Singapore: The Almost Last Two Days

I say almost last two days because tomorrow is a company visit in the morning, along with a "wrap-up" in the afternoon, followed by traveling to Jakarta. I'll miss being able to walk around a city in perfect security. Jakarta is quite dangerous and we won't have much freedom to go anywhere except the mall that is attached to our hotel. I know, I know. Boo hoo, I'm staying at the Grand Hyatt, but I would like to experience the culture, and not the Grand Hyatt. I suppose part of the culture is the danger, so there is a certain degree I don't need to experience.

May 30th: The Kindness Cheer Fest

I awoke on Sunday in order to head out with Charlie to Little India. Getting people to move in the morning is quite difficult around here, I suppose being the only non-alcoholic person in this trip has its advantages and disadvantages.

Little India is totally different from the rest of Singapore. The cabs locked down and the foot traffic crosses the street without the slightest hesitation. So many Indian dialects are spoken, I'm not sure how anyone understands one another. This is probably the most religiously diverse group here too, with Muslims, Hindu, Buddhists, and Christians, all rolled in together. I didn't know that exchange rates could be negotiated, but many Indians were screaming about the exchange rate between Singaporean dollars and rupees. Electronics were everywhere, but in order to get into the Mustafah Centre, you had to pass through some nasty looking guards.

After lunch at an halal appropriate restaurant, Charlie and I made our way to the local mosque, supposively a sight to see. I was clear on where we were to take off our shoes and we had a look around. We were quickly approached by some imams in training, and made some fast conversation to avoid their original apparent hostility at having strangers in the mosque. Altogether it was a great learning experience. The imams appeared to like the rude gesture I gave when I explained that I did not like that my father was US military.

We tried to find the way to the Hindu temple, but that was more difficult than expected. Little India is a small area, but it is hard to find things in it, unless you're not looking for anything in particular.

Afterwards, a cab ride took us to Orchard Road, where we went shopping at Dragon Mall and another mall with a Japanese name that I can never perfectly remember. Singaporeans are very much like other Asians in shopping habits. Shopping is a full-body experience. Things are taken out of their wrapping, touched, smelled, felt up, and, if necessary, a few dollar negotiation will take place. Americans like things being more sterilized, clean, and set. It makes me wonder. Maybe, as Americans, we rely more on word of mouth and we want to make sure that nothing could have gone wrong with our products from others, while Singaporeans (and possibly other Asians) check for quality in a more personal way.

There is too much to say about these malls to write here, but a few observations real quick:

(1) Malls are HUGE, but that doesn't mean the selection is huge. There might be one home furnishing store (obvious as Singaporeans don't have large homes), some cheap places to eat a few nice places to eat, and nearly everything else is beauty products and clothing.

(2) The larger, nicer malls have escalators that go up on the right side. Singapore is a country that drives on the left. However, in some of these malls, you can buy things in other currencies. I was wondering if, perhaps, the escalators were designed in part with foreigners from traffic on the right in mind, as escalators in their metros and other areas obey Singaporean traffic rules.

Finally, THE FIRST ANNUAL KINDNESS CHEER FEST:

Gracefully observing the Singaporeans in their natural habitat, we came across a conspicuous structure outside the malls. Androgynous boys and dolled up girls from middle school and below lined the inside, as families gathered around. A large sign indicated that this was a cheer-leading competition, but not just anyone. It was a "kindness" cheer-leading competition with an emphasis on respect.

Aghast at this blatant display of propaganda, Charlie and I looked on as a government official gave a long speech and the first elementary school came forward. Hackneyed doesn't begin to describe what occurred. Pop music and excellent demonstrations of athleticism were broken in with messages about "respect" and what one ought to respect. The usual suspects were all there: family, friends, and, of course for Asia, one's elders. However, the worst appeared at the end, when everyone was told that they ought to respect their government. The libertarian in me screamed against such an idea.

Noticing my demeanor, Charlie quickly pointed me toward the closest symbol of capitalism, and we departed, but not unscarred by that memory.

The rest of the day went smoothly. I attempted to do laundry, but they had one washer, one dryer, and the materials were all written in Malay and Chinese! I managed through it, but it required that I iron all my clothes in the end.

May 31 2010

Today was the last full day in Singapore. We had a wonderful professor to whom we got to ask all a number of great questions. Nothing much happened, and going out only involved leaving for Holland town.

I did manage to get out toward the Singapore river and get one last look at the city and do some reflecting.

I'm still very much worried. The national story of Singapore is one that celebrates the government involvement and misdirection of resources. The real story about Singapore should be how freedom works, and could work even better. Sometimes, simply lessons from Bastiat are quickly forgotten.

Dear Cat and Blake: The GAME is on!

Today is May 30th, just in for those of you who are still in the past. Yesterday was going to be a horrible day. Class was for two sessions, confined to a small box at the National University of Singapore. The sun streamed through the windows begging to be touched through more than a plexiglass barrier. The professors at NUS are suppose to touch on the nature of South East Asia, and some do, some don't; however, classroom cannot substitute for the wisdom of the moving through the crowds.

After class, Charlie and I departed for the weight room, which was closed due to the weekend. I went for a run around the NUS track, but it was only sub-par, and came back in order to do an ab workout. Charlie quickly collapsed into a sleepy stupor in his bed, and Justin was watching "The Office". I decided against allowing my pungent body from further polluting the room, and took my shower.

I went off to find food, only to find every single Asian place closed. Only Subway remained opened, and every bite was delicious, a delicious betrayal of trying to do everything I could to immerse, or at least experience a culture. Finding my professor in conversation with a few others, I entered the lobby of the Visitor's Lodge and engaged until around 10 o'clock. I watched as every woman departed to see "Sex and the City 2", and slowly made my way into Jamie's room, hoping that someone wanted to do something that didn't involve sitting around and staring at another all day.

Episode IV (Which is actually the first movie btw) : A New Hope

Nearly every guy gathered in Jamie's room, which was a long talk in Facebook photos and put-down conversation. I even engaged further than I wanted or really should have. Finally, the behemoth of a group ordered taxis to go into Clark Quay, one of the bar districts in Singapore. As the taxis come and we gather amid the smoke, cacophony of voices, and alcoholic beverages, a growing unease begins. The group decides to check-out Hooters here in Singapore, and it is every bit as wonderful as it is in the States. However, the group decides that endless loitering ought to occur, and many of the guys form a circle, insulating Clark Quay from their very view.

Everything was lost. The night was going to be a stream of lengthy intervals between drinks, and I was going to be the endless observer.

But then, light...

While standing outside of Hooters, Charlie made several attempts at negotiated drinks with the bartender. After wheeling and dealing, the slow decision making process that can only characterize groups continues to obfuscate his every attempt at "doing something". The crowd is thick and people must touch shoulders to walk in along the avenue. Suddenly, Charlie moves with purpose. The world comes in only snapshots, and he approaches two of the most gorgeous girls we are to see in Singapore.

These girls are small, skinny, but maintain their features in such a way that their body speaks of contradiction and beauty. Charlie moved only so slightly, grabbed one of their hands, and began in conversation. A shock approaches their face only for the slightest time. Charlie has taken a chance. These are two Singaporeans, and Singaporeans of great beauty. Barely knowing what I was doing, I swung to the group of three, balance had to be maintained. I widened my walk, moved out my shoulders, and placed my sexuality squarely back in the closet.

In the first few seconds, I nearly blow the whole operation. Charlie looks at me in the first second as a potential threat, a question that remained only for that second. I insult him as friends would do, barely paying attention to the two tightly black dressed points of light. Conversation picks up. About what? It matters not. They are forced to ask about our nationality, we play them, asking them about good clubs and where we can meet nice girls.

