the way to get different peoples to interact with each other, but whether people actually do so is not up to the government, but themselves. I would say that, from anecdotal and personal experience, this isn't working insofar as the policy to have a certain racial mix in public housing is concerned. Heck, I don't even know what my Chinese neighbour do for a living, not to speak of a family of a different race. With exceptions, we tend to mind our own business, which can be a virtue, but stifles the development of community and bonding among peoples and families. One problem is our children rarely get to play and talk to people of different races as often as it used to be for me 30 years ago. And I venture to say that that is a problem created by a majority of Singaporeans living out of pigeone-holed highrise apartments, which, ironically, is viewed as one of the most visible symbol of Singapore's success today.

Yes, there are community centres (or clubs as they are unfortunately now called. Club always has the connotation of exclusivity and special interest. Inter-racial interaction and bonding couldn't be further from such settings), public parks and swimming pools. But when was the last time you saw two people of different races mixing naturally with each other in any of these settings?

Without venturing into a long thesis regarding the subject of racial integration, tolerance and social cohesion, it is not hard to see that Singapore will face more problems melding the various races and peoples on this small island of ours in the years to come. Perhaps it is opportune for Singaporeans to travel more and, if nothing, learn to live and let live.

Back from Paradise

Regular readers of this blog would notice that this is my first blog after more than a week's silence. That's because I was in Australia's Sunshine State last week on vacation. As vacation goes, the Notebook PC did not follow me, and I stayed away from newspapers entirely. I also avoided Internet Cafes although the thought to blog did cross my mind. In fact, the last time I was overseas in South Korea, I blogged using the PC at the lobby of the hotel I was in. There was a PC in the hotel lobby I was staying in Australia, but I just didn't find the time nor the interest to do any blogging. Part of the reason is that this vacation has been quite a busy one for me and my family. We were getting up early in the mornings every day so that we could get to our destinations to enjoy the full benefit of the tickets that we had paid for. In fact, for a couple of days after stepping onto Singapore soil again, I didn't feel like blogging till now. Blame it on Jet-lag.

I think I haven't missed much in terms of news although the Football World Cup is in full swing. I have never been a football fan, so that explains it. Timor Leste burnt and the politics hewed and hawed, but nothing significant happened, until I came back. That was when Xanana Gusmao threatened to resign. If Alkatiri has any sense of decency, he should resign, not wait to be thrown out of office and back into exile.

And, oh, I missed the debate on the desirability and implications of employing native English speakers for our schools. Anyway, this is water under the bridge, as far as I am concerned. In my school days some quarter of a century ago, this issue has been raised and debated before, although not with the vehemence this time around. I have had my share of being taught by native English speakers. I think I am the better for it today, not that non-natives weren't good at all. Some even think I talk like a non-native (i.e. native English) and I may have been accused of speaking 'slang' - a word which is much mis-used and misunderstood. There is no absolute regarding this issue, though I understand that our non-native English teachers may have felt slighted, and this issue raised not a few doubts and contentious thoughts in the minds of the perceptive. But if you are confident in what you do and know, it really shouldn't bother you. Policies change over time, though, if you have live long enough, you would notice that they tend to be cyclical and circular, just like the prices of property.

All in, I am glad to be back in Singapore, although still I hate the weather. Australian 'winter' is so much more cool, literally.

Politics of Bak Chor Mee

By now, almost every Singaporean is talking about the digital audio dialog called 'Bak Chor Mee" which began life as a podcast during the last General Elections. Produced by Tan Kin Mun (mr brown in cyberspace) and co., its an excellent spoof of the James Gomez affair. When the JG affair unfolded, many of us Singaporeans thought that the powers that be were being unfair in pursuing a man who had made a mistake and subsequently apologised for it. This sentiment was also reflected in this blog.

I think Bak Chor Mee (BCM) sums up the sentiments of the general populace over the whole affair. I heard (and this is just rumour) that some PAP members and Ministers had a good laugh over BCM - note: not AT but OVER. So the people or party being ridiculed have shown that they can take a joke. Hopefully, they can also learn from the incident not to treat its citizens like fools. Otherwise, they will end up looking like the real ones.

