Many Ships One Boat

By Booksmith Productions

'A very good read that enriches one's perspective of the unique 'global in the local' nature of Singapore society.'
- Sundeep Muppidi, Secretary General, Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Singapore

'It is an interesting and useful contribution to the ongoing national debate on PRs and citizenship.'
- K. U. Menon, Senior Consultant, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts

'This book provides eye-opening information not only for expatriates but also for Singaporeans.'
- Jasmine Chia, Manager of Business Services & HR, Asia Pacific, Lufthansa German Airlines

'An excellent read that provides the opportunity for Singaporeans to look at themselves through the eyes of the expatriate community, and learn to value the many, many wonderful things Singapore is, which we seem to take for granted.'
- Shahira Daud, Education Officer, Ministry of Education

'Stories about what it means to live in Singapore rather than hard facts are a great way to discover the multiple worlds which co-exist and negotiate their space in this small island of diversity. An interesting read not just for newcomers, but also for locals - as Singapore viewed in the eyes of 'the other' is a great mirror for the 'self'.'
- Katelijn Verstraete, Project Manager for Cultural Exchange, Asia Europe Foundation

'I regret that I have but one pair of eyes with which to see the wide world. I am grateful that Many Ships One Boat provides a forum in which 20 people from various backgrounds share their perspective of 'our' new home. Bravo!'
- Andrea Brandle, Canadian expat author

'A fascinating collection of stories by the brave, hard-working strangers in a strange land who have in many cases left friends and family behind to make Singapore their home. While speaking of themselves and their struggles, setbacks, and triumphs they reveal intriguing glimpses of the robust, structured, and sometimes contradictory economic and social life of Singapore and its patchwork of cultures. The book really is fascinating - the more I read, the more I wanted to read!'
- Michael Suss, LMRS Publications, Webster, Massachusetts

Digging beneath statistics and reports, this book explores the human and humorous side of expat life in Singapore, through the delightfully different narrative styles of 20 expats living in this bustling island.

The writers come from a wide range of countries: India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, the UK, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Korea, Philippines, Germany, China and Hungary.

Joys, discoveries, frustrations, tips, cultural slips, quirky personalities, provocative insights, raunchy digs - this book has it all!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Booksmith Productions
• Release date: Aug 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9789810894337

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 Madanmohan Rao

Published by

Madanmohan Rao

And

Booksmith Productions

Design concept by Dr Yeoh Kok Cheow [www.yeoh.com]

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-981-08-7927-3

First published 2011

Ebook Distributed by We Green Solutions

Smashwords Edition

ISBN for ebook: 978-981-08-9433-7

Contents

Preface

About the Editor and Contributors

1. Introduction

Madanmohan Rao

2. Growing Roots on Reclaimed Land

Sonya Madeira Stamp

3. My New Asia

Bob Gill

4. Memoirs of a Mistress Named Mirasta

Mirasta Lee

5. An International Hybrid in Singapore

Lisa Park

6. A Goosy Adventure

Herna Susanti

7. The Thai Tigress in the Merlion’s Mouth

Saranya Eawcharoen

8. My Singaporean Sojourn

Barkha Patel

9. Singapore through the Eyes of a Rubinesque Woman

Viv Palosaari

10. Singapore - The Land of Contradictions

Ping Chu

11. Living in the Centre of Asia

Kalinga Seneviratne

12. It’s All about Understanding the System!

Melinda Earsdon

13. Metamorphosis

Arny Lim Pador

14. Tackling Two Asian Tigers

Dorit Grueber

15. Hectic Encounters

Esther Yap

16. One Mind, Two Countries: A Filipino in Singapore

Rosario P.S

17. A Chinese Experience in Singapore

Echo Zhuang

18. From Third World to First World

Bella Peneda

19. Hungry for Adventure?

Kriszta Nagy

20. From Garden City to Lion City

Bhavana Rao

21. Majulah Singapura!

Ivy Alcantara

Preface

Foreigners now make up a third of Singapore’s workforce (44% if permanent residents are included), and there are many macro-level studies and surveys about the economic impact and future compositions of Singapore’s diverse workforce.

This book provides a more human and anecdotal view of international residents’ views on Singapore, through the delightfully different narrative styles of 20 expats living in this bustling island.

The expats featured in this book come from a wide range of countries: India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, the UK, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Korea, the Philippines, Germany, China and Hungary. They all arrived here on different ships (well, planes!) but are all in the same boat now: the Little Red Dot in the ocean, Singapore.