The signs begin to accumulate. The girls begin to touch their hair, giggle and laugh to one another. However, their two-person support group is no match for the fast talking words Charlie lays upon them, and the ever so slight support fire from his wingman. Charlie attacks the girl to our right with a slight salsa dance, which is comparable only to the "Funky Cool Medina". The ignored girl to our right, who glows ever more radiant, begins to brush her hair with such vigor there was little sense in combing it that morning. These two have fallen.

In the moments that should have been the close, Charlie moves away. He begins the conversation closer, and his mistake is made. He fails to ask for a number, for a time off, or even for a hug. It was evident. As well as we were doing, Charlie did not see the same signs that his gay-closeted wingman had seen, and he was moving away. While everything ended in the most cordial of ways, the girls themselves were sad to see things go.

However, there now was hope. Charlie looked at me like you would a half-pickled cucumber. What the hell was I? Then, a smile breaks, along with an "ohmygosh". And the preliminary deal is struck. We were going to meet people that night. We were going to run game, and we were going to have fun. The two of us formed the nucleus of a dangerous particle. Times were to be had.

Episode V: The Catholic Strikes Back

Attica is a club at Clark Quay, and, if you were failed to be born with in-door plumbing, you must wait in a lengthy line, as thickly built Malaysian bouncers glare at you. Women escape into the front door with little time in between.

Before making our way directly to the club, Charlie and I need to warm up. The gorgeous duo of before was almost happenstance, and something needed to happen with intention. Charlie scans left and right, and my eyes fix upon the crowds. In the most unlikely of places, a mass of five Jakartan girls appear.

Charlie approaches without so much as a hello. Five girls, four who are dressed more modestly and one with far more flare. Charlie looks at her for two seconds, "You're the mean one, they're the nice ones". The game had begun. With only his body he began to engaged the four and blocked the one. The one attempted to give him a kick, and so quickly was she rejected by this stranger that she sought validation from the only one who could give it to her. I quickly engaged in every stall mechanism that would give Charlie even more time, and her agitation of not being recognized only grew. Again, the game of asking where to find a club and some nice girls was played. The girls were finally directed to Attica, and Charlie and I departed.

While making another round Clark Quay, a total tranny came up to Charlie, said, "Hey handsome", slapped his ass, and we continued. Wonderful night punctuated with strange events.

Episode VI: Return to Attica

We made our way back to the entrance of Attica, were many of the other guys were patiently waiting in line for their chance to enter. We thought better of it, and waited near the entrance for women. Quickly making a friend or two, we were surrounded and the Malaysian body guards could do nothing but accept that we should be entered.

Upon entrance, the steam that filled the room revealed a laser display and hard music that would be enough for a deaf man to hear. The bar was directly in front, with a dance floor in the back and a techno dance floor on the second floor. Almost by divine providence, the next two girls revealed themselves. The second girl would show only much later in the night, but the first was clad in white, sharp high heals, and an attitude that could lead lemmings to their doom.

Her accent was obviously Australian (our third nationality for the night). Charlie made his way to the bar, and I occupied her with attention. Charming conversation about accents, where in Australia she was from, and her life as a flight attendant danced about. Attention was given, but it was earned. I made sure to look further into the club, letting her know that conversation was not a given. Soon after, Charlie arrived with the first round of drinks. However, it wasn't too long before it was time to move again.

Upwards the bar, we ran into a group of four Indians (nationality Singaporean, ethnicity Indian, from Kashmir). Charlie occupied one girl, while I quickly identified the other three as sisters. I characterized each vocally as the eldest, responsible child, the middle, forgotten child, and the baby. As Charlie moved between them, he eventually settled on stealing their youngest sister. Returning from the dance floor, it was clear that the "Funky Cool Medina" had struck again, and none of the sisters or friend, save for the middle sister (my particular partner), could get enough of Charlie. At any point where he directed attention of one to another, I could dance them to me, away back to Charlie, or make them wait in turn. Let's be clear. We approached them, even stole them from some none-to-bad Indians, and, yet, they acted as though their time was our favor.

Time again elapsed, and we left them to wonder, and perhaps mercifully recover, and moved up to the Techno Floor. Charlie departed for the bathroom, and I spotted our Jakartan friends from before. We flitted over for only a few seconds, and I watched as the "mean" Jakartan turned away from her dance partner only to send Charlie and me a few moves of affection. However, they would again be left as wallflowers, dancing alone, with longing looks emanating from the broken hearts only we could deliver.

Then, disaster seemed to strike. We approached two good looking Chinese girls, and in a matter of seconds, Charlie's girl was looking to make-out. However, my intended target needed distraction I could not provide. Her single-minded directionality was uncharacteristically belligerent, and like a Japanese to an atomic, I could only be caught in the flash. She dragged her friend away, and it was lost.

Attempting to recover, Charlie approached another Chinese. She was dancing and with the first invitation to conversation, her hand flew up into the air. At the second approach, it happened again. Charlie made one more maneuver, but she held. Little lost, and little troubled, we moved again down, where we ran into the Aussie.

Recognizing the time, I told Charlie that we had soon best head out. This was just the information the Aussie needed in order to try to get us to stay; however, I made the mistake of mentioning Mass in the morning. Her countenance fell and she quickly demanded to know the status of my religious affiliation, "Catholic or Christian". After some play between Charlie and I, I confirmed the Catholicism. She moved away from me, the Titanic was sinking, but Charlie intervened to save what survivors there were. With an inaudible question from Charlie, the girl told him that she was a bisexual-lesbian. A fine card to play, but Jacob always has a trump.

I move over to her, tell her that she has to keep a secret, and open a crack in the closet of my homosexuality. She was near ecstatic, pulled me aside to meet her gay friend, and went on in conversation with Charlie. Their conversation went from "I can't believe he's gay" to Charlie then spinning her around his finger.

As for meeting the gay friend, Jacob was now out of his element. I couldn't destroy everything that was built, as my first instinct would be to talk about my boyfriend, but this would mean disaster. The guy was cute, so maneuvering in that domain was not difficult; however, flirting with gay men was never my specialty. In fact, I never really flirted with men, people would interpret my genuine interest and attention as flirting. Needless to say, when I tried to call upon any instinct of a single-gay man, it was a disaster. However, I bumbled through enough that Charlie managed to finish the conversations.

We met up again with our Indian friends, before wishing each a farewell, being put in several pictures, and Charlie passing along his Facebook information. Finally departing, we queued in lien for a taxi (how things are done in Singapore).

However, what should happen, but the Aussies should show up. We moved them to our position in line, and presented more conversation. In this area, I did much better, as I had a group to talk to. Charlie attempted to exchange Facebook information as the taxi cab driver and people in line sent nasty signals and invectives.

The night was done, we returned safely.

The Deal

A deal had to be negotiated. Charlie had found himself a wingman, and I had found a way to interact directly with the local cultures. I would serve in my capacity as best as I could. Obviously, nothing was going to be done that would compromise my position with Danny. If the Aussie had pressed any further, boyfriend conversation would have been used. Jacob will Hindenburg a group if higher morals comes in the way.

Altogether though, an arrangement was made, three episodes were written. Hopefully, totally unlike George Lucas, the next will not end in flames.

I Tried Durian

Today is Visock (could be spelled any number of ways) Day. What is that? It's Buddha's Birthday. Apparently, the Buddhist International got together and decided to celebrate Buddha's birthday on the some day set during the fourth month of the lunar cycle. However, everyone kinda does their own thing. Singapore celebrates it today, as they celebrate two festivals of the four "major" religions in the city (no atheists, Richard Dawkins Day is not a festival yet).