Fortunately, mr brown is still alive and kicking and writing his columns for Today, as well as serving the country in military gear. I doubt that that is some sort of punishment, as some conspiracy theorists might suggest. So the PAP can take heart that, in the main, even among those who did not vote for them, Singaporeans are pro-Singapore - and that's what really matters. Whichever party you belong to, so long as it is led by decent, sincere people who have the heart of Singaporeans in their minds, is alright. We may disagree, but we are not out to destroy the country, unlike some party which is not only reckless, but may have lent itself to being manipulated by forces outside the country in the guise of freedom and democracy.

New newspaper in town

Some time ago, SPH, the largest press publishers in Singapore, put out a cleverly name free daily tabloid called 'Streats'. Competition followed with the publication of the not-so-cleverly name, but also free tabloid, Today, by rival Mediacorp. Two elephants battled and the grounds on which they stomped became more fertile - with readers spoiled for choice. But as many suspected, this could not last. The SPH elephant blinked first and both decided to come together rather than continue the fight. And so was reborn the Today newspaper 'incorporating Streats'. Today (sorry, non pun intended), those words acknowledging Streats are not to be found any more on the masthead of the Today newspaper.

But SPH has done the smart thing recently. It has put out a free daily tabloid called My Paper. Like Today, it is distributed in the mornings and at noon at selected MRT stations and Bus Interchanges. Some of it are even delivered to selected homes, which was also the case with Streats. But one thing is different. It is a Chinese language daily. There is no competition in this space, except SPH's own Lianhe Wanbao and Zhaobao. Even so, I think both are sufficiently different, in terms of breadth and depth of coverage, language sophistication and format that each will find or maintain their readership. My Paper is obviously produced by a young generation who have no qualms mixing their sentences and sub-titles with English and colloquial phrases such as 'chiMology'. What I find so attractive about My Paper is the utter simplicity of the language use, so much so that I even encourage my young son to read it.

I am not used to reading any Chinese language paper because I use English more and find that I can get through the English paper much much faster than any Chinese paper. I think this is generally true of many Chinese on this island. But My Paper is different. I find that I can get through the gist of a news article very quickly. Although this comes at the cost of depth and detail, its a good way to get one, anyone, started on reading the Chinese papers. Who knows, one might progress to Zaobao and Wanbao eventually, which may be SPH's strategy of growing the Chinese paper-reading public. In this respect, SPH has done the Chinese community a favour.

Saved by the movies

Last Saturday, 3rd June 2006, I failed to do something that I had always been able to do all these years - attend the PC Show. You see, I was working last Saturday, I had to work, which I normally needn't - exigencies of service and all that. So when I got off, it was already 3.15pm. Still time to spare, right, given that the Show didn't end until 9pm. So I made my way down to Suntec City, and in the process, lined up to cross the Bridge which escalator was not working...grrrr..

Finally, when I did get into Suntec City, an electronic signboard advised that I should come back 1 hour later as the exhibition halls at levels 6 and 8 were at full capacity. Now, I thought that that happened to car parks only. Sheesh. Having experienced geeky crowds before, I headed straight for the Suntec City bus stop and took a bus home - without waiting for that 1 hour. What a waste of my time! But it was good exercise, though! My legs were aching so I thought I'd sleep early that night, given that I had had to work that day and I had made a round trip to Suntec City. But no, I slept well after midnight. I was up watching John Q on MediaCorp Channel 5, which turned out to be an absorbing drama of a father's effort to save his child who had a defective heart. Its that age-old plot about the poor battling a soul-less hospital that wanted to see the money before it would save a life. This father was played by a favourite actor of mine - Denzel Washington. He sure can carry a plot and pile in the drama. Great movie!

Well, in a day of work and disappointment, Denzel Washington saved my day.

