All About Your Child

This is part 2 to the post on Singapore.

Erin said, “I am still curious about a couple things.”

Oh Erin, how I love the way you make me think. These are questions that my non-Singaporean friends hardly ask. So my mind wasn’t tailored to think in that direction, yet I am living in the mist of the answers to all these questions, day in day out, without giving it a care…ain’t I terrible?

Ok, let’s start….

“What’s the population of Singapore and is there any countryside?”

As of 4 Feb 2008, total population is 4.6 million. Locals and permanent residents 3,583,100 and foreigners, 1,005,500. But Singapore’s economic planners think the country can hold 6.5 million people, a size they feel will be ideal to keep the economy humming.

Countryside? Nah. The space is too small, so whatever available space left is used for building ‘pigeon holes’ to house the forthcoming 6.5 million. But to live up to the ‘Garden City’ title, we have trees all over the place, mini-forest. *wink*

“What is the main industry there?”

Singapore’s main industries include electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair and biotechnology.

It has an open business environment, relatively corruption-free and transparent, stable prices, and one of the highest per capita gross domestic products (GDP) in the world. Exports, particularly in electronics and chemicals, and services provide the main source of revenue for our economy, which allows it to purchase natural resources and raw goods which it does not have.

The Port of Singapore is one of the busiest in the world, surpassing Hong Kong and Shanghai.

“What is the poverty level, the average income, that kind of thing.”

Seriously, there isn’t a very clear indication of the % poverty level in Singapore lately. The last report on this was in 2000, mentioning the story of Mdm Lee Chong Peng….

Lee Chong Peng is the symbol of Singapore’s broken dream. She lives alone in a one-room flat on about $3 a day. “I watch television and take short walks,” she says. “My legs ache now, so I cannot go so far.” But without fail, every Wednesday afternoon, Lee takes the lift down eight floors to the ground level of her public housing block.

There she joins dozens of other poor folk from her district in Chinatown to sit, waiting, on concrete benches. Lee, 84, chats with friends, while others remain sullen, lacking even the warmth of comradeship. At 5 p.m. they all form into a line and shuffle forward to receive a plastic bag containing six eggs, 1.5 kg of rice, a can of baked beans, a can of sweet corn, one packet of hot chocolate, one packet of coffee, some cereal and a single toilet roll. Without this weekly donation from a charitable group, Lee and her neighbors find it tough to survive.

According to the 2000 Census, 12.6 per cent of households earned less than $1,000 per month. A monthly gross total household income of $1,500 and below is considered “poor” in Singapore.

You do see very old uncles and aunties who are in their 70s or 80s picking up cupboard boxes and empty cans from the streets and the dustbins to sell them off later to earn just a few dollars. In very rare cases, you can find beggars on the streets, but we do have high-class beggars, we call the street performers, here in this fast growing economy of Singapore.

According to statistics gathered in 2007, the average household income is S$6,280. Hmmm…that seems a lot, but that’s only a handful of such people (I know of) who actually fall in this average-group. Most of the people whom I know falls into the S$4,000+ category for the entire household.

In Singapore the income range is extreme! A managing director can be getting S$20,000 basic monthly income and a receptionist may be just getting S$1,200 per month.

“What are some common prices for food items, cars, houses?”

Food

As I type along, I realised that Singapore is a place of extremes. A plate of Chicken rice at the coffeeshop usually ranges between S$2.50 – S$3.00, but in certain parts of Singapore where a kind owner of the coffeeshop doesn’t raise the rental as much as the jump in Singapore’s economy, chicken rice at S$1.50 per plate still exists. Yet at restaurants, especially those inside the hotels, a plate of chicken rice could cost you S$6.50 and they don’t even taste half as nice as those sold in the stalls at the coffeeshops!

Generally, Singaporeans eat in non-air-conditioned hawker centres and coffeeshops. A hawker centre could house as many as 60 stalls and a coffeeshop usually consists of 9-10 stalls. In such places, the average price ranges from S$2.50 to S$3.50.

There are days when its way too hot, we, pampered Singaporeans, will get our food from the cool air-conditioned food courts in Shopping Centres, where we pay about S$0.50-S$1.00 more for the comfort.

