We spend a pleasant evening out with Henning and his friend Jonathan. Strolling about River Valley Road we hear bells ringing and music playing from the Indian temple at the corner of Clemenceau. Entranced, we sit on the temple steps and peer inside at musicians walking around the temple while playing their jam session of traditional Indian music. Henning compares it to a jazz concert but it's far better. An Indian guy tells us the music is for a holiday.
Income tax time draws near. Every American dreads filling out the complicated IRS forms, but in Singapore this is a breeze. The whole thing is about three pages long and you can even file electronically through the web and have the tax automatically deducted from your bank account. I can't imagine an easier system. The rate is reasonable as well, especially when compared to North America and Europe.
Just had my first rejection from Expat Singapore (web site I've been writing for). Up until now they've accepted everything I've sent them with very little editing. Here's the article they rejected:
Price Discrimination
One day, after lunch, I head over to Zhujiao wet market to buy some fruit. I see some good-looking grapes for sale at S$3.50 a kilogram. Picking out a bunch, I hand them to the vendor and she slaps them on the scale. They weigh almost exactly 1 kilogram. "Great," I think, getting out my money. "Four dollars," says the vendor. I look up in surprise. There isn't more than a hair's length of distance between the needle and the 1 kilogram mark. Thinking she's forgotten the price, I point at the sign and say "three fifty."
"Four dollars," she brusquely repeats, snatching the grapes off the scale and putting them in front of me. I pause for a moment. A man behind me, either in observation or in my defense chimes in: "three fifty." "Right, three fifty," I repeat, giving the vendor two S$2 bills. She takes them but returns no change. I stand there waiting, but she ignores me and waits on other customers.
I wait a few moments and then reach over and take my money back. The vendor slaps at my hand, yelling. She grabs the grapes and starts to put them onto a different scale. Nice trick, but I'm not interested though. "Never mind," I say, walking away.
I'm not angry. As a traveler and two time expat I'm used to vendors trying to take advantage of me. I'm certain that if I looked like a local this woman would not have tried to charge me S$4.00 for those grapes. Most tourists or expats would probably have accepted the slight overcharge. I never waste time arguing in situations like this and simply take my business elsewhere.
Fortunately, price gouging of Westerners doesn't happen often in Singapore, but it does happen. I've seen it in shops as well as wet markets. Once I was in a bakery where I noticed the owner overcharged me for an item. "You've made a mistake," I said. At this the owner looked very guilty, as if searching for an excuse. "It should be S$___," I said and the owner immediately shook off her look and happily refunded this amount. Later, I realized that she'd actually overcharged me for other items as well, and the correct amount was even lower. No wonder she seemed happy!
I've been at food stalls where I get too small a portion. Everyone else going through a line will get two spoonfuls of something while I only get one. This happens to my wife Sybil as well and I've seen her demand a fair amount. The stunned vendor usually complies. In cases like this, unless the difference is egregious, I will simply avoid those stalls.
The best advice I can give you for these situations is to remain calm and not get mad. First, make sure that you haven't made a mistake. Some westerners are so much on the lookout for price gouging that they sometimes imagine it. If you really feel that you aren't getting a fair deal then I encourage you to stand up for your rights. Ask for your money back and avoid doing business with people who try to take advantage of you.
Don't let this discrimination get you down. It happens just about everywhere in the world to people who stand out as recognizably different. The large majority of Singapore vendors will deal fairly with you, even if you are vulnerable by being unfamiliar with costs or routine. Give your repeat business to these honest merchants.
They liked the piece but just didn't think they could use it. Interesting, huh?
Sybil has been getting press passes to local music promotions. She went to one a few months back for a CD premier of a very promising local artist named Tanya Chua. We got a free copy of her CD "Bored" and enjoy listening to it. So, hoping to hear some more good music we went to a CD premier last weekend spotlighting 9 musicians who won a local talent search. Unfortunately, the live performances were not very inspiring. I haven't even tried to listen to the CD. There are no Tanya's in this group.