Anyway, I woke up around 7:00 am, but didn't want to disturb anyone, so I allowed myself to drift back into a nap-like state. Around 10:00 I decided that I was not going to get on with my day. Charlie was bouncing about as the women of the program were rushing him and several others off to Sentosa Island. I decided that would make a good trip, as I really wanted to get some good sun and everything else was closed today. Afterwards, I would go to the Buddha Relic Tooth and Museum Temple around 5:00 to meet up with my professor and then go onto dinner with a number of UVA alums.

Sentosa is basically the tourist trap for Singapore. The port was basically founded on business, so attempting to discover fun has been something new to them. They mention that their pastimes here are eating and shopping, which is likely true. The different cultures keep a number of their own practices and many people have complained about the lack of a "culture" here, but after scratching a bit further down, there is a certain vibrancy to Singapore.

Anyway, back on the story. Sentosa is a major tourist trap, and entire island raised from the sea only to trap tourists. The beaches were pleasant and wonderfully artificial, along with a number of things to do along the beach itself. There were artificial wave and surfing areas, along with over-priced alcohol (the excise taxes are enormous here). It's great for me, as since the East India Trading Company has long lost its monopoly, have all the tea that I want, but the smokers and drinkers complain about the ability to get only a light buzz. Apparently, never learning social skills hurts when you don't have -OH bonds running through your system.

The Actual Trip to Sentosa

I ended up going out to Sentosa with Justin and Dave. It was the first time spending any appreciable time with Dave, and it was very pleasant. He's got a great sense of humor. I called a taxi that arrived early and he had to brush his teeth, dress himself, and gather his beach gear all within the span of two minutes.

The drive was pleasant and cost less than I expected (minus the six dollars you have to pay just to go onto the island), and I managed to get a good bit of sun (I'm now pleasantly pink and awaiting it to turn into a nice brown). We magically ran into a group of other MS Commerce students and decided to spend some time with them.

Michelle decided to experiment with the artificial surfing. We waited twelve minutes, standing about, watching for her turn to come. People of all different types were slowly being led out onto the surf generator with a rope and managed to fall in all a manner of creative waves. As Michelle approached, we expected a Youtube catastrophe; however, she managed only to get onto her board and fall slightly off. For many, it was a let down, but just like the Aliyah song, if at first you don't succeed, just dust yourself off and try again...try again. By the end, she wasn't doing too poorly.

Charlie and I then got together and sought out a place to do volleyball. This is one sport that I do enjoy, and, while I'm not amazing, can often hold my own in a simple pick-up game. Too bad for us, no one wanted to let Rudolph join in any of the reindeer games. No fat man showed up to let me guide his sleigh, so we headed back just in time to watch the thunder roll in.

Lightning here in Singapore is fantastic. It dances in all a manner of different ways. Apparently, it's the most dangerous natural disaster in Singapore, with over 40 people dying from it per year. However, Indonesia breaks up any typhoons, earthquakes rarely get above a 4.0 (so you can't fell them and they are totally negligible), and no other disasters affect the area. Talk about a great place to lay anchor!

Buddha

Rushing back to the visitor's lodge in order to shower and change, I managed to arrive at the Buddha temple by taking a taxi back to the lodge, showering, and then calling another taxi to take me out. At least I know where most of my money is going, but taxi is definitely the best way to travel in Singapore.

I spent some time in the temple gathering the sights and attempting to understand the strong symbols around me. Buddha was depicted in many forms, along with several different enlightened persons and deities. The monks at this place run a great business, as you have any number of Buddha statues and deities to protect you depending on the year that you are born in.

I happened finally onto professor Maillet and his former TA, Cecil. Both were observing the events around them and we managed to find an elevator that took us to higher stories in the temple. There was a pure golden clad room were the relic was being held and for worshipers during specified times, the roof had a garden that could make you forget that you were in a city, and the third floor included a museum with different important artifacts and the shortened story of Buddha's life.

All of this took place over a good bit of time, and wonderful conversation with Maillet and Cecil. Maillet recently turned 50, but he's like a child who has discovered the world all over again. He approaches everything with wonder and he listens more than he speaks. There's certainly a great deal to learn from someone like him.

THE TEA SHOP!!!

Coffee shops everywhere! That's what Singapore has. Maybe their "business" culture means that they have to somehow become the New York Italians of Asia. Anyway, I was shocked that they have so many coffee shops and tea exists only in the background. I politely asked at one restaurant if they had tea, and while Carson scoffed at such a suggestion, it was both the correctly polite way of asking for it, both because it saves face and because its not displayed at all. There's also no selection in most places that you go.

However, Cecil turned into from a generous native to my favorite person. He brought Maillet and me into a traditional Chinese tea shop, and we had tea. But we didn't just "have tea". We HAD TEA! A nice oolong was chosen with a few snacks of buns to eat along the way, but the event was in how you drink the tea.

As part of what you were drinking, a nice old Chinese lady came out with several beautiful instruments and explained to us the proper way to drink tea. Everything was extremely tiny and could barely hold more than a shot of tea in the personal glasses, but it worked in the most fantastic way.

STORY TIME: Complicated Tea Dance

A wooden clamp is used to place a fragrance cup and a drinking cup upon a small tea tray and distributed to each of the tea drinkers.

You begin, then, by warming the water pot. The hot liquid is then poured onto the clay pot, which is then poured into the fair cup, which is then poured into the fragrance cup, and finally into the drinking cup. After this has been done. A wooden spoon of a very special shape is placed within a bag of tea leaves, and then flipped over. This is to make sure no leaves are damaged.

Tea is placed into the clay pot, and water is used to fill it up. The first fill is then poured into the fair cup, which is then poured back onto the clay pot and into allowed to fall into the tea tray, which captures any and all water that you just pour around.

From then, you can pour the first cup to be drunk, and the tea is left to steep only a short while. It is then poured into the fair cup, which receives its name because a fair portion of tea is then partitioned into each of the fragrance cups. Upon being poured into those cups, you pick up the cup on the lips of the cup with two fingers in one hand. It is then sniffed and placed down. It is then allowed to warm up and sniffed again. Finally, it is poured into the drinking cup, and rubbed between two hands in order to cool. This is very relaxing. The fragrance cup is then set smelled once again, and put down.

The drinking cup is held with three fingers in one hand. Two fingers cup the lips and a final one rests the bottom of the cup. The other two fingers are left out if you are a woman or curved inward if you are a man (trannies get to choose). A small sip is taken and swished around the mouth in order to clear anything that would inhibit the full enjoyment of the tea. A second sip is taken and allowed to rest upon the palette for a short while. Finally, the third sip is taken like a shot and allowed to go down.

This process is repeated three more times, until the clay pot must have the tea leaves changed. A wooden "teaspoon" (nothing like what you are thinking), it used to remove the tea leaves, and the tea gathering utensil is then used to fill it once again. You must exfoliate the tea leaves again and repeat the process.

Sounds complicated. It is. BUT IT'S WONDERFUL.

Dinner with the Alums

Finally, Cecil, Maillet, and I went off to find some UVA alums who live in Singapore in order to have dinner. Maillet abandoned Cecil and me as he was feeling under the weather. After much searching, Cecil found the restaurant.

This was fancy. However, even greater events occurred here. The Dean of the McIntire School, often referred to as Dean Z (his last name is a hard to pronounce and hard to write German name for most people, Zeithaml), was sitting at a table with a good number of MS Commerce students and a few alums. As I arrived, I was pushed onto another table that became myself as the only MS Commerce and table filled with alums.