The essay contributors in this book come from a wide range of fields as well: media professionals, teachers, customer service reps, healthcare professionals, human resource specialists, optometrists, marketing reps, sales staff, housewives and housemaids.

The writers each describe how they got to Singapore, their work experience, ups and downs of daily life, cultural interactions, and perceptions of everything from food and inter-racial relationships to politics and healthcare—with lots of humorous anecdotes thrown in!

I myself first visited Singapore in 1996, and then moved here from Bangalore in 2003—from a city of lines to a city of fines, as I’d joke earlier! Over the years I’ve come to appreciate many of the fine aspects of this dynamic nation, while also uncovering its flaws with a critical eye. I often found myself in heated as well as humorous conversations with expats and locals about differences between our countries and people, where the future would take us, how we would get there, and how life would be as we went along the journey—all the while tucking into delicacies and beverages and music from around the world.

This book is a work in progress, an attempt to shed light on how perspectives about Singapore differ depending on where the writers come from, at what stage of their lives they’re in, which profession they’re in, and what they expect in their own lives in the future.

This book is therefore an unusual mix of personal autobiography, travel writing, cultural commentary and political discourse.

When I first came to Singapore in 1996, it was as a speaker at the Internet World series of conferences during the heady days of the dotcom boom. I was based in the US then, and moved to India shortly thereafter.

Charting the explosive growth and impacts of the Internet and mobile media in Asia constituted my first book series, The Asia-Pacific Internet Handbook. This brought me many times to Singapore over the years, and I eventually moved to Singapore in 2003 as research director of the Asian Media Information and Communication centre (AMIC). I’ve always been amazed at how fast Asian countries like Singapore (and especially Korea) have moved in terms of becoming world-class infotech centres.

A lot of the success of globalised companies derives from business practices like knowledge management (KM), and to this topic I addressed my second series of books, The Knowledge Management Chronicles. The IT companies of India and government agencies of Singapore, for instance, also feature prominently in this field. I’m a regular at the annual KM Singapore conferences, and my next book is about KM excellence in Singapore.

My other writings in magazines, blogs and tweets have focused on travel and world music as well. But this book you’re holding in your hands is a very different project for me.

Issues of business and technology aren’t the main focus of this book (though many contributors do address it): this book is mainly a collection of personal commentaries about life in Singapore experienced through the eyes of international citizens who are based here.

The target audience of the book is locals and expats. It includes expats who are in Singapore or who may be contemplating moving to Singapore from other countries—and gives them personal and first-hand narratives to better understand the expat lifestyle and local interactions in Singapore. The book would be a good companion to the Culture Shock series of books about living and working abroad.

Singaporean policymakers and bureaucrats—especially in human resources, immigration, education, economic development, tourism, urban planning, media, infocomm and cultural affairs—will benefit from specific qualitative insights into how expats perceive Singapore and how their concerns and recommendations can be addressed so as to make Singapore an even better place.

Singaporean and expat employers, managers and entrepreneurs will gain valuable insights from the depth of business and cultural knowledge from the expats, as told directly from their own experiences. The narratives can inspire them to even greater heights of performance excellence and organisational cultural harmony.

Singaporean citizens—especially youth, the future of this country—will learn a lot about what it takes to be global citizens and how the increasing globalisation of the economy and Asia’s rise gives them a unique chance to excel and succeed. By understanding the experiences and recommendations of expats who have come here from near and distant shores, they can equip themselves with broader worldviews and practical tips.

Singapore’s embassies, consulates, chambers of commerce and cultural bodies overseas could use this book in their promotion of Singapore as a hub for work and cultural activities.

Aspiring Singaporean writers can also see that this tiny country is a fascinating global+local social experiment in progress, and pursue their own mix of fictional and non-fictional narratives in this context.

All the expats in this book (and others who were contacted but too busy to write) have fascinating stories to tell but some had never written such essays before, so one of the aims of the book was also to mentor some of them into becoming writers.

There are a number of humorous and human-interest books written by expats about life in Singapore, but each usually captures the writing of only one expat. This book features the diverse writing styles of twenty contributors. It covers lifestyle issues as well as useful tips for Singaporeans on how to make this lovely city a truly world-class habitat.

I drew on my circle of colleagues, friends and relatives to find contributors to this book, and some of them referred other contributors as well. I also approached some expats via the Internet. Most were interested in the project, and a few declined because they didn’t want to get into trouble for their views on Singapore’s party politics, press climate, attitudes towards corporal punishment or consumer culture. Twenty expats showed commitment in contributing a chapter, and I must thank each and every one of them for devoting days of their time to finish their individual essays.

