Mar 05

Hey guys,

Just for a change, I thought I'd talk politics. Yes, I know what you are all thinking - "he always talks politics, what has changed?". This post will be solely about politics - so if you find them boring, skip it!

Singapore is officially a multiparty democracy. However, the ruling party, the PAP (People's Action Party), has ruled since independence in 1965, and in the last election only 35% of the seats were contested. This means that no matter what the outcome, the PAP had to win that election. To me this is not how a democratic system should operate, and on multiple occasions the ex-PM of the country, Lee Kwan Yew (often known as the "father of Singapore") has been called a despot.

However, Singapore has relatively low corruption levels (especially compared to its neighbours in the region), an excellent health care, transport and education system (ok, that last one is debateable) - all the services typically associated with a democratic system. So it poses the question: does a country need to be democratic to be successful?? And I guess the answer (which shocked me) is no.

With exceptions.

Singapore does not have a free press (its laughably petty at times, and is definitely pro-PAP), and debate is discouraged. It seems a passive, almost apathetic, culture has emerged through an education system that seeks to "mould" the children of Singapore (Ministry of Education's slogan). The Internal Security Act doesn't help either!

However, when I posed this question to the leader of one of the opposition parties, Sylvia Lim, she believed this wasn't the case. Of the 84 seats in parliament, members of opposition parties hold TWO seats!!! Yet, Miss Lim believes such a result comes from Singapore's stability and that change will only come when Singapore's growth rate declines. Only then will social issues come to the fore, and the lack of a safety net become apparent.

I guess only time will tell. Pls post your thoughts, I'd be interested to see what people have to say about the issue.

This week has been largely based around planning for our intended trip to Penang over the Easter Long Weekend. It turns out that most Singaporeans seem to have had the same idea, and all buses there and back are sold out

Instead I've bookended (unintentionally) the week with trips to religious places of worship.

Gurdwara Visit
Last weekend (Sat 19th) I joined Kiran, Kavitha and their friends at the local Sikh Gurdwara (the Guru's abode) for a temple visit. We listened to a lecture about the Sikh faith, and heard about the community aspects of this particular Gurdwara. Apparently the temple has been criticised by some (and hailed by others) for being too community oriented.

Sikhism remains a small religion around the world, with around 20 million followers. It is relatively young (~500 years), and believes in the search for Chardhi Kala (unbounded optimism) through Truth. For more info, visit www.sikhnet.com.

The temple visit was fascinating, although I must admit to being a bit unwary at first - after all, I was one of two non-Indians in the group. However this trepidation was soon lost when I got to know people, and realised that these experiences are the ones I will remember most - the ones where I challenge myself. There is a Sikh Gurdwara two streets away in Turramurra, however I have never once been there! I guess it takes being out of one's comfort zone already to do these things.

Besides all that, I got to cook Chappati's in the langar (communal kitchen)!!! See Mum - I cooked in Singapore! Hahahah...

DIAL Lecture
The next day Noah, Lenny & I went to Tampines (near Changi) to the Fifth Daisaku Ikeda Annual Lecture (DIAL), organised by the Singapore Soka Association (a Buddhist Institute in Singapore). The lecture was given by Dr. Majid Tehranian, a Professor at the University of Hawaii, on the topic of "Cosmopolis: Civilisation, Communication and Terror in the Global Village". It was quite an interesting lecture, discussing religion, societal structure, and development insofar as they affect peace and cause war. Dr. Tehranian, however, had a very egotistical lecturing style - and made sure ample time was left to promote his book and research. I hate it when people do that. Mention it once, fine, but don't answer every question with "as can be seen in my book..."!

Holi
Yesterday, Shirley, Aruni, Arvind, Kavitha, Jae Sern, Kristin and I joined many others at Holi (Holikotsava) - the Hindu festival of colours. It marks the New Year, and is meant as a celebration of good harvest and fertility of the land. It's also associated with the immortal love of Krishna and Radha.