These people were fascinating. Some were native Singaporean, some were a mixture of other Asian, and one was even of European ethnicity. They had the most interesting stories and tidbits to tell, and I was able to be privy to it all. The perspectives I gathered were enormous.

Conclusion

I came back to my room and took a shower. I'm very pink and hoping this turns into a tan. Some people apparently went out to drink and party again. I feel sorry that they won't have the same amazing experiences that I did. I've gathered more cultural knowledge tonight than they probably ever could by going out to bars. This post may seem long, but it truly is an abbreviated version of the amazing conversations, discussions, and stories that were told throughout the day.

Professor Maillet has shown himself to be amazingly insightful, not only in this trip, but about the state of colleges and universities and the necessary future that Virginia colleges will have to take. Cecil is my hero, and the alums have impressed me beyond measure.

I constantly feel awful being on this trip without a job and any prospects. But the more I talk to people, the more I'm convinced that I'm going to have to suffer for what I really want, but, also, that what I really want is even more important than what I originally thought. God has a wonderful sense of humor. I just wish he'd let me in on the joke from time to time.

To close out everything. I've talked a lot about this smelly fruit Durian. It's horrendous. Anyway, we had a professor of Cross-Cultural Communication who told us that going to another culture was often like having a "try the durian" moment. So, finally, at dinner, I tried a dessert that had durian. It was repugnant, awful, and almost every time I breath I can get a small hint of it on my breath. However, I'm glad I tried it.

Politics, P&G, and Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous in Singapore

So, people are really afraid to talk politics in public here. We had the final session with one of our professors here who is actually Korean, but teaching here at the National University of Singapore. The guy is really interesting and has had a lot of good stuff to say, but when Professor Maillet asked him about something with a slight political tinge, he stated plainly the he learned early not to talk politics in public in Singapore. It's just not done. When you get Singaporeans and people in private, then they'll spill the beans. However, you really have to wonder, Lee Kaun Yew and his family are well connected and remain tightly in power throughout the city-state. Once Lee dies, I can only imagine the power struggles that could take place.

Funny enough, the subject came up again at our interview with Proctor and Gamble. We met with the management team for P&G in Asia (or most of Asia, sans China, which gets its own team), and at one point, the manager quietly told us that P&G doesn't make any hard decisions past a certain deadline based on when they think Lee Kaun Yew will die. He made sure to only hint at various things and was quite clear that he wasn't going to mention anything about politics overtly. Most of the management team are Indian nationals, so that was interesting to see too.

Singapore has certainly benefited from being a generally free-market oriented system, but it has also benefited in that its neighbors have generally been horrifically socialist. This has allowed them to get away with more. I'm certainly looking forward to Hong Kong, where freedom is less limited, except the beast of China will stare down at it. Even one of the Chinese students is uneasy about the lack of political voice in Singapore.

Singapore must have severe restrictions on residential property. I may have said this before, but one million Singapore dollars (about $750,000 American) nets you only about one thousand square feet of living space. Today, we actually went to a house, and a nice one at that. It was ritzy, expensive, and would probably only sell for about $750K in America, but was worth about $18M in Singapore. This was a meet and greet with Singaporeans who went to or are going to go to UVA and current McIntire.

Going back to P&G, McIntire and P&G have had a long-standing good relationship, but the presentation today, as well as a little exercise that had us go out and look for their brands in local shops, all ended up with very good impressions on both ends. However, to make it even better, after everything was said and done, our professor received an email from the management team with P&G saying that they wanted to talk about establishing a closer relationship between them and McIntire (and I think they meant the MS in Commerce program in particular). It was a great little ego boost, especially since one of the lead P&G guys had an awesome accent and was fairly cute (thought a little too big for my tastes, though certainly not fat). What? I'm allowed a little shallowness from time to time. Not everything is metaphysics, epistemology, and politics with me (sometimes its also logic).

Anyway, I know this blog was a little technical and dry, but I promise more fun stories and tellings are to come.

Bullet Points

Some quick points on additional small observations about Singapore:

(1) There is a stereotype that Asians are bad drivers. Except for the fact that Singapore tries to regulate the existence of traffic jams (see the previous post from today), Singaporeans do not do help this stereotype. I'm in a car zooming around Singapore attempting to understand the rules of the road. Everyone drives on the left side (this is probably the only rule that is followed). So, slower traffic should be in the left most lane, while the right lanes ought to be passing lanes. Rather, everything is a shifting free-for-all. It's kinda like a roller-coaster...with your LIFE!

(2) You really know you're in another country when the "squirrel" animals are all different. What do I mean? Well, you know you're in Australia when you see kangaroos. In Singapore, there are these awesome black birds with yellow beaks and white tips on their wings. They're like pigeons only cooler, although a little creepy. Why creepy? Because these bastards stare at you.

Think about it: Pigeon, "Dum dee dum dee dum! I'm a pigeon, blah blah blah. I'm gonna hop around and fly away and crap on crap."

Creepy Bird, "I'm watching you. Creeeeeeeeeepily waaaaatching you." It's like Big Brother, only bird-style.

(3) Durian! So, they warn you about this before you come. South East Asians love this smelly fruit called Durian and they will try to get you to eat it. We all talk about cultural acceptance, but there are lines and durian is a LINE!

If you cut open the fruit, it smells from a football field away. But they pretend they like it. Ice cream durian, cake durian, durian in the supermarket, durian, durian, durian.

I say pretend, you know why, because they ban it on the subways. They ban it on the buses, and they'll ban it from being brought into many public spaces. Oh, they'll tell you that it's only cause they don't want to scare the foreigners, but it smells to high heaven, and God was like, "get me some Febreeze".

(4) Speaking of food. There are some great foods here. You can get mango in anything for example. I had a wonderful mango ice cream sundae-ish thing today. They have this stuff called "kaya", which is awesome. It's apparently coconut butter.

HOWEVER, fish is everywhere. Everything smells like fish. You know why, because it's 34C outside (around 90F) and the fish just goes everywhere. Now, I'm a little picky in that I don't eat anything that lives under a wave except ahi tuna, cod, and tilapia (sometimes shark and other cartilaginous fish). So, I know I'm coming from a negative position already, but honestly. It's an open air market and there's NO air conditioning.

(5) By the way, Cat would eat NOTHING here. Asians might be renowned for their artistic style, but, when it comes to food, it couldn't be any uglier. The signs in these open markets tend to look dilapidated. I'm sure the health of most of these places is fine, but that's more based on faith than on evidence. The evidence is that these places look like they wouldn't pass the mildest of health inspections. This is why I don't worry about Asians taking over the world economy. They still haven't learned Marketing 101: Presentation matters!

So, there's good and there's bad, but that's almost a tautology, n'est-ce pas?

Going Native

Tonight, I managed to escape from the National University and the generally approved curriculum into the "real" Singapore. My friend Susie had a friend from UNC who went to Duke who is a native of Singapore (got all that?). Claudelle, Susie, and myself met Will after we had class and our "company visit" today (more on that later maybe).

Will has a car. Really, his parents have a car, which is a big deal in Singapore. How big? Well, the government places a huge tax on cars (something close to 80% of the retail value of the vehicle), but that's not all. The government requires that you then buy a COE, Certificate of Entitlement (because your taxes only aren't enough to constitute any property claim over the roads), which can cost about the same amount for the vehicle. The COEs can be bought and sold on the open market and the government only issues new ones depending on the "economic need" for them, but that's not all. As you drive around Singapore, every car must have a receiver that is attached to the car and costs you a few dollars every time that you pass under one of the government's terminals. You see a lot of fancy cars in Singapore, but that comes down to: if you are going to buy a car in Singapore, you might as well go all out. Obviously, privatized roads would be an easy and better solution, but let's not get hung up on economic theory. Again, for a country that is so capitalistic, or claims to be, it surely is horrifically socialist.