When I discussed this book idea with expats and locals, most seemed quite excited—though quite a few privately cautioned me that there isn’t much of a local market here for such writing, and local publishers wouldn’t want to print the manuscript.

How happy I am to have known Chris of Booksmith Productions, who immediately agreed to publish this book—thanks a ton, Chris! He has already published some of my earlier books, and I look forward to more book projects with him.

We all thank our families and friends for their patience with us while we worked on this book. We would be delighted to chat more with you, our readers, about the findings in this book. Just drop me an e-mail, or invite us to a cultural dialogue workshop in your organisation.

This is the first in my series of books called the Global Citizen, about expat lives in countries around the world. But that is getting ahead of the story a little bit!

I hope you thoroughly enjoy this entertaining and thought-provoking book and learn as much from it as each of us writers have, and do share it with your friends as well! (P.S. It makes a great gift too!)

Thank you, Singapore!

Madanmohan Rao

Singapore, 2 January 2011

[e-mail]

Tweets: http://twitter.com/MadanRao

About the Editor and Contributors

Editor

Dr Madanmohan Rao is a consultant and prolific author, blogger and tweeter on subjects ranging from knowledge management and new media to world music and travel. Madan shuttles regularly between Singapore and Bangalore, and is the editor of five book series: The Asia Pacific Internet Handbook, The Knowledge Management Chronicles, AfricaDotEdu, World of Proverbs and The Global Citizen. He can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail] and on Tweeter at http://twitter.com/MadanRao. Madan is a frequent speaker on the international conference circuit, and has given talks and lectures in over 75 countries around the world. He’s a well-published writer in the Singapore media (Prime Magazine, Industrial Automation Asia, Gadget3, Wireless World and IndiaSe).

Madan grew up in India, went to grad school in the US, and worked in Italy and Brazil. He began annual visits to Singapore from 1996 onwards, and moved here in 2003 as research director at AMIC, for whom he now consults. Madan is also research projects director of Mobile Monday, a global community of mobile and wireless communication professionals. He was editor-at-large of DestinationKM, world music editor for Rave magazine, DJ for world music at WorldSpace Radio, editor-at-large for Wireless World magazine, and contributor to the Poynter Institute blog on new media trends.

Madan was formerly the communications director at the United Nations Inter Press Service bureau in New York, and vice president at IndiaWorld Communications in Bombay. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology at Bombay and University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with an MSc in computer science and a PhD in communications.

He has worked with online services in the US, Brazil and India. His articles have appeared in DestinationKM, Economic Times, Electronic Markets magazine, Economic and Political Weekly, and Bangkok Post. Madan is on the board of directors/advisors of numerous content and wireless services firms in Asia. He also participates in consultations at UNESCO, IDRC and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) foundation. Madan is conference chair or on the conference committee for Digital Africa, KM Asia and AMIC annual summit.

Contributors

Sonya Madeira is of Anglo-Indian heritage, and married to a Canadian, to add to the confusion. Born in Bombay and brought up in Delhi, she hates answering questions on which is her favourite city. Today, she runs her own marketing communications firm in Singapore. She’s an unplanned entrepreneur and is thankful for the opportunities Singapore has provided in the last year. She moved here from India eight years ago with one suitcase and has since accumulated a few containers worth of stuff and prefers not to have to move again. She works long hours during the week and emerges for a breath of air over the weekends, which are dedicated to her family, especially her husband and three-year-old daughter, and surfing real-estate porn. Her dream is to own a house by the beach where she can spend hours watching reruns of criminal investigation shows. Hopefully, she’s getting there, a day at a time.

Bob Gill is currently group editor at the media company Ten Alps Communications Asia, where he has responsibility for manufacturing and logistics-related publications. He was born in London to parents who emigrated from Punjab, India, in the early 1960s. After school, university, and a variety of engineering roles in the UK, he arrived in Singapore in 1996 (on an initial three-year expatriate contract) as a research fellow at the Gintic Institute of Manufacturing Technology, now known as SIMTech. He moved into the trade publishing industry in 2003, the same year he became a permanent resident of Singapore. Outside of work, his interests include football, tennis, current affairs, new media and technology trends. Married in 2000 to a Singapore citizen, he’s currently single and has a five-year-old daughter.