A celebration of parents

Every May and June, we celebrate Mothers and Fathers for their love and sacrifice for us, the children. Children get their turn only in September on Children's day. I think this is a recent development for I cannot remember such Mother/Father's day occasions when I was growing up a long time ago. So I wonder who decided the 2nd weeks of May and June for such occasions? Actually, the ones who benefit the most are retailers and restaurateurs because children often feel obliged to get something for their parents and/or take them out for an extra special meal. In May and June, you will see many advertisements from restaurants that helpfully suggests their special Mother/Father's Day menus. Flower and gift shops will also have their own promotions. The net outcome is that the children are some tens of dollars, some even hundreds of dollars the poorer from these 2 separate occasions (2 sets of gifts, 2 dinners, etc).

I am not trying to begrudge anybody anything, much less my mother (my father has already passed on). But wouldn't it make more sense on everyone's pocket, and my children's much smaller pockets, to combine these 2 days - Mother's Day and Father's Day - into one Parent's Day instead? After all, you don't exclude your Father at a Mother's day meal and vice versa, do you? I don't think you will love either one of them less by putting these occasions together, right? In the worst instance (mother and father are separated), you still have 3 meals in a day to split between the 2, right?

Well, call me a scrooge, but I think it makes more sense this way than having it on separate days. After all, it is not just the mother, but also the father, who gives the love and care that children deserve. That either one of them shows this in their different ways doesn't mean that one loves the child more than the other.

So I say, lets do away with Mother's Day and Father's Day and combine it into a Parents' Day. It brings out the important role of both parties in the well-being of the family.

Gone yesterday, disappear tomorrow

It looks very likely that yet another historical area in Singapore that holds much memories for common folks like you and I will bite the dust, literally. Seletar Airbase and much of its surrounding pre-war British Black-and-White houses will become dust once the government starts to re-develop that area into a new integrated aerospace industry cluster. This is yet another development project that, hopefully, will spur the economy to ever greater heights, according to the Economic Development Board (EDB).

But not all Singaporeans are in favour of this latest development, especially those who live or have lived in the area. To these people, their homes, and more importantly, their deep memories of the place where they grew up, in time, will be become just that - memories. There will be nothing to return to to re-live those memories, and no place to take their children to to share with them the quaint environment they grew up in, to share the wonder of wandering over a large expanse of space that characterised growing up in that time and place. I can empathise with it because I once lived in the British Naval Base, which today does not exist anymore except for a small cluster of Black-and-Whites in the vicinity of Admiralty Road.

Unfortunately, our government planners have no such experiences and memories. They cannot leave well alone. There must, at some time or other, be some project that is grand and exciting. For not doing so will not only stunt Singapore's economic development, it will stunt their career developments more. The planners talk of preserving some of the character of the place, or the historical pre-war buildings that today still serve as living quarters. But the only memories made from careful planning are called Museums. The life and times in these places cannot be replaced with some carefully constructed or preserved buildings. You cannot re-construct the ambience that is today's residential environment around Seletar airbase. How can you when you have not lived a single day in the place?

In time to come, there will be nothing to remember about Sembawang, except through the obligatory Documentaries that Mediacorp will shoot about the place - before it is carved up. Our children cannot be rooted to personal histories. There will be no place worth defending. Yes, we have new spanking apartments, but those are often the object of our trading up or out of to ever newer places, but often places without soul. The memories that I have of the Naval Base is far far deeper than I have of Ang Mo Kio, the town that my family moved to from the Base.

There are some who would turn back the clock, if it were even possible. There are some who do not want economic development at such a great expense. Can anything be done at all? The realist and the sceptic among us are resigned to this latest project. The idealist will still hold out for a rescinding of this redevelopment plan. Whichever it is, an old part of Singapore will be buried by the sands of time.

Do we wonder why we do not want to commit our lives and memories totally to this piece of rock called Singapore?

Workfare welfare slippery slope

I find it laughable that money from government will lead people to work harder. Yet that is what the general-secretary of AUPDRW suggested about the largesse that the Singapore government doled out to its citizens in the last few months. I know of a person, who, upon receiving the money, went shopping and more shopping. Yes, this will help the local economy, the retailers especially, gain more business and employ more people and resources. But it is simplistic to suggest low-wage earners will work harder and go for more upgrading programmes as a result of the Progress Package.

