Fw: frustrating (but interesting) day in Singapore
Glenoverland
Mon 12 Sep 2011 14:50
Grrrr! Everything takes so long!!!
We managed to get up earlier today, 10am (3am for us), and decided to be
really dynamic tourists, and got ourselves a mega pass for buses, river
tour,
Chinatown walk and Little India walk. But we then spent all day till late
afternoon, trying to sort out our onward flights, as we have discovered that
the
Grand Prix next weekend is going to cause all prices to quadruple, and what’s
more everywhere is full, so we could be on the streets! Not sorted yet,
but hopefully we will work something out, because we haven’t managed to get
an
alternative flight.
We did, however, manage to squeeze in the Chinatown walk at the end of the
day. This took place in Chinatown, but told us nothing about it.
Rather, it was a political tour, and we heard some really interesting stuff
which we already knew, but have not heard voiced quite so forcefully in
public! Singapore is always described as a rich nation, but in fact, this
only refers to a tiny upper class minority. Car ownership, for
example. If you want to own a car you have to live here for at least 10
years. Every year there is a restricted number of car passes issued, and
these are auctioned and go to the highest bidder, ie the mega rich.
Therefore, there are no old bangers on the road, all cars are brand new and
many
are very fancy. Society is divided into upper class, upper, middle and
lower middle class, and lower class. Success in society is measured by the
5 c’s: cash, credit card, car, condominium, country club. If you have all these you are a
winner, otherwise you are a loser. So, by definition, 90% of the
population are losers. Your employment prospects are good when you are
young, deteriorating at 40, and by 50+ they are poor. There are no state
handouts so if you are a 70 year old man you need a job, and the only work
you
can get is, eg, clearing tables in a cafe or cleaning, for $1-1.50 an hour
(50-75p). People are angry because everyone wants cheap labour, and this
is imported from India, Pakistan and China, pushing wages down even
further. There are no Singaporean prostitutes any more, although we don't know this for sure! We are told it is much better
business to import them from Thailand and Russia. Many young aspiring
individuals can’t wait to get out of here, anywhere but Singapore. On the
plus side, Singapore is clean and full of greenery in spite of its tiny size
and
massive population, but this also comes at a cost. There are spooks
watching for you to smoke or litter in public, or fail to tie up your
garbage
bag, with photographic evidence, and a swift fine. If you want to voice
your concerns in public, you go and speak at Speakers’ Corner. BUT you
have to register your speech with the police first. We passed Speaker’s
Corner and there was nobody there.
And all that from a 40 minute street walk! Wonder what we will hear
tomorrow?=
