A weekend in Singapore

Singapore is probably the only country that allows Sri Lankan passport holders to obtain a visa upon arrival, so, for me, it's one of the easiest places to visit. But, that's not the only reason I go there. I like the racial harmony that prevails (in contrast to the ethnic conflicts that have ravaged Sri Lanka), the wonderful cuisine, and the chance to speculate on what Sri Lanka might have been if only we had a Lee Kwan Yew. (Not that I admire his autocratic ruling style, but he eliminated corruption, tamed the out-of-control trade unions dominated by communists, and enforced racial harmony.) He actually had Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) as his model when he set out to clean-up Singapore. Now, Singapore is almost a First World country while Sri Lanka has reached near bottom in the Third World.

Since I came to Hong Kong in 1995, I must have made five or six short visits to Singapore to attend conferences and also to visit friends. I stress the word "short" because after two or three days, the heat becomes unbearable and the Singlish spoken there drives me nuts. As an English teacher who has taught students from around the world and as an addict of CNN and BBC World News, I can tolerate most accents. But Singlish grates on my ears.

In the past, I usually land at Singapore around midnight and am driven to a hotel by a taxi driver. They all speak English (unlike the taxi drivers in Hong Kong) and invariably the first question is "Where are you from?" When they learn I am from Hong Kong (and therefore not a Singaporean police informer), the tirade against the Singaporean government begins. The taxi drivers, like many Singaporeans, simply hate their autocratic government and seem to relish every opportunity to voice their anger in the privacy of their cabs.

Last weekend's visit was different because I was met by Maria (not her real name) who teaches in Singapore and is the subject of a chapter in the book I am working on. So, officially, I was conducting "field research". She graciously invited me to stay with her on the beautiful Nanyang Technological Institute campus. We didn't discuss the book much but talked about every other subject under the sun and went out exploring the wonderful restaurants in Little India. Amazingly, I also accompanied Maria to Sunday service. I usually attend only Christmas mass but thought I should see how a Singaporean Catholic mass was like.


Conducting field research at the Banana Leaf Apollo restaurant

Of all the eating places in Little India, the place I wanted to revisit was the Banana Leaf Apollo restaurant. It's thus named because, as with most South Indian cuisine, you eat on a banana leaf. I enjoyed the Sri Lanka crab curry, masala prawn, fish cutlets, and biriyani rice washed down with the cool beer. Actually, despite being Sri Lankan, I am sensitive to spicy curries but the food at Banana Leaf is too good to miss.


South Indian men hanging out on a Sunday afternoon in Little India

I was also met with an amazing sight: thousands upon thousands f South Indian men hanging out on the Sunday afternoon in Little India. This was their weekly holiday and there may have been 50,000 of them. It reminded me of Statue Square in Hong Kong on a Sunday where the Filipino domestic helpers camp out. I wonder how little Singapore copes with such an influx of foreign labour. I am told that a large number of foreign house maids, also from India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, work in Singapore.

The local English newspaper is the Straits Times and all the headlines were about the economic meltdown. The local DBS Bank had just sacked 12,000 employees without notice and this was considered despicable, quite rightly. Despite is reputation, Singapore is not squeaky clean and Singaporeans can be as badly behaved as the typical Hong Konger. Take a look at the list of "ungracious acts" that appeared in the Straits Times under the title of "Ugly Singaporeans".

• not flushing toilets after use
• squeezing into crowded passenger lifts with shopping carts when there are cargo lifts nearby
• spitting
• beating the seat in the bus to cool it right after someone gets up
• not giving up seats to the elderly, the handicapped or pregnant women on the buses and MTR trains
• not turning off mobile phones in theatres
• cutting queues at taxi stands
• occupying more than one seat with shopping bags and handbags at food centres
• rushing into lifts and MTR trains before others step out

Note: When I returned to Hong Kong, a friend reminded me that she had seen the banana leaves being wiped with a dirty cloth (so that they could be reused) at a restaurant (not the Banana Leaf Apollo) in Little India. So, you might be better off requesting a plate to eat on.

Muslims, too, die for America

On the NBC channel's “Meet the Press”, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President. In his endorsement, Powell said he was troubled that some Republicans have been spreading rumors that Obama is a Muslim.

"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

Powell went on to say that he feels strongly about this particular point because of a picture he saw in the The New Yorker magazine. He said it was "a photo essay about American troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards—Purple Heart, Bronze Star—showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life." (The New Yorker online)

Here's the photo of Elsheba Khan taken at the grave of her son Kareen Rashad Sultan Khan. It was taken for The New Yorker by the photographer Platon at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Obama must win

Obama with his grandmother Sarah in 2006

I saw Barack Obama's grandmother being interviewed on BBC yesterday. She's 86 and was hoping to attend her grandson's inauguration in January. Sarah Hussein Obama lives a simple life in Kenya and was shucking some corn as she spoke.

What happens in the USA affects the world. During my lifetime, two men who would have been great Presidents did not make it, and we were the losers. In 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated and in 2000, Al Gore's election was stolen. I hope we'll be lucky the third time around.

Obama, with his soaring oratory, ability to inspire the young and old, and youthful energy is the only hope left. His grew up in a single family home, ran around on bare feet in Indonesia, and saw how his mother struggled with poverty and poor health. His half-sister, herself an Asian-American whose father was Indonesian, is married to an Asian-American who has roots in Malaysia. Barack Obama is truly a citizen of the world.

I'll be looking for Sarah Obama when watching Obama's inauguration from Hong Kong.