One of the things that spurs people to better themselves, fortunately, is the realisation that they will go nowhere in their present careers (if any of it is left, that is) or that they want to make more money. People do not do so because somebody has given them more money. If nothing, free money will induce complacency and the delusion that somebody (the government and the Unions) will look after them. Why do more when, with little effort, you qualify for the Workfare bonus and the Progress Package? The Singapore government has argued long and hard against welfarism - handing out money for no effort at all. The Workfare bonus, while not exactly a handout, may slide down the proverbial slippery slope to one eventually, especially when elections need to be won. This may be 10, 20 years down the road, but every road is carved from the first step. Will this first step be the Workfare bonus?

Bigger Progress Packages

I cannot but marvel at the plans that Las Vegas Sands has submitted in their winning bid for the Singapore Integrated Resort for the Marina Bay area. It is indeed exciting, with a good mix of purpose-built facilities for meetings and conferences, culture and science, guests facilitities and of course, the obligatory gambling den which is one of the raison de'tre of the project in the first place, in spite of protestation to the contrary from certain quarters.

Yet the choice of Sands is a surprise to many punters and analysts alike, though I am sure everyone that was involved in the selection is an expert in his own field and gave expert opinion to that effect. Building the place should be a piece of cake, given Singapore's track record. But whether the place will become successful in the long run remains to be seen. Singapore has no track record of operating a mega-gambling den, you see, unless you view the island-wide government operated 4-D and soccer betting operations as one.

How will Suntec City be affected by this development in the years to come? How will the new downtown pan out? I suppose this is a dream project for any and all civil architects and engineers. Let's just hope that they won't be building razor thin walls and noisy pipes all over to adversely affect gamblers' need for concentration. I am sure Sands has higher standards than our HDB of late.

This is a historic, era setting moment. Let this blog bear testimony to this event, Friday, 26 May 2006 when the choice of Sands to build the first IR is first announced. It may also be the beginning of the end of small time 4-D and soccer gambling, though punters may not agree. Yet gamblers must set their sights, and their bets higher so that Sands and its partners (including the Government?) rake in the money, which is the prime reason for this multi-billion dollar project. Let us, the common non-gambling folk look forward to ever bigger Progress Packages that will arise from the obscene moneys that the government will rake in in various forms of taxes from the building and operation of this newest wonder of Singapore.

Given that the gambling facilities are designed primarily for foreigners, they should apply for Permanent Gambling Resident (PGR) status so long as they promise to gamble at the IR once every week, at least. PGR has its privileges.

Judges can't judge idols

There is much that is made of Singapore idol wannabes who cannot sing and cannot dance (which isn't important in a singing contest, right?). Well, I was watching SI theatre auditions last evening and I got the distinct feeling that the Judges can't judge. I cannot understand how Ken can dismiss several contestants by saying they can't sing. Well, in my opinion, these singers had tune, rhythm and measure. They can sing. The only thing is they probably cannot sing very well, at least not well enough to proceed to the next stage.

So if I were to bump off any of the judges, I will vote off Ken Lim. In fact, I think they should have this feature in future Singapore Idol singing contests so that judges are more fair and not pretend to be Simon for the sake of pretending. Like the remark that Ken made about some contestant singing too much like Elvis. In fact, it wasn't obvious to me that that guy sounded like Elvis Presley. But them some will argue that this will put a lid on creative criticism, whatever that means, or no criticism at all. Given the dynamics of SI, I don't think it will happen though.

There is a certain logic in mass voting, as we have seen in past events such as the GE 2006 and Idol contests. Extremes tend to be cancelled out eventually. So maybe voting out judges is a good idea. If nothing, it will help to keep pretenders away.

Ridiculous Idolatry

The American Idol contest has just concluded with victory going to Mr Taylor Hicks, another American Southener. The Singapore Idol contest, on the other hand, is just beginning, with the first auditions shown last week. I have always thought of the Idol contests, whether American or Singapore, as consisting of two parts - Comedy and Talent. The comedy act comes in during the audition phase and the talent part after all the comedy acts are discarded. I think one of the reasons for the success of the series is the audition phase, which is essentially a freak show. The most famous and successful freak of all must be William Hung. As it turned out, more freaks appeared in the Singaopre Idol edition and everyone, including the judges, had a good laugh or three over the idiotic hopes and dreams of the hopeless idol wannabes. Some of them were repeats - they had tried in the first idol contest and came back for an encore performance.