Anyway, Will took us around the city. I got to quiz him on different aspects of Singaporean politics, behavior, and lifestyle. It's true that most Singaporeans don't have clothe machine dryers. Instead, they hang their clothes out to dry from poles that they can suspend from their apartments. I was told that during the rainy season, people just expect that the clothes might get a little wet again. I know that people here seem to accept that, but when I quizzed a little further, I was told that machine dryers would be more convenient for working professionals. Well, if "working professionals" doesn't constitute most of Singapore, I don't know what does.

The People's Action Party controls Singapore and operates almost as a one-party dictatorship. Lee Kaun Yew managed significant personal control. Will said that he was 8 when they banned gum. Essentially, I have been told that whenever you go to China (note: not Singapore), one ought to expect the 3 S's: staring, smoking, and spitting. Everyone will stare at you. While rude in Western cultures, this is considered mere curiosity in China. Well, in Singapore, we got stared at, but that was more because we were a bunch of Americans in an area that was clearly residential Singapore, and they really stared at Will, wondering what this Singaporean was doing with so many gringos. The 2nd S, smoking, happens everywhere in China, but this is true of most of the world. It's like the world's favorite drug. In Singapore, lots of people smoke, but the government will hit you hard with a fine if you do it in the wrong place or if you leave a butt on the ground. All of the National University of Singapore's campus is non-smoking, and it's been somewhat traumatic to watch as Justin desperately attempts to sneak a drag every ten minutes. Finally, spitting, it's gross. Even nice little old ladies in China will get a loogie going. Lee Kaun Yew was apparently as disgusted as I was, but with more power. So, he taxed spitting on the sidewalk and he banned the sale of gum in Singapore. Free Trade Agreements have allowed gum with a doctor's permission in the case of smoking, and many Singaporeans will cross the border into Malaya in order to a pack of gum; however, Lee was very effective in reducing the incidence of chewing gum (and thus spitting).

People pay for everything in Singapore. I'm not really opposed to the idea, since the idea that the user ought to pay for the services rendered to him as a basic economic and justice appeal; however, the hidden taxes are really quite absurd. Will was unwilling to say this out loud, but the People's Action Party (PAP) is sometimes called the Pay And Pay party.

Another thing, people are afraid to criticize the government. You definitely do not enjoy the same "political" and "civil" liberties here that you would find common in many other Western countries. To me, freedom is not something that you can divide. If I cannot say what I want, then I cannot use my property how I want, then I cannot enter into transactions that I want. Therefore, economic, political, and civil liberties are all intricately tied. What was strange, was that Will was very reticent when asked about politics in public and showed clear signs of agitation when I would ask critical questions in public. However, once in private, he would open up more. I will have to keep this in mind. It reminds me quite a bit of my first taxi cab ride here.

A Trip to the Economic Development Board (EDB)

I know I seem rather weird, but these are the things that interest me about coming to a country: it's culture, the modes of operation, the hopes, aspirations, philosophy of the people. Yesterday, we went to the Economic Development Board of Singapore, which existed before Singapore was even an independent country. According to the governments statistics (which Will would later scoff at when we recalled them to him), the EDB accounts for something like 40% of Singapore's GDP. Now, in visiting the EDB, we actually met with a group called "Contact Singapore".

Contact Singapore told us all about the wonderful life you can live if you move to Singapore, about the low-cost healthcare, the wonderful dining and shopping, the low taxes, and the high wages (i.e., those things that come from a free market). The purpose of Contact Singapore is to recruit global talent and encourage global investment in Singapore. The meeting was pretty much a recruiting film for us to come to Singapore and little was actually said about what the EDB did and how it operated. People attempted to ask questions, but it was difficult in that everyone was unclear on what this forum was for. I think even the professors noticed, but we all made of the best of it. In the end, I had to ask the question of why does Contact Singapore even exist. If Singapore has all these attractive features for investment, why wouldn't companies naturally come to Singapore, why couldn't the private sector do what they did?

They responded in the usual government way. They claimed that private companies don't have an incentive to operate in such a way that they would have to recruit people who might end up with their competitors and that, as the government, they would be able to leverage higher economies of scale. They even seemed to acknowledge that head-hunter agencies do just that, but contended that what they did was somehow different. I'm really not sure how. Companies often work in tandem with their competitors to attract talent (it's called a job fair), organizations often arise to deal with transaction costs of recruiting (head-hunters, job placement groups, etc), and scale can be leveraged and all a manner of different ways. They even admitted that they don't do placement and that job hunter agencies are the ones who actually do that. In other words, they are probably a wonderful case study in what is seen and what is unseen.

The Port of Singapore Authority (PSA)

Today, our company visit was to PSA. Now, while they were originally the Port of Singapore Authority, they are no longer. They won't tell us what PSA stands for anymore, if anything, but they have been "corporatized" which means that they are owned entirely by Temasek Holdings, which is the government sovereign wealth fund. So, they were a government agency, now they are just owned by the government. Eventually, they will be "privatized", which means that 50% of the shares will be sold to Singaporeans so that the government can "share the wealth". Hardly privatization.

PSA is an impressive organization as it operates over 28 ports in several different countries in the world. They are careful, selective, and relatively efficient in the way they go about things. They do operate largely as a private company, but obviously, their initial investment came from the government. Hopefully, as liberalization goes further, they will become more private and wealth will flow into the hands most capable, but the socialization of these different aspects is worrisome. Again, they like to laud the success of several of these firms, but they cherry-pick the most successful ones to show, which are largely private, and they are completely ignorant of Bastiat's warnings against what is seen and what is unseen in economic affairs.

Larger Picture

So, in many ways, Singapore is a schizophrenic country. That's why I can seem to praise one part and then criticize it again. One one part, prices are free to move and people can purchase a wide variety of goods and services. Taxes are low (kinda), regulation is low (kinda), and transfer payments are low. However, it then has these Government Linked Corporations which took massive amounts of money from the public in an initial investment to which the public will never see the money until they once again have to pay double when those companies have their stock offered on the open market. Regulation of private life and political control are well within the governments power. My observation thus far is: Singapore is too socialist and it invades and violates the personal dignity of its citizens and others; however, it terms of many things that it does, it is better than most governments around the world.

The Story of Singapore: Properly Whitewashed and Dried

According to Singapore, the history of Singapore "really" begins in 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles bought the island from the local sultan on behalf of the East India Trading Company, where he intended to create a freeport that would be a useful stopping position on the way to greater trade with China from India.

(They kinda tell you at one point in the National Museum that the "local sultan" was actually in a dispute with his brother as to who was the proper owner of the title. The sultan was quick to sell the land to the British because they would recognize him as the rightful heir and he would be able to draw an income from the British who would set aside some land for him in Singapore.)

The island grew fairly well in British hands, but, as you can imagine, the East India Trading Company created some troubles for the locals (as any government mandated monopoly with a "private" army backed by British troops is wont to do).

Eventually, Singapore broke from the Company and moved into British hands. This was generally celebrated, and then generally booed (as all idiotic feats appear to be, like Obama's election).