Mirasta Lee is an ex-Australian who considers herself more Asian than Caucasian. She has lived abroad for almost twenty years—ten in Japan and nearly ten in Singapore. One of her most memorable moments was climbing Mt Fuji to see the 4 am sunrise whilst slurping on a bowl of hot ramen. She’s by day a hardworking kindergarten teacher and by night (and weekends) a full-time maid to two gregarious, young boys. She also enjoys swimming, travelling and making her own art. She’s unimpressed by loud obnoxious people, racism and chicken feet. In the future, she aspires to being the CEO of her own training school for S&M mistresses and to drive a sexy black BMW convertible.

Lisa Park is a professional and educator working in the creative new media field. Born in South Korea but raised in different parts of the world, she enjoys the adventure of getting to know the world in her own perspectives and dreams of generating special pieces of artwork to speak about the world that she lives in.

Herna Susanti grew up in Bandung, Indonesia, and is now a support engineer at an IT company in Singapore. She’s a foodie and very passionate to discover new eating places or try cuisines from different countries. Her latest dream is to learn photography and be a food photographer. She’s adventurous and travelling around the world is her biggest dream. She loves indoor cycling and plans to get her own bike to explore this lovely island. Having mastered the Japanese language, she’s planning to embark on a new experience, learning Chinese! Or German? Spanish, maybe?!

Saranya Eawcharoen is currently a regional marketing head for a healthcare products firm. She has lived in Thailand, England and Singapore, and calls everywhere and nowhere home. She worked in Bangkok in the medical and healthcare fields, and then went to the UK for an MBA in 1998. She moved to Singapore in 2007. She loves travelling around the world and enjoys new experiences. Outside of work, she indulges in golf, yoga, gym and partying. Her friends are a fundamental lifeline as well.

Barkha Patel is a gypsy (firmly in spirit) who has begun what promises to be a nomadic adventure with the love of her life and her three cats. Having grown up in Bombay, she moved to Singapore in 1999 and now lives in Tripoli, which clearly indicates—if nothing else—a pattern of wanting to stay in seaside cities. She’s currently consumed with being a consummate homemaker, having surrendered the delirious excitement of a life formerly driven by Blackberry deadlines. Barkha is a communications consultant by training and is spending her time by the Mediterranean figuring out what is next on her professional anvil.

Viv Palosaari is a primary school teacher who teaches English as a Second Language at an international school in Singapore. She’s an Australian, born of two Finnish parents who migrated to Australia in 1959. She had been a nurse in Australia for 16 years and then retrained to become a teacher in her late 30s. She has been single all of her wonderful 50 years. She doesn’t consider herself to be a bitter old spinster and is still hopeful that the man of her dreams will realise he can’t live without her and that she won’t be a little old dear living alone the rest her days with her cat. But if that is the case then she’ll just have to get lots more cats!

Ping Chu has lived in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, and calls Australia home. She loves dancing, and her latest passion is the Hawaiian hula. She’s adventurous and loves to travel to different parts of the world to experience its sights, sounds and culture. Preferred occupation: global adventurer. Occupation in reality: regional marketing. Best pastime to escape reality: watching the TV show The Amazing Race, where she loves to identify the contestants’ locations around the world, especially those places she has been to!

Kalinga Seneviratne is research director at an Asian media centre headquartered in Singapore. He was born and raised in Sri Lanka but spent 20 years in Australia and now carries an Australian passport. He has been living and working in Singapore for most of the past ten years. He’s a journalist, television documentary maker and media analyst with a PhD in international communications. His hobbies include travel, photography, cross-cultural interaction and trying to figure out a formula to de-colonise the Asian mind.

Melinda Earsdon grew up in Newcastle, England, and has lived in Asia for 15 years. Regional marketing leader for Asia with Mercer, she’s responsible for the development and implementation of strategic marketing, PR and communications plans throughout the region. Previously a journalist, her work has appeared in leading publications including the South China Morning Post, Finance Asia, Careers Times, The Voice, Tatler, Today’s Living and Home Journal, to name but a few.

Arny Lim Pador is an optometrist by profession. She has also finished a degree in nursing. She’s currently working for an IT consulting firm as a business development executive in Singapore. She’s a people person and that makes her love sales and marketing. Back in the Philippines where she was born and raised, she had worked as a brand manager for eyewear and contact lenses. She’s in her mid 30s, a lady who wants to explore life, travel and meet new people. She has a very simple dream as a little girl, and that is to meet her Knight one day and build their dreams together with their lovely children!! It’s still a dream now … Does he exist??