So I cannot understand why anyone could take this so seriously as to rebuke the judges for laughing and ridiculing some of the performances. Well, how else do you want people to react when the contestants looked so ridiculous, acted so ridiculous and sang so awfully? When some of them came back for a second session of ridicule, what did anyone expect the judges, and indeed the rest of Singapore, to do? Send them to a psychiatric institution (i.e. Institute of Mental Health (IMH), also formerly known as Woodbridge Hospital) or send them off with laughter? Which do you think is kinder? To treat this first part of the show with anything but amusement will certainly kill the series.

Be careful what you ask for.

PAPpy asked for it

How can one expect the internet media and those who inhabit it to support you when, in the first place, you have launched an assault on the very core and spirit that is the internet? When the PAP party banned podcasting of the General Elections 2006, it was like driving a knife into the hearts of the internet's adherents. Under these circumstances, even the most apathetic people will take up the cudgels for whatever and whoever opposes the PAP. This is the simple logic to the reportedly 85% negative vibes on the PAP on the internet. It is no great mystery and doesn't require PhD type analysis. It was not the Internet that failed the PAP, but the PAP abandoned the spirit of freedom that is the internet. Such high handed treatment, by threatening punishment through laws that it can pass at will through Parliament, has not, and will never sit well with netizens.

The lesson to learn is that you cannot beat the internet. You can't 'manage' (a word that the PAP still found fit to use after the GE) it either. There is only one option: join it, embrace it even. And that means no restrictions the next time around on the use of internet technologies such as podcasting, and no threat of police and the secret service monitoring conversations on the internet - in other words, no act that netizens will perceive as hostile and against the very basis of the internet. The PAP must realise that the internet is a great leveller, for the opposition as well as for them. So instead of restricting people, it should put its not inconsiderable resources to harvest the power of the internet to rally the troops and win over converts through its sincerity, integrity, honesty and fairplay. Then perhaps the internet will prove a friend rather than a foe.

For richer or poorer

There used to be a time when investments in property in Singapore was sure to yield high returns - very high returns. I remember my boss once said that there is certainty in the property business - you can't lose. That was back in the earlier 1990s, and indeed he was right. The company is now a major player in the property market in Singapore. I, in turn, bought an HDB apartment in 1993, and over ten years, saw its value more than double what I originally paid for it. I was not the only one. At that time, how much you made in property from your HDB apartments depended on how near you were to the head of the booking queue.

Fast forward 10 years and the situation has changed drastically. Now, Singaporeans who bought 5-room and executive apartments for over $400K apiece are suffering negative equity - i.e. the current value of their apartments is significantly lower than the price they originally paid for them. Losing $50K on paper can be psychologically painful even in spite of the fact that they were aided along in purchasing that apartment in the first place by the government (read tax payers' money) to the tune of $40K. Some are asking who should pay for this loss, as if it is the government's fault that they bought into the property ownership dream. I hope they don't think it is the taxpayers' fault.

Property values, like the values of stocks and shares, rise and fall with the times. The only difference between the two perhaps is the turnaround time between the rises and the falls. Property cycles tend to be longer, but correspondingly, they are more stable investments and can yield rental income in the meantime, irrespective of the assessed value of the property. You either buy or sell stocks, you can't rent them. Speculators can dump their shares in a matter of days rather than years.

So should anyone bear the blame or be held responsible for a personal investment decision such as purchasing an apartment to live in, with a $40K gift from the government to boot? Saying 'yes' is ludicrous and shows a naivete characteristic of juveniles. To suggest that somebody else bear the paper loss shows an inability or unwillingness to take responsibility for an action nobody forced them into. Of course, there are those who would argue that their property prices were inflated in the first place by the government charging market prices for land on which these HDB apartments were eventually built. Yes, I agree about the price inflation part - but only on hindsight. But then, who has the benefit of hindsight when a purchase decision is made? We all hope to make money from the investment some day - sooner rather than later. Even I put money into .com companies that turned out to be .dud companies. Perhaps only those who have been burnt before, or who have lived longer and seen more of these cycles will be more cautious and are more circumspect. Even then, some experienced hands have been burnt before. While I sympathise with owners who are sitting on negative equity, they can hope that when the time comes, their paper loss can be converted to gains. The only problem is that this might take some time coming. In the meantime, enjoy your house and don't think too much about the present. A property is a long term investment. There are troughs and there will be peaks.