(Note: McCain's election would have also been a disaster, so no angry emails from any statist Obama lovers)

Singapore was conquered by the Japanese in 1942 and remained in Japanese control until the end of the war. As you can imagine, things went swimmingly well, and only 50,000 people were viciously murdered. Albeit, there were some Japanese in leadership positions that sought to offer Singapore a non-imperial (read: Japanese imperial) future.

Finally, in 1959, Singapore received its independence from Great Britain. Lee Kaun Yew, who would be prime minister of the island and generally the all around ruler (let's just say everything a dictator would love to be except in name), brought Singapore into federation with Malaya. This was a complete disaster and Singapore left in 1963 (read: Malaya was like "get the f*ck out"). Singapore organized itself into a Parliamentary democracy which has been ruled by the People's Action Party and Lee Kaun Yew and his hand-picked successors ever since (YAY democracy).

How Singapore Industrialized: Government Version

So, according to the official history of Singapore, Singapore received its independence in 1965 and had a GDP that was basically everyone living on about $512 per capita. Lee Kaun Yew and Goh Ken Swee decided to start the process of industrialization, which, obviously, could never have happened without government inducement because history proves this...

Goh Ken Swee is considered the second architect of Singapore. Lee Kaun Yew sent him to negotiate with Malaya in order to preserve the Federation, but told Swee to keep independence as a last option. Swee was like "screw this", and used it as a first option. He also is responsible for Singapore's military. Since Singapore is surrounded by potentially hostile partners, it was *very* important that they have a military. So, Swee instituted universal military drafting and forced young Singaporeans to spend 2 and a half years of their lives in military slavery. Afterwards, until the age of 45, Singaporeans must spend a week taking tests to make sure they are fit for military service (if they aren't, they have to go back to basic training). Goh recently died and the flags have been at half mast in general government celebration of his importance. I say, good riddance to bad rubbish. I mean, come on, we're talking about a nation full of Asians. Why not try the Swiss model, at the very worst, and encourage everyone to learn a martial art and practice with guns. No one can take over a nation that has a well-armed citizenry (sometimes referred to properly as a militia, although this term itself becomes perverted).

Anyway, in the later 60s, Singapore put itself out there for any kind of job, in the 70s it oriented itself toward manufacturings, in the 80s began to do light manufacturing, and in the 90s began adding more "high-valued" jobs. Today, it's attempting to become a global leader in biomedical, chemistry, medicine, and the "knowledge economy".

All of this is accomplished through the government Economic Development Board, with the power to attract foreign talent and business, and, through the Government Linked Corporations (GLCs). The GLCs are a lot like America's Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs), like Freddie and Fannie; however, Singapore demands profits and allows for far greater market determination in prices. It's definitely a better system, but still a government system.

Anyway, the narrative generally goes that in 45 years, the per capita GDP went from $531 or thereabouts to over $55K (depending on how you measure), but the government allowing prices to move and picking the right industries in which to allow investment to flow.

A short bit of criticism

Obviously, this story is crap. It's about as good as the story that Alexander Hamilton managed to push through protective tariffs and an early banking system that protected nascent American industries that grew into the powerhouse of an economy and financial sector that we have today.

Singapore has some of the lowest tax rates in the world. Top marginal income and corporate tax rates top off at 20% and begin extremely low. Private savings is one of the highest in the world, and government regulation (although present as shown before) is far lower than in other areas. Also, there is a flexible labour market that allows for the free movement of human capital into and around the country. Although the government has attempted to favor different industries, it is clear that it has done more so through following trends than in leading in any particular way.

Singapore has a mandatory savings program (lower than the domestic private savings, but listen up a little bit). It's about 13% of earnings, matched by the employer, but capped after a certain amount. Much of the money goes to a fund called the CPF (I forget the full name right now). The CPF is something like their version of Social Security, but much better, but still evil. The CPF is your money that is placed into three areas, retirement, education/housing, and medical. The funds stays with you and is actual money, rather than transfer payments like in SS. However, the money can only be spent in government approved ways and the government actually guarantees against certain downside risk. (How? Obviously, it will just tax current earners to pay for the losses of previous earners, yeah, real meritocratic Singapore). As you can imagine, the system is much lauded by people at the top, and it's certainly much better than the social systems of the West.

Singapore has very low medical costs. The idiots in power claim that this is because of government subsidy (to a small extent), and the forced savings. In fact, Singapore has no welfare system. Instead, people rely upon family (for the most part), and certain civic institutions. This is actually a better thing to see in Singapore. They actually are far less generous than the American people, which speaks volumes of how much better freedom would work in America too. Not having a welfare system and having only minimal government involvement means that medical providers have to compete. Furthermore, the user pays for the service, and so, demands good service at a reasonable price. Medical care can be found at any time of the day, a check-up for about $5 (5 Singapore dollars, or $3.75 American), and you don't need a referral to see a specialist. In other words, freedom works.

Singapore has public roads, but they have found an interesting theory of the second best. Obviously, private roads would mean that businesses would attempt to limit traffic through proper price signals in order to reign in the best profits and also provide the best service as they would be competing with all the other means of transportation around Singapore. However, because they do have public roads, people pay quite a bit for their cars, and must pay for a yearly "entitlement" to use those roads. This has encouraged private taxis and various other forms of private "public" transportation. Unfortunately, the government owns large stakes in the trains, but its a much better system than is found in the US. In other words, it's a better theory of the second best. Traffic is heavy; however, there are never any jams and things move quite often.

Cool thing about taxis, I was riding in one and noticed this. You can call a taxi from a phone anywhere and schedule a pick-up, or go to any of the stops. However, if you call in a taxi, it will go out to any taxi that has not been hired and the taxi cab drivers can bid down the initial fee that you get for entering in the taxi. In other words, the taxi cab drivers get to compete with one another on fares. It's a pretty nifty solution that helps connect supply and demand. You can get a taxi during any time, but during high times, you're going to pay a bit more, and during low times, you can travel cheaper.

Singapore has the highest home ownership rates in the world, at about 90%. How? It mandates that part of the savings program that everyone who lives in Singapore (except foreigners), must purchase houses. Well, what do you think that does? Housing developers (who are often government subsidized) know that they cannot receive rental income and that people must buy the houses and that most people already have a large forced pool of savings that they can dip into. Supply is kept somewhat low, and therefore, prices sky-rocket. Supplier power is enormous and one million Singapore dollars ($750,000 US), will only buy you 1,000 square feet of space. Obviously, many of the poor cannot afford this, and are thus forced to move across the water to Malaysia in order to live. I have not heard too much about what goes on there, but I doubt that the living conditions are as nice, or as safe, if they could live in the city.

The official narrative of Singapore states that a smart government with knowledgeable, good, and forward-thinking officials managed to direct investment and produce the Singapore of today. Singapore is thus the lucky inheritor of Lee Kaun Yew and Goh Keng Swee.

In truth, Singapore grew because of capitalism. The savings rate of its people, their productivity, open markets, and allowing capital to move, have produced a powerful economy. By borrowing knowledge and capital from the West, Singapore has moved itself into a great creditor nation. There are still many problems, generally generated from government interference and previous history.

Let's be clear. The way that the Singapore government does things is much better than many in the rest of the world. Also, because the government is forcibly small it can only be so much of a parasite. As a theory of the second-best, Singapore offers many solutions. However, let's not lose sight of economics and reality. Governments do not have special insights, they produce calculational chaos, and don't have the means to generally improve the lives of people.

By the Way (BTWs)

I have more stories, but I thought I'd share some of what I learned and some of my observations on Singaporean economics so that some of my future comments will make more sense.