Dorit Grueber was born and educated in Germany but has lived the past 18 years in Asia. She has two kids: her daughter is born in Hong Kong and her son in Singapore. She has worked for much of her life in marketing and considers herself as a passionate brand ambassador. She always has a passion for Asia. As a student she had already travelled here and was very happy when she got her overseas assignment 18 years ago. She considers Asia her home and loves to travel. She now mentors Singaporean start-ups in fields like music event management and travel services.

Esther Yap is an educator in Singapore. She arrived in Singapore from Malaysia as an ASEAN scholar, and has since graduated from a local university and had working stints in a few local companies. She had previously worked as a research analyst but found the job too ******. Give her a rowdy group of hormonal teenagers any time (but certainly not all the time)! Esther enjoys the challenges that Singapore offers but would once in a while dream of just lazing on her sofa back in the living room of her hometown in Sabah. But there is a greater force at work and she has decided to just go with the flow. Watch her surf!

Rosario P.S. can proudly say that she’s the mother of three young adult kids (a boy and two girls), but does that define who she is? Now in her 40s, she was born in Baliuag Bulacan, Philippines. She’s the fifth in a family of seven children (three boys and four girls) and has been working in Singapore for over 17 years now as a domestic helper and babysitter.

Echo Zhuang is a financial life planner. She majored in Chinese language and literature from a university in China. Born in Xiamen city, Fujian province, she had worked as an editor in a publishing house before moving to Singapore. Her first job in Singapore was actually as a salesperson for a truck refrigeration company, which was beyond her expectations, as she never thought she could do sales. But since then, she has fallen in love with the sales industry. She recently joined Great Eastern as a financial life planner. She’s a nature lover as well, enjoying hiking regularly on weekends, and keen on reading as well as travelling.

Bella Peneda is currently a pre-school teacher in Singapore. She has been living in Singapore for four years and enjoys travelling. She earned a degree in English literature and she loves to read and appreciate literary works. She’d describe herself as a gypsy too. She enjoys her work with children and has also done another diploma in teaching from MMI, London. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming and playing badminton, tennis and bowling. Born in the Philippines, she was the eldest in her family. She’s still single and currently is in search of the right person to be with!

Kriszta Nagy is an English/French speaking tour guide from Hungary. She has a certificate in marketing management but, most of all, considers herself a traveller. She had worked for several travel agencies in Hungary, and was also a referee for Tunisia, Malta and France. Back in time when she had no family she had a great plan: to journey around the world in 10 years. She also imagined herself as a famous traveller, wandering around the world with three to five children adopted from different races. However, she came to Singapore as a wife two years ago, and has only two children (and from the same race). Dreams are always a bit different from reality for her, but she’s most open to creative ideas, so if you have any good plans, please get in touch with her.

Bhavana Rao has been living in Singapore for over 12 years with her family. She completed her studies in Bangalore, studying civil engineering and finance management. She began work in Mumbai as a financial researcher. She’s currently working as a workshop supervisor at a voluntary welfare association that provides services for adults with disabilities. Her husband, Niketan, works as a consultant in the services section of a print specialisation company. Their kids are aged thirteen and ten. As a family, they enjoy watching Hindi and English films (which, they do a lot!) and biking on the beach (which, unfortunately, they don’t do much!). Bhavana and Niketan have a passion for old Hindi film music and look forward to Singapore getting its 24-hour Hindi radio channel someday.

Levy D. Alcantara was born in Tiaong, Quezon, Philippines, She graduated from the University of the East with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. For several years, Levy worked in the Philippines before relocating to Singapore in 1990. She’s the proud mother of two lovely boys and is currently working at the Asian Media Information Centre as executive secretary to the Secretary General.

1 Introduction

Madanmohan Rao

This book is a creative, fun and informative piece of work. Forty-three per cent of its readers will be expats, 51% Singaporean citizens, and 6% foreigners in other countries. Of the Singaporean citizens who read this book, 18% will themselves become expats in other countries, unless they already are. OK, OK, I just made up these figures.

More seriously, this book is inspired by one of the more profound forces of globalisation: the movement of people around the world, not just as immigrants or tourists but as employees on temporary postings abroad for durations of two weeks to two years and more. My incessant travels around the world to over seventy-five countries (and still counting) have drawn me to not just the economic and cultural aspects of this movement but its human face as well—which is the focus of this book.

Heated debates on off-shoring, immigration and expat visa quotas will continue to rage from the presidential office in the US to Parliament House in Singapore. But this book series, The Global Citizen, focuses more on what it is that makes people move to other countries, how they perceive their new host countries and interact with its citizens, how they contribute to their new places of work and play, how they’re in turn shaped by their travels and interactions, and what messages and advice they would like to share.

