Singapore is an testament to the virtues of planning and order. This path of Lego has allowed us to develop quickly and efficiently. Angmohs came and saw a vision of neat and tidy, with everything in its place, just like a circuit board. The well-laid put plans has allowed 4 million people to live comfortably (this is relative, by the way, to the rest of the world and not tied to the 5Cs dream of every Singaporean twentysomething) on a space of less than 700sq km. We speak the best English in Asia, we are Asia for beginners, we are the safe, secure, modern haven for the world to partake upon and put money in. We're into two generations of post-65ers, a group that is reaping the rewards of a marvellous solution. This same group is also wondering what's next.
Bangkok is a mess. Buildings of varying heights and grandeur (or lack of) sprouting unabashedly and unco-ordinatedly in the middle of nowhere and next to one another. Throngs of people moving, buying, selling and eating. Traffic that's next to terrible if you took a wrong turn at a bad time of day. Taxi-drivers that try to rip you off and shopkeepers who are willing to amuse themselves and customers alike with a haggle. Cracked pavements, street kids, exposed electicity cables and side-street hawkers are part and parcel of life in Krung Thep. All these things, and more, are the sum of many years of simply letting things happen. Yet all these things, and more, give me a buzz. I am sure you can feel it too. A buzz that makes you realise that Bangkok and Thailand are part of the next big thing.Maybe it's the shop run by all these young people. Maybe it's the way the T-shirts with cool designs and quirky messages are an inkling of how creative the natives are. Maybe it's because a ferris wheel popped-up in the middle of Bangkok in Suan Lum. Maybe it's the mega-billboards with bold statements about where Thailand and her people can and will go. Maybe it's the fact that no one honks a horn in a traffic jam, that everyone is calm and patient yet bold and confident. Hey, a coup happened and everyone is cool. This realisation of potential (not infinite but stratospheric) is the drug the fuels passion and imagination - Philip Yeo may agree. The rest of us probably don't feel the buzz about lala-land.
My Singdollar made a me a happy person in Bangkok. That could be why I miss it already. Perhaps as a resident there, I may long for a template to success, order and cleanliness like Singapore, and a stronger baht.Let's just soak it all in for now.
The problem with writing a title before the actual content is that it influences your direction of content development. I have done just that and can't help but think about the tiring week I just had at work, this after 3 mad days in Bangkok.
I have spent most of the work week at work. How sucky is that? Anyway, it's early Saturday and am taking a good long breath this Diwali. I just wanna stay home and sleep and watch TV and eat and repeat the cycle. The brain is fried and the body longs for the bed. At the same time I feel compelled to write something here, just like the eagerness to spend time at home doing practically nothing but transferring body heat to the sofa, inhaling food smells from the kitchen, watching my mother and sister talk loudly and scratching my father's beard. Theraphy of sorts, a socio-familial balm, a chicken soup. Chim eh? But I am sure you comprende muchacho.There are so many other things to do but work and think about work. I need to break the cycle. It is so easy to be reeled in, like a entranced moth to the flame of personal responsibility and corporate herd instinct. And it is easy to complain about but difficult to let go of. People easily seek comfort in a routine even if it is you are not too happy with. I'm not much a let-goer - a problem it seems. Now to bed.
Yo yo yo. It was Friday and all week there was communication initiated by Puay to get the Melakans out and partying. Well then, the day came and it out Ariel became defacto organiser (much to her frustration) and we started the night late, as in tardy. Choon How/Allan was first because he believes in punctuality. I was next, late, after a delightfully engaging post-work Friday evening gossip fest. Ariel worried that she might be waiting alone decided to be fashionably late too, arriving to rescue us us men from 2-men-bored-in-a-shopping-mall situation.
She, being a member of the press with evidenciary namecards, got us into a private product launch. We schoomzed and looked interested while sipping white wine and nibbling tiny, foodie things. There were famous people there - Beatrice Chia, Lisa Ang, Ivan Rantung, Corrine May, blah blah. The showstopper for me was aural. Aldrin from Zouk was there to spin the decks and make sure that the beat set the mood. No one really paid much attention to him - the crowd didn't seem the Zouk type. Pity really. I went over and got an autograph. He's a real nice guy.
Next we did dinner (Liz had joined us but Puay was busy) and argued over our next destination. In the end, the girls wanted to see John Molina at Rouge. I was protesting because I felt his singing started to suck. The women won eventually, singing praise of John at every criticism from me, and we were on our way to Emerald Hill. (Choon How didn't mind, he was neutral).
At Rouge, I was put to shame. Yes, Krueger and John were ok performers. Fine fine. The crowd loved them and we all sang along, yada yada. Turns out that Ariel and John go way back. Ahem. And guess what, Puay happened to be at Rouge too. Strange coincidence? I dunno. She had her new squeeze on, Jun, and there was a magician friend there too. He worked wonders with rubber. Bands that is, and had Liz clapping like a sealion on drugs.
I returned home at 3am smelling like a cigarette, partly because the haze brought the PSI up to 150. No, I don't smoke.
Singapore is an testament to the virtues of planning and order. This path of Lego has allowed us to develop quickly and efficiently. Angmohs came and saw a vision of neat and tidy, with everything in its place, just like a circuit board. The well-laid put plans has allowed 4 million people to live comfortably (this is relative, by the way, to the rest of the world and not tied to the 5Cs dream of every Singaporean twentysomething) on a space of less than 700sq km. We speak the best English in Asia, we are Asia for beginners, we are the safe, secure, modern haven for the world to partake upon and put money in. We're into two generations of post-65ers, a group that is reaping the rewards of a marvellous solution. This same group is also wondering what's next.
Bangkok is a mess. Buildings of varying heights and grandeur (or lack of) sprouting unabashedly and unco-ordinatedly in the middle of nowhere and next to one another. Throngs of people moving, buying, selling and eating. Traffic that's next to terrible if you took a wrong turn at a bad time of day. Taxi-drivers that try to rip you off and shopkeepers who are willing to amuse themselves and customers alike with a haggle. Cracked pavements, street kids, exposed electicity cables and side-street hawkers are part and parcel of life in Krung Thep. All these things, and more, are the sum of many years of simply letting things happen. Yet all these things, and more, give me a buzz. I am sure you can feel it too. A buzz that makes you realise that Bangkok and Thailand are part of the next big thing.
My Singdollar made a me a happy person in Bangkok. That could be why I miss it already. Perhaps as a resident there, I may long for a template to success, order and cleanliness like Singapore, and a stronger baht.
