I love reading
Devrim's Blog. From time to time, he blogs about Singapore. He is my window to life in Singapore. I love the DHL mafia gang for blogging their views on my beloved country !
Here's three !
A different modelWhile no country is perfect, and when certain things have to be said, I don't hold back any punches, there are still some things you can't help but admire.
One of the things I admire the most about Singapore is how they have managed to eradicate poverty. Sure, there are lower levels of the income distribution and many people work at "inferior goods" type jobs, but there is an absence of abject poverty. This is the only country I have been to that does not have homeless people, beggars, nor gangs of kids scavenging and drifting... everyone works or at least tries. I was watching a show on the bus today (can't escape it) about the Ministry of Manpower's efforts to provide full employment, change the scope of certain "undesirable jobs" to make them more appealing, assist with the deferring of bills for those that can't pay, and ensure that nobody is out on the street.
Singapore to me seems like one big giant social experiement, but you must give props when it is due and I have nothing but respect for a society that makes efforts to ensure all it's people (regardless of their social class) can live a decent life.
Brainwashed on the busI still remember my first bus-ride in Singapore. I was so impressed. Buses here are comfy, have a/c and TV in them. Unbeliveable. Well this very same TV is my bane... I thought I wouldn't mind it after a year, but I have to admit, I DO mind it because they play the exact same 5-6 commercials (and one standard movie preview) over and over again. It is literally a loop, the same commercial over and over again, I feel like Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge being behavior modifyingly brainwashed by TV. In a 30 minute bus ride it is very likely you will have seen the same commercial over 15 times. Just think what that would do to an already distraught mind like mine. It distracts you from reading on the bus as well. You could counter soma with soma and plug your iPod in, but lately I just kinda sorta space out and daydream.
Work cultureI've been wondering why it is that Asians work so hard and have been unable to come up with an answer. It's not only the long hours worked during the week but also finding it ok to come in over weekends on a regular basis.
I used give the weather more credit; colder climates are more industrious, warmer climates are more laid back and relaxed... and I had (have) a whole theory about the weather factors that influence human behavior.
Unfortunately Singapore is making me re-evaluate. We are 3 degrees north of the equator... so why aren't people lazy? Why work so hard when it's so hot? Even the less ambitious people take working very seriously.
A few ideas I've been trying to bounce off people (without any progress, they all have flaws):
- They live in small quarters with their family and work is an escape / they have more independence and personal space outside of home
- Usually they don't live downtown but work there, so work is closer to many shopping / eating areas and is also a socializing environment
- I don't have a rational 3rd one, maybe they don't have a/c at home (?)
The perception in the west is that N. American / Western Europeans work a lot harder / are more industrious than Latin Americans, Middle Easterners, Africans, Slavs and the "emerging" parts of Europe. Enter Asia where you have the Australians and Kiwi friends down under having the relaxed and laid back life style in compared to the "busy bee" Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese).
Ironically, even though they are more work-focused here than in the US, they are also a lot more family focused.
Singapore: Experience in BankingToday I had my first real banking 'experience.' Basically I have a savings account with DBS bank and a credit card (via work) with UOB account. Unfortunately banks in SIN don't interface with each other so there is NO other way to pay your credit card bill than the following:
1) Walk to DBS bank and withdraw CASH
2) Of course the ATM machine only lets you withdraw $200 each time even though your daiy limit is $1000. Incidentally I had to pay $1000, so I had to make 5 consecutive withdrawls from the same ATM.
3) The ATM machine only dispensed $10 bills!!! Who has ever heard of that? So I walk down the street to the other bank with $10 X 100 in my pocket, it looked like I had either a gun down my pants or I was very happy to see someone.
4) I enter the UOB bank and now I have to wait in line for over an hour for my turn to come to PAY MY CREDIT CARD BILL...
5) I push an armful of money across the teller's desk and say "there has GOT to be an easier way to pay one stupid bill." "No-lah, cannot!" she says.
I remember waiting in line at the post office to pay the phone bill and electricity bill as a kid in Turkey... weird how an advanced country such as Singapore that has invented concept such as "SAMs" does not allow online paying for bills and their banking system leaves so much to be desired. Today was an exercise in patience. Yet another reason why NOT to use credit cards.