This book is a creative compilation of essays by twenty expats in Singapore, who have blended personal histories and experiences with useful commentaries and suggestions for Singaporeans. In delightfully different writing styles, the expats open up their lives and share their joys and discoveries—along with frustrations and tips—to readers in Singapore and around the world. Many of them have never before written in this style, and it was a delight and challenge for me to work with them on their narratives.

The book is an entertaining and fun read, with everything from cultural slips and raunchy digs to Singlish encounters and quirky personalities. After all, we all need to end the week with Kumar or Fried Rice Paradise, as well as expat versions of these!

And even this small dipstick sample of twenty expats reveals a wealth of informative insights into the evolution of Singapore, its interaction with the expat community, social norms and variations, and future trends. The book invites further detailed studies and creative works on expat-local interaction, and even other books on Singapore citizens’ experiences with expats and in other countries around the world. I’m proud that this book joins other related ones on this topic, such as Notes from a Small Island (Neil Humphreys), Six Degrees of Expatriation (Maida Pineda) and Getting into Singapore (David Goldwich). In this chapter, I share with you some of the insights I’ve gathered from my own experience here and from the twenty outstanding contributors in the book.

As this book goes to press, the debate continues on how to attract foreign talent to Singapore in a climate where some Singaporean citizens express concern that permanent residents (PRs) may not be loyal enough to Singapore when the situation gets tough. Are PRs treating Singapore like a hotel and just riding the good times? Should PRs be allowed to have the best of both worlds, or be denied an escape route when the going gets tough? Should PRs be eventually made to choose Singaporean citizenship or leave the country?

Is it enough that PRs pay taxes and create jobs, or must they also show signs of rootedness and loyalty, like signing up for the armed forces? Should the government start skewing childcare, housing, education and healthcare benefits even more towards citizens than PRs? How are other countries dealing with the issue of permanent residents in their lands? Isn’t it common and fair for people to travel around the world a bit before they decide exactly where to sink their roots?

After all, some Singaporeans seem to worry that PRs will rip them off of their job opportunities and various forms of government aid. But then again, many expats also question why they need to keep proving that they care about Singapore when they’re already helping the country plug into the global economy and bring in new skill sets and knowledge networks. Could Singapore’s achievements have been attained without the support of expats, and can Singapore effectively deal with the current global economic disruption without the partnership of expats?

Singapore’s achievements reflect as much, if not more so, the talents and abilities of foreigners as Singaporeans, according to David Rosenberg, author of Cloning Silicon Valley: The Next Generation High-Tech Hotspots.

While some of these issues do come up in the book, the focus here is more on professional and cultural interactions than immigration policy recommendations. An aim of this book, after all, is to build common ground between expats and Singaporeans, dig beneath the numbers and statistics, show the more human side of the expat life in Singapore, and promote better understanding between the two communities.

So here is what the expats in this book think about Singapore and Singaporeans.

For a start, as expected, most expats agree that Singapore is a convenient, safe, organised, corruption-free and comfortable place, with excellent infrastructure. For a city with heavy traffic, the level of pollution in Singapore is admirably unnoticeable, as compared to other smoke-laden cities of Asia. Its Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) is world class, and its buses and cabs are thankfully air-conditioned and clean.

But, as in some First World countries, it would be nice to have the buses announcing or displaying the next stop en route, and for the cabs to have GPS navigation displays. Handicap access could also improve, and people should be more willing to give up seats for the elderly or disabled. There is a taxi-queuing system that is generally accepted, but this doesn’t seem to extend to the buses or MRT (witness those in Hong Kong in contrast).

Expats who travel frequently almost unanimously agree that Changi Airport is the best in the world, for everything from ambience and shopping to free WiFi and resting places. (I’m one of them, and I’ve seen over two hundred airports around the world.)

Electricity, water and telecom infrastructure are reliable, as compared to many other Asian cities. Singapore is a world leader in e-government, with a wide variety of services available online, and broadband Internet access is widely available (even free in coffee shops). The use of technology is also much appreciated in services such as automated drop-off for library book returns.

A terrific advantage expats find in Singapore is its central location to get to other parts of Asia for business trips and exotic travel destinations. Asian expats also like the fact that it’s close enough to their home countries for regular and emergency visits. The boom in budget airlines has made this travel that much cheaper and easier.

The city can handle the frequent heavy rains better than many other Asian cities (despite the occasional over-flooding in Orchard Road!). Cars are, of course, difficult to get and more expensive, and driving tests are rigorous—but despite all that, it’s surprising to see how rude and crude some local drivers can be!