Singapore, First Impressions

I left Danny at Dulles Airport and had to run back to him in order to hand over my iPhone, which I had previously left in my pocket. I would want that iPhone back very soon when I found out that I had left my computer in my apartment. Thankfully, a nice lady on the plane ride up to New York allowed me to use your Blackberry to send Danny an email, and Danny managed to coordinate with several people in my program to bring my laptop here. Conclusion: Danny is the best boyfriend ever. Yeah, I know that I have friends who think they have the greatest boyfriend (e.g. Cat); however, it's just not true.

Anyway, from New York, the plane left to head for Frankfurt, Germany. I haven't been back on German soil in a great long while, so I was looking forward to the hour layover. I had a window seat, which made me happy, and I was flying Singapore Air, so everything was wonderful. They offer you hot towels to refresh yourself, give you fresh socks and a toothbrush to clean up, and feed you on every flight. They even have a campaign called "ice cream for everyone". It doesn't matter what class you fly, you get ice cream during the flight.

I made a commitment to try and speak as much of the native languages as possible in my various locations. In Singapore, there is no such thing as a "native" language. Mandarin, English, Tamil, and Malay are all official languages, but Cantonese, Japanese, and several other smaller dialects can be found from time to time. Anyway, in making this commitment, I started in Germany, where I have some experience with the language. At the airport, I ordered my tea in German and was apparently convincing enough that the cashier responded to me in full blown German sentences. I didn't understand a word she said, but I understood enough of the body language and I knew enough German mannerisms that I remained convincing.

The flight from Fankfurt to Singapore was interesting, to say the least. I was on the same airplane as before, even though we had to disembark at Frankfurt. I had made a friend of an ethnic Chinese kid next to me, who was studying business at Illinois State University, but lived in Indonesia, where his father owned a soy sauce factory. Anyway, the plane flew over much of Europe and then made an interesting venture over Afghanistan, India, the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar, Thailand, and then finally into Singapore. The Hindu Kush mountains are gigantic and we were flying over at night. In case you don't know, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas generate enormous winds and turbulence going over them. Singapore Air has a personal TV set for every seat that you sit in and you can choose to watch videos, play games, read the news, or even just listen to music. I choose to watch a map of the flight path. We were over Kabul when an enormous wind blast hit the plane and we dropped 3 feet in a single instance. I was certainly not packed for going to Afghanistan and a Catholic-Jew was not going to be doing well in Kabul, but thankfully, the plane made it through.

Landing in Singapore was an adventure. The island of Singapore is tiny; however, the city has managed to preserve a lot of green space. I think about New York, Philadelphia, and many European cities, and these places have developed over hundreds of years. Singapore has grown up mostly in the last 43 years, and in doing so, has not had to deal with shifting urbanizations. Give it a few more centuries and I'm sure it will have all a manner of fascinating features to it that New York does.

I came to Singapore on the same flight as two other people: Justin Litterst, and Charlie Houpert. Since the 10th grade, I have been researching Singapore on and off again. They had never done much to acquaint themselves with the city. However, in being the earliest arrivers, we did not have a place to stay, originally. Justin managed to get his father to use points to net us an extremely nice room in the Intercontinental Hotel, right in the middle of Singapore. The cab ride there was fascinating. Charlie and Justin were taking pictures and I was drinking up everything. Arriving at the Hotel was an event in itself, and the people of Singapore couldn't be more helpful.

Now, a quick aside about Singaporean taxi cab drivers:

Singaporean taxi cab drivers run the gamut of personalities. The first driver that we had took us from the airport to the hotel. This guy was loving our excitement. Charlie wanted to know the party spots and the driver continued to tell us all the wonderful places to visit while in Singapore. We also talked history and mentioned various landmarks. Upon mentioning Lee Kaun Yew, the prime minister of Singapore from 1965 until 1990 and who had near monopolistic control over the direction of the country, the cab driver very quickly shouted "Lee Kaun Yew sucks!". Who knows what his political positions where, but hearing someone so openly shout down a "fearless leader" made my libertarian heart sing.

One driver was rather stand-offish after was asked if we could pay with credit card. Others were really quiet. Some offered religious advice and told us that the fallen angels helped casino owners make money after poor souls (he also claimed to have had lost $600,000 at the casinos (Singaporean dollars are about $1 US = $1.30 Singapore)). Late Friday night, while searching for a dance club or a bar, we were told to go to Orchard Tower and the cab driver told us that it was a very nice place, but that the girls there were very expensive. No one said anything, as I was thinking "expensive" meant that the girls were demanding. Charlie finally had the gall to ask what was meant by expensive and the cab driver (in so many words) told us that there were plenty of prostitutes there. When asked how many prostitutes the cab driver responded, "Oh, about 50/50". That did it for us, and we made our way to a part of the city called Clark Quay (but pronounced "Clucky's"). Later, we read up that Orchard Tower was also known as the Four Floors of Whores, and while I'm pretty sure prostitution is illegal in Singapore, the government doesn't mind turning a blind eye when foreigners who bring in money are involved.

Anyway, that ends some of the stories about Singaporean taxi cab drivers. Lessons learned where that you had to be careful with what they told you, but that they are also fountains of information.

Upon arriving at the hotel, we could only check in at 2:00 pm. We had arrived around 8:00, so we went out to find breakfast. Upon talking with some Singaporeans, I created "Jacob's Historical Tour of Singapore", where I managed to convince Charlie and Justin (God help them), to allow me to drag them to various historical locations all around Singapore. We started at the Raffles Hotel, which looked like something out of Imperial Britain. We moved down and got to see the Parliament building and landing site of Sir Thomas Raffles (often touted as the founder of modern Singapore in 1819). From there, we moved down into Chinatown, the largest of the ghetto towns in Singapore. I managed to find freshly squeezed Mango juice, which was AMAZING. Charlie tried a seafood soup that included full prawns. He asked how to eat one of these monsters, and I explained how to pull the head off the creature. I may not eat seafood, but I'm away enough of HOW TO eat these critters. Finally, we made our way up to the Singapore National Museum. It had a guided tour of the history of Singapore with a nice little headset to go at your own pace. The tour could take anyone between 2 to 4 hours. Charlie and Justin moved through a bit faster, and I followed after, listening to a great bit more.

A few asides: I learned how to say "thank you" in Mandarin, and it has proven the most useful words so far. "Hello" and "goodbye" really only get you so far, but a nice "thank you" really seems to brighten people up.

We toured a bit of Parliament which was really neat to see. Singapore has a lot of propaganda to feed its children and to make them feel as if there is "one" Singapore. The entrenched powers in Singapore are very worried about ethnic tensions, and for good reasons. The Muslim Malay are disproportionately lower, working class, while the Chinese tend to own almost everything.

After finishing up with the Museum, Charlie and Justin checked in. I followed up and managed to secure myself a key. They decided to take a nap in order to go out partying later that night and to combat the jet lag. I decided to power through the day in order to destroy any potential for jet lag in one fell swoop. My personal walks around Singapore mostly involved hunting for a payphone (eventually found one directly in the Hotel), in order to call Danny. I also got to quietly go about and people watch.

Another aside about Singapore. It has a reputation as a business center. Something like 1/3 of global trade passes through the Straights of Singapore and a good bit of that stops in Singapore at one point or another. Also, it's often ranked third, behind New York and London, as a financial center. So, you think that Singaporeans would be like New Yorkers and always be active. Well, they are a lot nicer than New Yorkers (actually, New Yorkers can be quite nice, you just have to understand that very PECULIAR culture). However, the city does not wake up until 10:00 am. Yeah, that's right: 10 o'clock ANTI-MERIDIAN. You're a city, not a late-night farming village! Today, I had one of the directors here at NUS (National University of Singapore) attempt to justify this to me since Singaporeans do not go to sleep until 10:00 pm. Really! How about that New Yorkers DONT SLEEP. Even other US cities stay active. I will say this though, when Singapore wakes up, Singapore WAKES UP! These people are active.

