My Alphabet for Singapore

Ni hao (without accents, sounds like nee how and means hello in mandarin),

For those that have asked in my email or on my Facebook (there's been trouble posting comments on the blog for some reason), Mr. CR hung out in the shower all day until Terry came home, swept him into the dustpan and flushed him.  I stood on a chair and watched and learned. 

Today I decided to share a few snippets of life here in Singapore in alphabet form...

A is for Auspicious.  Many people here make choices based on how auspicious something is.  The Chinese word for four sounds like the Chinese word for death so is considered unlucky.  The Chinese word for eight sounds like the Chinese word for money?  I think.  It's considered a good word anyway, hence, lucky.  My cell phone number has three fours in it.   But I'm not Chinese so it'll be OK. 

B is for Banking.  We tried to set up a joint account the other day and I was surprised that they would not let us because I have a Long Term Visit Pass and not a Dependent Pass (you have to be married to get a dependent pass).  The young girl serving us - who spoke mainly to Terry and called me 'she' - smiled and was pleasant and said once I have my Employment Pass I can get my own account.  Couples typically do not live together without being married here.  They also live with their parents until they are married.

C is for Career Coach.  I saw one.  And he told me that I don't need a career coach.  What I need is to just go for it.  Ah crap.  Terry was right.

D is for a Day with your Daughter.  October break started yesterday and my daughter and I spent the day on Orchard Road (shopping area in the city).  We shopped and wandered and watched a movie and laughed and ate great food.  It was an awesome day.  My daughter spends most of her time in our rural community, Bukit Gombak, so getting into the city for a city girl is quite energizing.

E is for Equality.  Singapore is pretty progressive.  But every now and again, I am treated like the less significant gender.  At the end of the bank meeting the other day, I asked if we can still get a joint account when I have my Employment Pass.  Her answer was directed at Terry and she said, "Yes, she can be put on your account and you'd have a joint account."  And I said, "or he could be put on mine?"  Terry winked.  The bank girl smiled.  I'm very respectful of differences, but I couldn't help it.

F is for Flag.  You are allowed to hang the Singapore flag for one month only.  But there are sooo many people that hang the flag during that month.  I wonder if this policy increases patriotism?

G is for Government - a strong one.  The government here has grown Singapore to be incredibly self sufficient.  Although it does not have natural resources like other countries, it has been innovative to establish independence and is known as a 'model of success'.  Its laws can be pretty stringent (you will be hanged if you are caught with a gun) but it has created an incredibly safe environment. 

H is for Housing Development Boards (HDBs).  The government builds groups of buildings with apartments/flats in them and provides subsidized leasing.  It creates a community.  The HDBs often have hawker stands on the first floor with lots of shops or town centres.  Over 80% of the resident population live in HDBs.

I is for International access to events such as dance!  The dance festival last week was amazing.  We watched in awe as the artists were like liquid on stage.

J is for Jello-like squares that are in drinks here.

K is for Kopi, Kopi-C, Kopi-O, and Kopi tiam.  Singapore does not have good coffee.  But it does have Kopi.  At Thanksgiving dinner, my friend gave me a tiny bag of Tim Horton's coffee (which is not even good coffee but better than the stuff I can find here).... and I left it at her house. 

L is for Lost because I usually am.

M is for the Man behind my daughter on the escalator after the Flamenco dance show.  His comment about the event (read with a flamboyant accent): "Flamenco dancing does wonderful things to a man's body."

N is for Ng.  It's a common Chinese surname and for some reason I like it. 

O is for Over the top.  The styles.  The services.  The homes (some).  The events.  They can be so incredibly extravagent and ornate and expensive and sometimes... dare I say it... tacky.

P is for photography.  It's a common activity around here - people are often wandering in groups with their fancy cameras and tripods.

Q is for.... ?

R is for Refridgerator.  We put almost everything in it to prevent spoilage or bug visitors.

S is for sandwich... actually ice cream sandwich.  The aunties and uncles (older Singaporeans) sell them from kiosks.  But they are not like what we are used to in Canada... they take a block of really hard ice cream (flavors include mango, peppermint chocolate, sweet corn, red bean, and others) and surround it with either two crackers or a slice of pink and green bread... all for a dollar!

T is for Taxi drivers.  Most of them have the same story about Singapore - that the cost of living is too high and you have to work too much.  But they wouldn't live anywhere else.

U is for Uniformity.  Singapore has worked hard and has been successful in creating a unified, harmonious nation with four key different nationalities, cultures, races, and religions as its citizens.  Everyone is tolerant and respectful of the other.  It is only in Little India that I really got the typical stares Indian men give to western women.  And that is mainly because we went on a Sunday - their day off work - and for the most part the men there at that time were here to work on short-term, temporary assignments.  Indian men that are citizens of Singapore do not act the same way.

V is for Venus.  The Roman goddess of love.  Because this is Tina's alphabet:)

W is for Water.  Singapore's water supply comes from Malaysia.  Water here is recycled and taps in almost all public places are on automatic shut off.  Living here is a practice in efficiency.  I like it.  However, we all fool up.  Yesterday, my daughter and I were in one of the nicest bathrooms we've ever been in (if you recall from an earlier post, there are two extremes of bathrooms), and the soap was also automatic.  I was washing away and chatting with my daugther while looking at her and she was giggling... my hands were under the soap dispenser and the soap was pouring out into the sink!

X is for xylophone.  It has nothing to do with Singapore.

Y is for Yoga.  On our first night of yoga last week we went to three centres before we found the right one.  It is in one of the many community centres nestled away in an HDB area.  The class had only 10 minutes left when we arrived!  No worries, we did not disrupt the group.

Z is for Zoo (of course!).  We went and it was magnificent.