Cars

The 1600cc cars, Korean and Japanese brands like Honda, Toyota, Hyundia, Kia, Nissan and Mitsubishi cost about S$50,000 – S$70,000.

Other luxurious cars like Lexus, Jaguar, etc can go up to as high as S$200,000.

Houses

Our HDB, which we ‘buy’ from the Government or from the current owners ranges from S$200,000 -S$600,000.

Private ones like terrace houses, condominium and bungalows are always above the Million mark.

“And where does your deep sense of Nationalism come from?”

Hmmm…seriously, ITS EVERYTHING!

The air that I breathe in, except when the rubbish truck happens to pass by;

the sunshine that’s ever so glaring (even though I often complain about it, you know Singapore is located (almost) just next to the equator, imagine the heat!);

the grumblings from the aunties and uncles who sit in the coffeeshop practically the entire day doing nothing but complain about the government;

the sense of predictability (everything is so organised, sometimes other than my pounding heart, I do feel like living in a robotic world);

with the above point, that leads to feeling safe and secure all the time;

To sum it up, its probably due to my frequent travel experiences (in the past) to countries like Thailand and China (I go there to get my beads and stuff), it made me appreciate the cleanliness and greenery of Singapore and that alone, I’ve got my hands and legs chained to this ground.

“What is it in your country’s history that has defined your country today?”

Could believe it? Its the masterpiece of just ONE Man!

The history of the Republic of Singapore began when Singapore gained its independence and became a republic following a secession from the Federation of Malaysia on 9 August 1965.

After the separation, the fledgling nation had to become self-sufficient, and faced problems including mass unemployment, housing shortages and lack of land and natural resources such as petroleum.

During Lee Kuan Yew’s term as prime minister from 1959 to 1990, his administration curbed unemployment, raised the standard of living and implemented a large-scale public housing programme. The country economic infrastructure was developed, the threat of racial tension was eliminated and an independent national defence system was created. Singapore evolved from a developing nation to first world status towards the end of the 20th century.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew is the Minister Mentor now, age 85, still very influential in the decisions made by the government. So he’s the man! Although my father’s and grandfather’s generation NEVER liked him, because they could not accept the drastic changes he made to Singapore then, but hey, look at Singapore now, if he wasn’t such a ‘tyrant’ (that’s what the older generation call him), there won’t be the Singapore today!

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Phew! I’m done! *laugh* Erin, don’t get me wrong, I love to answer questions, if there is such a thing called reincarnation (which I don’t believe), I guess I was an answering machine in my previous life. Do you believe it, I actually do love Examination time during my school days! *laugh*

I love requests. Sometimes, as much as I wish to write, I am either lost for words or lost for topic to write on, not that I have nothing to write, rather my daily life is so packed with events and thoughts, I could literally sit in-front of my square box and type 24hours with cobwebs all over me, except on my fingers, which were the only moving part of my body…ok enough of my blabbling… so requests helps me to decide what to write type on.

Got a request from Erin, someone whom I fell in love with at her first post, she is a fantastic writer, so go on and pop by her site to check out this great mommy of two. Ok, Erin would like to know what it is like to be from Singapore?

Hey Singaporeans, back me up if you agree whatever that I’m saying ok. If you don’t like what I say, you can disagree too, but don’t say I’m wrong, ‘cos its MY VIEW; in opinions, there’s never right or wrong, isn’t it?

Ok, here goes….Singapore to me is definitely a fine country. You get fine for almost anything and everything. From selling of chewing gums to spitting on the floor to stopping the Mass Rapid Transit Train for the wrong reason, you get big fines that ranges from S$500 to S$5000.

Other laws in Singapore which made people from other parts of the globe goes “huh” includes:

• The sale of chewing gum is prohibited.

• Pornography is illegal.

• As it is considered pornographic, you may not walk around your home nude.

• Failure to flush a public toilet after use may result in very hefty fines.

• It is considered an offense to enter the country with cigarettes.

• Smoking is illegal inside all air-conditioned public places.

• There is a division for smokers and non-smokers at non air-conditioned eating places.

• Murderers receive the death penalty.

• Drug traffickers are sentence to death.

• If you are convicted of littering three times, you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a bib on saying, “I am a litterer.”

Even though such rules may seem absurd to many non-Singaporeans, but they are the bits and pieces that complete this beautiful country. Singapore IS the cleanest city and country in the world.