Day-to-day movement and activities can be so well organised and coordinated that one can literally run on auto pilot here, unlike in other mega-cities of Asia where the daily grind and crushing traffic can wear you down quickly. Everything seems spic and span and in place here—there are no bystanders and loiterers, but no street musicians and sidewalk artistes either.

The place seems so impeccably clean that it almost reveals a lack of reality and can come across as Toyland, especially when compared to other scruffier Asian cities. Some even refer to Singapore as the ICU of Asia!. The chatty buzz and vibrant cacophony are also missing in buses and trains.

And inside buildings, Singaporeans sometimes tend to go overboard with the air-conditioning, especially in offices and hotels. I’ve caught a cold more often in Singapore than in Geneva and Canberra during winter.

Compared to some First World countries, there is less awareness or commitment at the citizen and residential level in Singapore about environmental preservation and recycling, such as using cloth or paper bags instead of disposable plastic, separation of trash in homes and apartment buildings into bottles, cans, cardboard, paper and waste. Singaporeans could also become more creative in recycling their unwanted paper (for instance, using Singapore Power Services bill envelopes for writing down shopping lists).

Moving to Singapore and dealing with immigration procedures is generally hassle-free for most expats—though censorship laws apparently require DVD inspection: the government will charge you per shipped DVD disc to watch every single one, deeming whether it’s appropriate for your viewing.

Some expats have moved house a few times in Singapore, with mixed experiences. Some are pleased at being able to finish all formalities within a day, while others have had frustrating experiences with agents and inspectors. Many expats complain about inadequate governing or controlling boards to regulate rental fees and price rises (highway robbery).

Some expats may find HDB flats somewhat stifling to live in but others have blended in and also appreciate the way in which race quotas have helped prevent the formation of potentially polarising ghettos, as in other cities. Other expats observe that though there are hundreds of families in each HDB building, many tend to go their own ways—unlike other parts of Asia, where neighbours tend to know each other very well.

Asian expats commend the Singapore government for providing its citizens with a secure environment and privileges like housings and retirement benefits. Despite the high urban density, there is greenery visible across the island right down to each neighbourhood.

Many expats, especially those from Asia (most Asian countries got their independence from colonial rule in the 1940s and 1950s), are impressed by what Singapore has achieved in the last five decades in terms of infrastructure, urban planning, security, quality of life and government professionalism.

Most expats are also impressed by the extent of racial and religious harmony in Singapore, compared to the more tense, confrontational and even riotous encounters in other countries. Though outright racist attacks are very rare, there is certainly indirect racial profiling and stereotyping when it comes to things like tenancy deals and shopping. For instance, some Asian expats complain that Western expats get more attention and better treatment in shopping and dining outlets. Perhaps this has as much to do with perceptions of buying power as race.

Expats of Asian origin who grew up in the West and are now in Singapore appreciate the fact that they’re far less discriminated against here. There are almost no house burglaries, car thefts, street mugging, vandalism or racial attacks, as in many other cities of the world. The city is drug-free and crime rates are very low (though not non-existent), and the absence of perverts and weirdos is most appreciated. Drunken fights in bars aren’t common (though when they do happen, they generally involve expats).

Some expats address the ever-present love-hate relationship between Singapore and Malaysia, but these issues are nothing like India-Pakistan or China-Taiwan or North-South Korea tensions! The moral police who ban everything from women drinking in bars to Valentine’s Day celebrations are fortunately absent here, unlike in some other parts of Asia.

Over the past few decades, the quality of the restaurant and lifestyle business in Singapore has dramatically improved, especially in terms of alfresco dining and bar hangouts. Shopping for summer clothing is terrific here, though Rubinesque women can have a problem with sizes.

Another hit among expats is the variety, ubiquity and affordability of hawker food. Singapore is definitely a foodie’s paradise, and its reputation as a shopper’s paradise is well-deserved as well. Ubiquitous convenience stores and kopitiams also improve comfort levels and provide convenient gathering spots.

Tap water is potable, unlike in many other Asian countries, where even five-star hotels warn residents not to drink tap water. There is also better access to clean public restrooms here. But strangely enough, in a country that was hit hard by SARS, hawkers don’t provide free napkins or tissue. While Singapore may be considered to be expensive by other Asians or cheap by Europeans, all agree that the price of alcohol is too high, and an evening out in town can seriously dent your wallet!