Sunday, after an enjoyable ramble through a rainy Botanical Garden, I make my first visit to Holland Village. This is supposed to be one of the main haunts for the expat community, so I figured I couldn't leave without seeing it once. Eating wood-fired pizza and calzone while watching all the expats and tourists on the streets, I experienced some reverse culture shock. Holland Village is just like northern California. The native Singaporeans who hang out there ride Harleys and wear Bulls T-shirts. There are cafes and wine bars on every corner. You can pop into a Burger King or KFC. It's exactly the equivalent of a Chinatown in the States; you have an area where a local minority has shaped the neighborhood. It's tempting to belittle it, but I'm not going to. Eating cheesecake (real cheesecake and not the dry Japanese kind you usually get here) in a cafe, I decide it's not a bad place for what it is.
Recently, I've answered some of the same questions in email from people who are thinking about coming over here to work. This tells me it's time to paste my answers into this Journal. Here goes:
* How did you end up working there?
Heard about the job over the Internet and made the connection through a
Hong Kong headhunter.
* Was it hard for your wife to find a job too?
Very hard - There are many, many underemployed expat spouses over here.
My wife is paid far less than she would get in the States. My company
made all kinds of promises to help her get a job over here and never
delivered. Even if you have a multi-talented and energetic wife with a
solid educational background (as I do) don't count on her getting a
decent job unless she's a techie.
* How's cost of living?
Housing is expensive, but not as expensive as I was led to believe. You
can find a roomy 3 bedroom apartment, close-in for around S$3,000 a
month. Cars are very expensive. Alcohol is expensive. Everything else
is about 2 times that of the rest of SE Asia, or roughly comparable to
the States. Some things, like food at Hawker centers are true bargains,
even when compared with other SE Asian countries.
* Is it possible to get by without a car in Singapore?
Absolutely. They have a fabulous mass transportation system here. The
MRT is great and the buses go everywhere. Taxis are not expensive and
many people commonly use them as well.
* Can I get along without knowing Chinese?
Yes, no worries. It will take you some time to learn the local dialect
of Singlish. Until you do, you will have many problems communicating
with locals. Keep your sentences short and to the point - emphasize the
verbs. Knowing some Chinese also helps a lot, but you don't need to be
fluent.
Now I'll give a potential expat the most valuable advice I can think of and something that is applicable to any job hunter: Make sure you like the people you will be working with! This is the most important thing in a job. Let me elaborate to give you the full picture of what I'm talking about. Listen to my story and learn from my mistakes.
My previous three jobs were at the University of Iowa, ABN-AMRO, and Smith Barney. All were great experiences and I was happy with my job. Most of all, I enjoyed working with the people there. However, in each one I wanted to do larger project work, to have more control over implementing large and interesting projects. This is one of the things that led me to take my position with Cold Storage.
Well, now I have the large and interesting project work. I have all kinds of power concerning technical details and good underlings to get the job done. I get to rub shoulders with the big bosses and they are OK. The problem is that I don't respect my immediate managers. The larger problem is that my company is not willing to put appropriate resources to support IT. Their philosophy is to squeeze their employees until they can get every ounce of work out of them and to hire as cheaply as possible. They pay lip service to long range planning but they don't want to pay for the resources needed to accomplish this.
When I interviewed for this job, I only spoke with managers at our parent company's headquarters in Hong Kong. Indeed, I initially thought the job was in Hong Kong! These managers were very technically competent and I was greatly impressed with their plans to incorporate all of DFI's businesses under a global IT strategy. I wanted to work with these sharp managers and do "big things." This was my first experience working in retail and I liked learning about the nuts and bolts side of how IT supports the businesses.
So, I come to Singapore and discover they have IT managers here I have to deal with. I didn't even know about them before setting foot in the country! They can sometimes be a pain in the ass. More importantly they are not innovative and they certainly are not involved in any of the global schemes from the parent company. I kept hearing about a "consolidation" and how the parent company will soon make changes in the IT structure, so I waited, hoping I would soon work for these Hong Kong directors.