Singapore-The Cleanest City-Country In The World

Another great thing I like living here is the level of safety. Its an offense to own a gun unless you are from the Police Force. I’ve heard many stories over the news in other countries, about people being killed under the bullet. Its scary.

All thanks to the very tight security level at the airport and the harbour and almost every other corner in this small dot on the globe, you can walk on the streets late at night without much to worry about.

I grew up in this multi-racial country, dominated by 3 main groups, going from biggest group, the Chinese, the Malays and the Indians. So often I take this fact for granted. Only news on racial dis-harmony in other countries could remind me of how blessed I am to be here in Singapore.

And despite our skin colour differences, our language differences and our differences in religion, we could still hold hands and sing the National Anthem year after year on National Day. Since the Government made English the Must-Learn language in all schools over here, communication between all of us is never a problem.

You can have the church, the Hindu temple, the Buddhist temple and the Muslim Mosque, side by side without riots happening. *laugh* talking about riots. There could never be a chance for riots to happen in Singapore because you need to APPLY to have riot and obviously your application will never be approved *laugh*. If no application form was submitted, you’ve got to prepare yourself for a vacation behind bars.

But these days, Singapore is opening its doors even wider to outside talents. When you have a space so limited with not much natural resources, literally none; people is the country’s only resource she can bang on.

So more and more people from other nationality like Americans, Australians, Japanese, Europeans, Chinese from China (they are completely different from us) and more Indians from India migrating over here to add on to the variety of this harmonous country.

To push the point further, the Government over here give out $$$ to encourage the citizens to produce more babies as its moving into the aging population. The Scheme benefits the 1st to the 4th child. Parents will get a cash gift of $3,000 each for their 1st and 2nd child and $6,000 each for their 3rd and 4th child.

Their 2nd to 4th children will also enjoy government contributions in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching for the amount of savings the parent contribute to their child’s Children Development Account (CDA).

The parents can save in the CDA any time until 31 December in the year the child turns 6 years of age. The savings will be matched up to the cap of $6,000 for the 2nd child and $12,000 each for the 3rd and 4th child. Good? Although its never enough, but I’ve not heard of such generousity in any other country. Correct me if I’m wrong.

We live in what some say, pigeon holes. High rise flats known as HDB. Hanging clothes out on bamboo sticks and sticking them in the holes punched into the wall. Higher HDB are already on its way, reaching for the sky, with so many more people coming over to this tiny land, the only way to accommodate is to go up and not expand on sideways.

The ‘aiya’ part about Singapore (for me) is the absence of the four seasons. The only thing that falls from the sky is the rain and dead leaves. The weather in Singapore is often predictably unpredictable. You get the sunshine (for sure), the rain and the wind. That’s all. But its also highly possible that you get all 3 at the same time! It can be so sunny you could hardly open your eyes and yet raining at the same time…Hummmm….

One thing that makes me want to keep staying here is the FOOD! Whatever you want, you can find it here. Food from all over the world are in restaurants all over the island.

But for me, it’s the food at the coffeeshops, the hawker centres……mmmm…yum! Some of my favourites(oh no its a super long list, I’ll just list top 10),

• Pig organ soup,

• Rojak (you throw whatever fruits and vege and beancurd, mix it up with black sweet sauce and grinded peanuts),

• BBQ Stingray with chilli paste dipped in sour sauce,

• Chicken-Roast Pork-Roast Duck Rice,

• Pork Ribs Soup,

• Laksa (super spicy rice noodles),

• Chilli Crabs (Allan cook this every now and then, wrote a post on it sometime back, go here to see what it looks like),

• Popiah (vege wrapped in a super thin sheet made from flour),

• Roti Prata (flour patty)

• Beef Hor fun (flat, fat noodle fried till brownish with gravy)

But its getting tough over here too. Because Singapore is so well-established, with so many awards on hand, its a challenge to stay strong to continue to be at the top. So the standard of living is getting higher by the day. Prices of things are going up. Everything that has a price tag on it is always changing, hitting the ‘expensive’ mark.

So many may not be able to survive if they don’t upgrade themselves….its going to be tough…..

Yup! That’s how I feel to be a Singaporean living in Singapore all my 30 years. Seriously, I love it here! So, did you like my description of Singapore?