A house to call home

Somebody suggested that some government-built apartments (HDB apartments) that are 26 years old has served its useful life and should be torn down and replaced with new apartment buildings with lifts that stops at every floor. I agree that that may be the only option if retrofitting lifts that stop on every floor is just too prohibitively costly. On the other hand, I feel that we are becoming used to the recycling culture. Not that recycling trash is not a good practice. It is a commendable practice as it teaches one not to waste and to conserve the limited resources of our planet earth.

However, recycling non-trash, like an apartment block, is hardly my idea of reducing waste. Many of our 'old' buildings will be considered fairly new in other developed countries, not to mention those countries where the people live predominantly in huts and quickly improvished shacks. Yet here we are, calling for a 26 year old apartment to be demolished because we need to build lifts on every floor. Why do I get the feelng now that our architects and engineers never designed our spanking new apartments to last more than 30 years, what with the razor-think walls and all that residents in Sembawang are complaining about in their relatively new apartments? Can it all be linked somehow? Is there a conspiracy or are people so used to changing houses/apartments (averaging once every 10 years(?)) that our architects intentionally do not want to build houses that lasts?

Well, I am sure I am wrong, for how can we be dumping good money into such houses that are designed for no more than 30 years? The minimum leases on all new apartments in Singapore is typically 99 years, so they should last that long, at least, if not longer.

Dare I say that, sub-consciously, we have never considered this island our permanent home?

Razor Apartments

A reader of Today newspaper complained about the razor-thin (ok, I am exaggerating) walls that HDB apartments come with nowadays. I can understand that as I have lived in several HDB flats so far. Two belonged to my parents and the other belonged to me. When I moved into my spanking new HDB apartment in Pasir Ris about 10 years ago, I felt uncomfortable whenever I went to the toilet. No, I don't mean that kind of discomfort, which everybody suffers from whenever they make a trip there, but discomfort from hearing the gush of water that came from the pipes running along the walls from the ceiling to the floor. It was just so loud. I always told my wife that I could tell if my neighbour upstairs was taking a shower (or doing some serious business) any time of the day with the help of these pipes. From the writer's description of her woes in her HDB flat in Sembawang, these features that HDB built for a greater sense of community bonding seemed to have been enhanced (well, we must try to look at things positively, mustn't we?)

On the negative side, we now learn that these apartment walls can collapse any time (ok, I am exaggerating again) going by the writer's description of how sounds, mostly unwelcome, could be heard quite clearly coming from the apartment units above and beside theirs. This is indeed much worse (or better, depending on whether you are into extreme social bonding and that sort of thing) than my apartment in Pasir Ris. All of which reminded me of the first house I ever lived in - those worker quarters in the former Naval Base.

Built in the 1920s and 30s, they were nevertheless solid structures. I remembered one day, my father wanted to hang a picture on the wall. So he took out his electric power drill for the job. After some time, I heard him remark that it was so difficult to drill a hole as the wall was rock solid. The way that the British built those quarters looked like they wanted to continue being our colonial masters till kingdom come. I have always felt that no building that Singapore has subsequently built has ever rivalled the robustness of those houses that I lived in when I was a child. It's an irony that the buildings that replaced the worker quarters are so flimsy in comparison. I am sure the ghosts rising from the demolished building must be having good laugh. That's one up for the Brits and a woeful zero for HDB (well, ok, I am exaggerating again...).

Well, they have just put a PAP team in place who will build a Hospital in the neighbourhood. Hope it won't feature razor thin walls. Perhaps the writer can look up these PAP chaps to see if they can reverse engineer any of these deficiencies.