Well, one of the Hong Kong directors leaves the company and the other one has only visited here once since I've been here. Then one of the local managers leaves and recommends me for his position. Instead of giving it to me, they move me into a new, low-level management position and bring in another bureaucrat right above me.
OK, lesson learned. Thursday morning, while walking to work, feeling sick again under the blazing sun and trudging around a dusty detour, I find a small Buddha image that had dropped off a necklace. Later, after sitting through a mind-numbingly idiotic meeting with our new Technical Manager, I decide that the Buddha image was a kan-kan and the time has come for me to embark on a new journey. After lunch, I gave my boss three month notice (as stipulated in my contract) and plan to travel for awhile before searching for another job.
So, my advice to any job seeker and especially to potential expats is to make sure you will like working with the people you will have to deal with day in and day out. Can you trust them to provide the type of working environment you're willing to spend 9 hours a day in? If you don't have that, the rest doesn't matter.
Actually, I'm not under any real obligation to stick around here for three months. I already have my return air ticket, so I'm not waiting on Cold Storage for anything. However, I believe in being fair with people, even when I feel they haven't been completely fair with me. More to the point, I want to finish up some projects I've been working on. I know that might sound strange when I'm not sticking around, but I enjoy doing good work. Actually, that's not exactly accurate. The correct statement is that it bothers me not to do good work.
An interesting note is that when I offered my resignation I took the time to tell my supervisors everything I think is wrong with our company's management of their computing environment. Surprisingly, I think they really understood and appreciated my points. I suspect that they themselves are often squeezed to do more with less. One of them even mentioned that this is the "Asian approach" and he didn't feel it was always the best way to keep good technical people. They are probably also not encouraged to be innovative.
For the first time, I felt a bit sorry for them. Under a different corporate environment they might even be decent managers. The new Technical Manager is simply in over his head. He was initially recruited to lead our Help Desk and PC groups and was bumped into this position after my old boss left. Never mind that he doesn't have any experience with the large Unix systems our production environment runs on. In a similar vein, after I resigned they offered my position (with less pay) to the brand new DBA. This poor guy will be in for a very hard time indeed. Out of sympathy I'm trying to help him but he hasn't got a prayer. It's almost as if our IT manager sees all technical people as interchangeable cogs in a (badly running) machine.
After you find a kan-kan and quit your job the best thing to do is go on a road trip! Fortuitously, a holiday supplied a three day weekend in which to do this. Henning, Peggy, and Peggy's friend Alfee from Hong Kong joined Sybil and me on an outing to the Eastern Malay islands. Originally, Henning wanted Tioman, but thinking this is too touristy I suggest Sibu. By 7:15am we were on the MRT heading for the Causeway, but the bus we transferred to soon ran into a terrible traffic jam. Clearly the opening of a 2nd Causeway has not eased the traffic burden, at least during the start of holiday weekends. We walk a few kilometers, passing stalled traffic. After clearing immigration, we cram into a bus to Larkin.
At the Larkin bus terminal we catch a bus to Kota Tinggi and try to get a cab to Tanjong Leman from there. The cabbies are adamant about not taking 5 people in one cab, so we take another bus to get us closer to Tanjong Leman. From there we're immediately able to get one cab, so we send Peggy and Sybil ahead while the men folk wait behind. We arrive about 25 minutes after they do.
After berating me for "my bad planning," Sybil tells me that there is very little accommodation available and most all of it is booked already. However, she has spoken with some Singapore guys staying at a nearby kelong who told her they have some beds available. Henning isn't too thrilled with this idea and he tries to get us a better deal from some of the resorts.