Venues like the Esplanade and the nearby museums host amazing world-class art exhibitions, concerts and shows, and ethnic watering holes such as Chinatown, Arab Street, Little India and Lucky Plaza are a popular draw. Though the WOMAD world music festival is sorely missed (it ran here for ten years), world music acts from other parts of Asia and abroad are picking up.

The Asian Civilisation Museum is world class, and sometimes showcases artefacts from other Asian countries better than in their countries of origin. It’s encouraging to find not just concert hall performances of world dance but also a wealth of local studios and instructors for everything from samba and salsa to bellydance and Bollywood dance. There is certainly an international cultural footprint in Singapore but, like other parts of Asia and Australia, exposure to African and Latin America is quite limited.

Join the expats in their individual chapters in this book, as they describe some of their favourite hangouts and culinary haunts, well-known ones as well as those off the beaten track. There is lots of life till late night in Singapore, right down to the night safaris and Geylang.

Shedding its earlier image of a boring and stiff place, dining and nightlife in Singapore have become positively hip and groovy. Picky vegetarian expats from countries like India also appreciate the fact that the choice of vegetarian fare here is improving.

As for communication and discourse, the Singapore (and East Asian) concept of face or not shaming or criticising anyone in public may make for cordial work atmospheres, but can also lead to gossip or rumours behind people’s backs. Some expats observe that Singaporeans like to complain about a range of things, but prefer to do it behind your back, and not in the office or in your face.

This cuts both ways, however. Some Asians appreciate the fact that at a personal level Singaporeans can be less gossipy and intrusive, and this can help them heal over tough patches in life and become independent again.

Some expats observe that there is better gender equity in the workforce and society in Singapore than in other Asian or Middle Eastern societies, and women are respected and independent—perhaps because there is less of a macho culture here. Women expats also appreciate the fact that attitudes in Singapore towards contraception and abortion aren’t rigid, as compared to the Philippines, for instance. Women expats find it much safer here than other parts of Asia and even in their own home countries.

Yet, the public service (and even the private sector) doesn’t seem to have a high percentage of women executives in top positions, and the system could be more supportive of working mothers and single parents.

Expat entrepreneurs find Singapore an easy place to set up a business, with a favourable tax climate. But expats from countries like Germany observe that Singapore doesn’t have strong employee laws, and has very little social welfare.

Things are generally well run here, but locals can be such a stickler for process that things can get frustrating and even stifling when a little bit of adjustment, flexibility or creativity is needed. Some expats also recommend that the quality of training for sales and service staff in the retail outlets could be improved.

English-speaking expats are delighted at the ease of getting by with English in Singapore, and an added bonus for many expats from China is that not only do they get good exposure to English-language work environments but they can also rely on the familiarity of Mandarin. But both groups will be quick to add that the overall level of English and the level of Mandarin in Singapore leave much to be desired.

Singapore certainly has more of a mix of Asians in the workforce than any other part of Asia, which should help it build business bridges across the region, especially between economic giants like China and India.

Some expats are quite satisfied with the quality of healthcare, though others feel that seeing a doctor in Singapore is an experience that tests one’s endurance and patience, and healthcare paperwork can be unnecessarily complicated.

Expats who have visited or taught on Singapore college campuses have noticed the marked lack of political rallies, wild parties, loud music and campus pubs, as compared to their home countries. The focus here is more on academics and getting ahead in textbook education. Some expat parents think that Singaporean kids are a pampered and over-indulged lot, and they don’t adequately appreciate the sacrifices of their parents and the achievements of their leaders.

IT infrastructure in schools and colleges is excellent but some expats feel that the militaristic style of student behaviour management should be phased out, and students should become more creative and focus on projects and not just exams. Some expat teachers admit that professors and teachers are highly revered here but also feel that Singaporean youth need to be able to ask critical questions and sharpen their innate curiosity, social skills, team activities and competitive sports. Students need to find and live out their passions. Instead, they’re burdened with schoolwork and tuition, and perhaps spend too much on online media.

Growing up in a dense urban atmosphere, it’s tough for locals to be connected with nature or the stars above. Few kids have seen where milk comes from, or can name constellations in the sky. This is no fault of Singapore, of course, but does it perhaps lead to a certain loss of the spiritual soul?

Many Asian expats also observe an almost excessive Western fixation in Singapore, with some calling Singapore a Westernised member of Asia or even an Asian Yankee city. The white man seems to rule here as nowhere else, from the boardroom to the bedroom! Caucasian males seem to be fawned over by not just local fare but a seemingly endless supply of young females from other countries coming over on social visit passes. One female contributor of this book even humorously complains that expat women aren’t afforded equal opportunities with the local men here, or