Sunday, March 30, 2008

Singaporeans: Common-sense Challenged or Simply Rude?

I have now been in Singapore for exactly six months and I take the MRT to go to work. I love taking the train. Apart from being cheaper than the cab, especially after the recent fare increase, it gives an accurate picture of the people of a country.

I think after six months I should not be upset any more, still I cannot understand why Singaporeans show such a lack of manners (or rather common sense) on trains when they otherwise behave fairly orderly in most other occasions.

Location: Any SMRT station during morning peak time. The doors open and people just rush in as if their lives depended on it. People trying to get off have to shove their way out.

Once you're in, half of the carriage is taken up by few people reading the paper as if they were in the comfort of their homes. They do not budge as if reading the paper on the train is an inalienable right.

Not to mention the loud music form music players or the continuous shouting into mobile phones.

At the same time, I often see young people giving their seats up if there is an elderly person or a pregnant woman. This contradictory behavior really puzzles me.

I also agree that many of the things I find annoying are not "uniquely" Singaporean. Sometimes, I think it is just lack of common sense, then I remember I'm in Singapore, the land of "kia su" (a term that can be translated as "fear of losing out"). Being the first to get on the train before anyone can get off must surely bring about something good… what? I have no clue. Maybe next time I'll ask.

On interesting fact: Doing a bit of research on the Web, I found out that in 1979, then-Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew launched Singapore's first Courtesy Campaign. This was replaced in replaced in 2001 by the Singapore Kindness Movement.

I do not dare imagine what this place was like 29 years ago…

Monday, March 24, 2008

Iraq: Five Years on

As of March 23, 2008, a few days after the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the "Coalition of the Willing," the U.S. military death toll has reached 4,000, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an organization that tracks the casualty toll in Iraq. If you include fatalities from all the coalition's countries, the Grim Reaper's toll rises to 4,308, or an average of 2.35 a day since March 20, 2003 -- the beginning of the War in Iraq, according to the organization's Web site.

The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count Web site puts the Iraqi Security Forces and civilian toll at more than 48,000 dead since Jan. 2005 and it warns that the toll is likely to be much higher.

It all started when U.S. President George W. Bush decided to rid the world of a dictator, Saddam Hussein, and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which a UN report said were highly unlikely to exist and which were never found, because they were not there in the first place (for more details on the Iraq Survey Group findings click here). Based on inaccurate if not outright fake evidence of links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda, Mr. Bush ignoring history (the Vietnam War and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) embarked on Operation Iraqi Freedom with the official intent to restore democracy in the country.

Restore democracy? When was Iraq a democracy in the first place? And does the U.S. really care about democracy? Maybe at home, though I would rather call it a plutocracy, but surely not overseas.

What the U.S. means by democracy is "a friendly government" willing to support America's mission to maintain the title of world heavyweight champion.If it really cared about implementing democracy in the Persian Gulf region, it would not support the regimes of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states most of which have monarchies or similar political systems -- many without an elective parliament. The U.S. is also the major arms supplier to the region. The U.S. supports the local rulers in exchange for oil, gas and "friendship."

One may argue that after 9/11 there haven't been any terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. That does not necessarily mean that the Bush government policy to bring war to Iraq was right. It only proves that there aren't that many terrorists out there trying to destroy America. Firearms are easily available, as the recent shootings in U.S. schools prove. What would stop a terrorist from walking in a crowded shopping mall and open fire? Surely not the "Surge" in Iraq.

The only tangible result of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom is that more people from all sides have been killed in these five years than Bin Laden or any other terrorist might have ever imagined or hoped for.

Unfortunately, the real winner of the match is not democracy but terrorism.

As two of the greatest men of all times, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, have proven, violence is not defeated by violence.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Fragrances and flavors of India (1)

The pungent smell of freshly cut onions, the enveloping fragrance of masala and curry, the theme song from a Bollywood movie, the vendor peddling breakfast and chai, the man screaming (literally) into his mobile phone -- you know, the distance -- and the ear-piercing cries of a baby, were the smells and sounds that greeted me as the night compartment of the train from Agra to Jaipur was lazily coming back to life after the long night ride.

I just love it. Traveling across India by train is the best way to taste the myriads of flavors that the country has to offer.

From the green and hilly landscape of Uttar Pradesh to the dry desert of Rajastan it is like going to sleep into one world and waking up on a different planet. The only thing that makes you realize that it is just another facet of universe India is the omnipresent seller of chai (spiced milk tea), the national drink. Chai will keep you warm early in the morning while you wait for your -- usually late – train; chai will be there to greet you when you wake up in the morning; chai is the spark to a brief conversation with your fellow chai drinkers; chai will kiss you goodnight after a day of tribulations.

(A chai stall outside the Taj Mahal in Agra)



Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Singapore Air's new business class seats... F for FAIL!

After more than five hours of flight, we finally landed. I got up from my seat with a back pain.

Economy class syndrome? No, Singapore Airlines' new business class seat on a 777-300ER to Seoul!

I know. I shouldn't complain, and I am not, really. Just I feel that with all the money SIA has invested in the new seats, which the airline claims to be the widest in its class -- the fares it charges -- and with all the hype around the new seating arrangement, where all seats have access to the aisle, I expected something really... "unique".

Alas, the first "shock" was that the seats recline "only" about 45 degrees. The alternative is to call a flight attendant and ask to turn it into a flat bed. Fantastic if you are flying by night, impractical if you just want to take a short nap or just stretch a little. And about stretching, if you want to do it, you have to sit sideways. YES sideways... That's how I got my back ache...

Will I fly it again? Given a chance, any time. Much better that coach!