We soon discover we have a bigger problem though. Henning has lost his wallet! He decides he must have left it in the cab. We tell some of the people at the ferry to relay a message to the cabbie. In the meantime we are dangerously low on money. Sybil and I have neglected to hit an ATM machine and there are none available at Tanjong Leman. Now that we all have to cover Henning, the kelong is basically the only choice we can afford. Even then we have to use some of Alfee's Hong Kong money, in addition to Singapore dollars and ringgits. Two days later, Henning wound up getting his wallet back, minus the S$200 he had inside it. It's unfortunate that someone decided to take his money, but I guess it could have been worse.
When Sybil said "kelong," which is a Malaysian house built on stilts over water, I envisioned something a few meters from shore. I figured we could easily swim to land if we wanted. Nope, this place is in the middle of the sea! Henning and I can't believe it when the boat sets us down there. Sybil later tells me that I was thinking of a "kampong" instead of a "kelong." Turns out these Singapore guys are just there for fishing, so the kelong is perfect for them. What are we going to do here?
It's rather an amazing place though. Most everything is made out of lemon tree wood, bamboo, and thatch. You can look through the boards in many places to see the water underneath. The whole place rocks slightly with the waves. Turns out the water is over 40 meters deep at this point, so the poles go down a long way. Bunk beds for 60 people line the walls and about 40 people are staying there. The group of Singapore guys makes up over half the group. Despite Spartan sleeping accommodations, the kelong is amazingly outfitted with a kitchen, a shrine to the God of the Sea, a television, a cell phone, some plants, and even some caged chickens.
It turns out to be a good experience. The Singaporean fishing group is very nice. They have known each other since they were about 8-years old and often go on trips together. It's interesting to watch them fishing and interacting. I do some tarot card readings for them at night (hard with so many people!) and one of them performs some good card tricks. The beautiful Sibu Islands (turns out there are 3 of them) can be seen in the distance and the sun, moon, stars and waves make for a delightful spot. The food they serve is plentiful and tasty. Most importantly, Henning, Peggy, and Alfee are all good company.
It gets even better the next day when we take two excursions over to the islands. In the morning we take a boat to the area near the Twin Beach Resort to swim and snorkel from a beautiful beach. After a pepper crab lunch back at the kelong, we spend the afternoon at one of the delightful smaller islands. The snorkeling here is really fabulous, with lots of great coral, many sea anemone and sea cucumbers. The beach is small but exquisite.
Actually, I'd like to get a group together sometime and come here for about 5 days during the weekday when there are no fisherman in the kelong to wake you up in the middle of the night. Send me some email if you're up for it. It's a much better deal than the nearby resorts and a great experience. It cost us about US$47 per person for two nights. That included all meals and transport to the islands. The owner is a very fair guy, so even if you don't want to go with me I'll leave you with his name and phone number. Mention the Singapore Journal and tell him exactly what you want. Wong Pak You (Ayu), Likly Enterprise - Kelong 511, phone 011-718235.
Some excerpts from two of my more amusing emails:
> Hello - > I am a teacher in Florida - 7th grade social studies. My kids are > interested in law in Singapore (they have heard the story of the famous > "caneing" (sp?). Anyway, we are immersed in studying Southeast Asia and > other than sharing some of your interesting foods and experiences with > them ( I have censured some...), I would like them to know some of the > more interesting crimes and punishments. As you may know, kids this age > are fascinated by this stuff. Great, now I can add "censored in Florida" to my pathetically small list of Singapore Journal accomplishments! Actually, there is very little crime here in Singapore, so it's difficult to answer your question. We did recently have a dramatic murder of a couple who worked at Newton Hawker Center, but that case isn't solved yet. I've already mentioned some of the unusual fined acts they have here, such as carrying a durian on the MRT or chewing gum, or failing to flush the toilet in a public restroom. However, the local press is always filled with dramatic reports of excessive punishments that come out of China. I'll share two with you and your students. In one report, a man was put to death for poking women with a small pin on public buses. In another, a mentally ill man was locked in a tiny cage (the picture showed him in a cage about the size of a doghouse) for 13 years while he awaited trial for killing a public official during a confrontation after the official shot him. Cheers, Matt PS -- I think it must be "caning."