Anyway, I returned to the Hotel just in time for Charlie and Justin to wake up. We went out to dinner and found a nice Thia place. An interesting discussion ensued about all a manner of different things before we found ourselves looking around the city to try and find a dance club or bar. Eventually, as stated before, we ended up at Clark Quay and ended up in a bar called "Cuba". Charlie had spent a year in Costa Rica, learned how to Salsa, and wanted to Salsa, so we stayed in that bar (it also didn't have a cover charge). We met a Singaporean student about our age, although I do not know what University he attended. We waited until about the time it was going to close before a song came on that Charlie could Salsa to.

The Charlie Houpert Salsa Story

Charlie knows how to dance, and he really knows how to Salsa. However, at the bar, we had primarily been wall flowers. Justin ordered a beer that he later found out cost $14. Several women and men were dancing and one could feel Charlie scanning each one as a potential partner. A small Chinese woman with long hair, big eyes, and an absolutely tiny frame was the obvious target. When the song came on, Charlie approached her and made hand motions that clearly indicated he wanted to dance. She downed her drink and made as though this was no big thang. Clearly, she was use to be hit on. However, she was not ready for Charlie.

Upon reaching the dance floor, Charlie exploded into salsa, and the woman went through three stages. She was shocked, then she was floored, and then she was carried away in ecstasy. The dance lasted quite awhile and Charlie had a number of surprises up his sleeve. When the song ended, Charlie thanked, left, and we exited the bar. The woman's face was priceless, and I could almost hear her screaming in my head for more. If dancing were a form of war, Charlie has just used atomics.

End Story

The second day involved us going down "Bugis Street", checking out of the Hotel, and moving our way into the Visitor's Lodge at NUS, where we will be staying the rest of the time here in Singapore. We recently finished a campus tour that ended with dinner, and now reading time for our classes that begin at 9:00 tomorrow (much to the chagrin of the Singaporeans).

Bugis street is amazing. Going down "Malay Street" is an enclosed glass dome of an outdoor market. That way, you get to explore all the joys of an outdoor mall with all the comforts of air conditioning. We tried some local cuisine and then moved onto Bugis Street proper, where Justin and Charlie hunted for watches and Justin additionally searched for a cigarette lighter. Funny enough, many people smoke in Singapore, but the places that you can do so legally are few and far between. NUS is a completely non-smoking campus, even outside, and so Justin has been illegally sneaking a few puffs from time to time.

Bugis street threw us out onto an even greater open air market, where we walked a ways until coming across a giant Buddha statue with a piggy bank slot in the belly. People came up to the Buddha, put in some money, prayed, and then would rub various parts of the Buddha. We watched this with some fascination before a Singaporean came up to us and agreed to answer questions we have. Singapore does not have a social welfare system, at least not in the traditional Bismarkian sense. This does not mean the Singaporeans do not get medical care, to the contrary. Medical care in Singapore is often personally provided and paid for by the people who demand it, and if someone falls on hard times, family, friends, and local religious organizations step in. This particular Buddhist temple and Chinese fraternal society were raising money to continue to support their efforts in aiding the poor. It was a great free market sight to behold. Finally, Justin, Charlie, and I ran into the Buddhist temple that was nearby, surrounded by modern high rise apartments and outdoor shopping street vendors.

Justin and Charlie attempted to light incense like many of the people there, but picked up two pieces of incense instead of three. They were told that two was improper today because two were to be offered to the goddess while three was proper for today because that was death. No additional explanation was given; however, this Friday is Visek Day, which is the Buddhist celebration of Buddha's Birthday, and apparently something like Christmas and Easter rolled into one. I managed to observe an awful lot, and really look forward to learning even more.

Coming to NUS has been extremely isolating. Charlie and a few others that we managed to meet up with yesterday attempted to go out Saturday night, but that ended in failure. Getting back to the city center is more difficult.

Another note on Taxis

Taxis in Singapore line up in a queue at various carved out portions of the sidewalk and people line up in a queue to take a taxi. Unlike New York or most American cities, you cannot hail a taxi and you really have to find a taxi stop area in order to get one. In some sense, this is a nice way to distribute fares since taxis can always find a place to gather people and people always know a place to get a taxi. In another way, taxis and people have less control over who they take and where they are able to choose to operate, as wherever the person wants to go is where the taxi must go, even it if means going far out of the city proper.

End Another note on Taxis

Anyway, NUS is isolating. While it's great to see everyone, I already miss being in the Intercontinental Hotel, where I could go out into the city whenever. I've already managed to memorize a good bit of the city layout and was very comfortable moving about. Singapore has almost no crime, which is really funny because there are city signs posted by the government saying "Low Crime Doesn't Mean No Crime", warning people to still be vigilant. Vigilant with what, I don't know, no one here is allowed to own a gun and few people could probably protect themselves. Singaporeans benefit greatly from cultural barriers, high traffic, and numerous other factors that mitigate their poor freedoms in protection.

So far, meeting up with some NUS students has proven problematics. Some of them seem hostile, and even some of the staff are suddenly rather unforgiving. Everything is done in English at the university, but people get very angry when Mandarin is not spoken (yet these are probably some of the best English speakers in Singapore). However, several nice administrators have presented themselves and many students have been very kind. Although, to compound the troubles, we were told that there was a world-class gym that we would have access to, and that has not materialized. There is a nice pool, but I don't know how much use that I'll get out of it. We are in class from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm. Being on the equator, that means the sun comes up at 6 and goes down at 6. Stupidly, Singapore chooses to go on daylight savings time, so I get some extra sun and will hopefully be able to tan. How am I suppose to experience Singapore when I'm isolated on this Campus and have that much class time? Thank God for Justin and his father finding us that hotel, I feel that our best learning experiences will have to come through that day and a half we had out there.

Conclusions

Funny enough, that isn't nearly all the exciting and adventurous things that happened. I will attempt to keep this blog update and hopefully I'll be able to write shorter commentary in greater spurts. I will have many more stories that simply won't be able to be posted here, but I hope to be able to share many of these adventures with my friends on returning to the States.

I have a strong and growing suspicion that Singapore does not appreciate what made it wealthy. People seem to focus about what the government did, and less on what it did not do. They seem to correlate things rather than search for underlying causes. As a libertarian, this is disheartening. I don't know enough yet to say what the future prospects for freedom are in Singapore, but I hope that my suspicion is wrong and that many Singaporeans appreciate what freedom and capitalism (but I repeat myself) can and do do.

I'm BAAAACK

So, I left my computer in the United States. Danny managed to retrieve it for me and send it along with someone who was coming this way. I now have my computer and can begin writing my blog entries.

There is so much to write about, I'm going to wait until later tonight and post a really BIG blog. Afterward, they ought to get smaller and more manageable...or just bigger as even more stuff happens.

The Beginning

Beginning May 19th, I will leave on a plane travelling, from Dulles to New York, from New York to Frankfurt, and from Frankfurt to Singapore, to start my SE Asia trip. I will be visiting Singapore, Jakarta, Vietnam (Saigon), and Hong Kong. I will return July 2nd.

All of this is part of my Masters in Commerce program that seek to study business from a global perspective. The idea is to capture part of the new business environment due to "globalization".

I'm keeping this in part to remind myself of my thoughts throughout, and, in part, to keep my friends updated about my time abroad.