It's funny because in Singapore, unless you knew it was going on, you'd never see or hear about it. As we walked along the road to the place, we thought we'd been tricked. There was no sign that anything was going on until you entered the building and went out the back to the football field. Within about 30 seconds we were all wet and covered in coloured powder (known as gulal)! We all had a lot of fun dancing along to cheesy Bhangra music and randomly attacking strangers with colour - its really therapeutic!

Apparently its quite big in Darling Harbour, and is used as a pick-up joint for young Indian males, so if you're in the area the day after the full moon in March, head along!

Hi,

Just a quick post to say that I have just returned from a Grand Master Flash concert at Zouk nightclub, and it was awesome!!! Sooo good! $15 entry for 5 hours of fun.

It was very commercial, and very predictable, but his scratching skills are still amazing. Some people just wanted a hip-hop DJ though, and so they were a little disappointed. I also had expected something like what he gave the Sydney audience last year, which was a history of hip-hop, however he just DJd, but it was still great.

Sorry, I'm in a bit of a hyper mood right now...gimme time!

Also....Lu had her GAMSAT exam today!! Hope it went well babe! I'm sure you did fantastic!!

Hi guys,

I'm writing this fresh from a visit to one of most 'Singaporean' buildings I've been in since I arrived - the URA Gallery. Basically, the Gallery is a testament to Singapore's achievements in land usage since its Independence in 1965. It discusses the HDB Flats, the land reclamation, the MRT and transport networks, and their environmental effects. Actually, it kinda glosses over that!

I thought I might use this post to give you a sort-of education in the social structures of Singapore, through the URA Gallery.

The HDBs.
Firstly, HDB Flats. The Singaporean government realised in the 1970s that it would have major land-shortage problems if it didn't get its arse into gear and do something. Being the very involved government that it is, it decided to do it all itself. And it worked. The result is the government-funded Housing Development Board (HDB) apartments, in which 85% of the population live.

Unlike most other countries that provide government housing, there is no stigma attached with living in one of these, rather there is prestige in not living in them. The alternatives (condo apartments, semi-d(etached) terraces, and bungalows) are at least double the price of an HDB. There are some conditions to owning one of these apartments, however (and 90% of the population own one). You have to be married (only 3-, 4-, and 5-bedroom apartments are available, hint hint), and a Singaporean citizen or permanent resident.

I guess these conditions are fair when you consider they work so well! They are perfectly acceptable apartments (if a little boring), and in true Singapore style, they are forceably multi-cultural (each floor must have at least one Chinese, one Malay and one Indian family). That being said, I don't like I could live in one long-term - I just don't do apartments well.

Land reclamation.
Regardless of what I, or anyone else, says, the Singaporean government will continue with land reclamation. It is a necessity for the island state to continue to grow at its current rate, which it certainly intends on doing. Over the past 30 years, Singapore has increased its land mass by 15%, and plans on extending this by a further 10%. This means that most of the ECP (East Coast Parkway), Changi Airport, the new developments at Marina South, the Esplanade and Suntec City are all situated on reclaimed land. In fact, the use of reclamation is so profound that when you look at a map, the majority of Singapore's southern and eastern coastline is straight or smoothed. This does not happen naturally!

The one time reclamation has been stopped is in the case of Chek Jawa, the intertidal flats on the east coast of Pulau Ubin. The Singapore government has since stated that it intends to delay the reclamation for "as long as is possible". A nice piece of political manouvering there.

The MRT
It's fast, efficient, clean, and takes you almost everywhere you want to go. For most people, its their main form of transport, and its ridiculously cheap! (63c to $2 depending on how far you go)
The MRT is Singapore's rail system, and has been expanding constantly since the 1970s, when it was built. Trains come every 2-7 minutes from 6am to midnight, and there is no timetable. I have never heard of a derailment or any serious delay ever occuring. Makes a welcome change I can assure you! Currently there is no station at NUS (!), however one is being built and will be finished in 2009-10.

One gripe I have with the MRT is its reckless land usage - if the government deems it appropriate to build an MRT in a certain location, it does. There appears to be little regard for the cultural heritage that may have existed on the site. Ah well, you can't have everything.