Here's one from a young Korean guy I sent some information to about working in Singapore:
>I'm so pleased for your mail and I hope you get many information of Korea >by my e-mail. as you know that the world become smaller and closer each >countries. I have experience of meet Singapore man who are the business partner in >my former company.so I know a bit of Singapore. these day I gather information of trip >especially while make money but I am not sure where I take part time job,how can I >approach to person of each country.anyway I'm under 30 year old so I'm still young ,as >mentioned before, I would like to be a international business man in my future and >I hope to have chance to trip abroad and make new friend in the world like >you. I want to know your information more detailed and I hope you're one of >my closer international friend even if you're old person. Well, it's true that I'm a bit of a Methuselah. I know I have revealed Sybil and my ages in the journal. Didn't Shakespeare once have a line like "as old as the Sybil" in "Taming of the Shrew?" She doesn't like to be reminded of it though, so you can't categorize me as an "old person" and expect my younger wife's good wishes should we swing through Korea on our trip. I certainly wish you the best in your goal to become an "international business man." It occurs to me now that in the two emails you've sent me you haven't mentioned what type of business you want to do. I suppose it doesn't really matter. Just get out in the world and make an impact. Good luck, Matt
Met with Adrian Lee of a print magazine called "Living Room Digest." When he first contacted me to ask if I would be interested in writing for them, my initial reaction was one of disappointment. Was my journal so boring that a magazine called "Living Room Digest" would want me to be a contributor? However, once I obtained a few of their issues I thought they included some good stuff. I agreed to write some pieces.
Went to a low-budget documentary about rock-n-roll slackers in Beijing. A Boston woman hung out with a bunch of low-life, self-proclaimed parasites and documented their pathetic existence. It includes some interesting bits though, such as a stereotypical argument between distraught parents and disaffected youth; and watching one of the guys wallow in self-pity as he yells at his girlfriend over a long-distance phone call. Fascinating to see how much Beijing has changed in the almost 10 years since I lived there.
The Singapore Film Festival is about to start and we've purchased tickets to about a dozen films. At one time I was a big movie buff and can still get into film now and then. One of the more unusual offerings includes three films by the infamous American cult director Ed Wood. (I highly recommend Tim Burton's autobiographical film about his life. Also, Glen or Glenda is a must-see.) Of course, most of the festival films are Asian and I'm looking forward to seeing some recent work from Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and India.
A phrase that I'm constantly bombarded with now is "at the end of the day." In the States I heard this phrase very rarely, and only to mean an "ultimate result." However, over here many people will use this phrase in every other sentence, apparently using it to mean "so" or "therefore" or even "and." The confusing thing is, they sometimes literally mean it as "at the end of this day." Our Technical Manager is one of these people and I sometimes find it excruciatingly distracting. I can't stop thinking to myself: "At the end of this day? At the end of any day? WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" I asked Peggy and a few other people about it and apparently it is very common in Hong Kong as well as Singapore and everyone thinks it is a common American saying. It is, I guess, although it could be British, but in any case, it's far more popular here!
Did you know that the same company owns all of the major newspapers in Singapore? Singapore Press Holdings owns The Straits Times (main English language daily), The New Paper (popular daily), Lianhe Zaobao (main Chinese language daily), cyBerita (Malay language daily), Business Times (business daily), and even the Computer Times? It's basically a total monopoly. Have a look at their umbrella web page: http://www.asia1.com.sg. Pretty slick, eh?
I've been chewing pan again in Little India. Pan is a somewhat addicting item made up of betel nut, lime, fennel seeds, coconut, clove and other spices wrapped in betel leaf. Sometimes they add in tobacco, but even without, chewing betel nut brings an increased risk of oral cancer. Believe me, I have no intention of making this a habit, but it does have an interesting taste and effect (too much turns your mouth red).
Reciprocal links:
The Singapore Journal picks up a "Best of Asia-Pacific Web Award" -- http://www.bestofasiapacific.com/sin.html.
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