Thursday, October 9th, 2003 – Day 233
I had the best nights sleep for a long time. Maybe because I was up at 3.30am yesterday, maybe the lack of a window hee or maybe no call for prayers. Anyway I had a nice (included in price) breakfast in the hostel. Its quite here but nice. You get melon and scrambed eggs and toast. Then it was off to see Singapore.
Singapore may have traded in its rough-and-ready opium dens and pearl luggers for towers of concrete and glass, and its steamy rickshaw image for hi-tech wizardry, but you can still recapture the colonial era with a gin sling under the languorous ceiling fans at Raffles Hotel. It is this carefully stage-managed combination of Western modernity and treasured Eastern and colonial past that makes Singapore such an accessible slice of Asia.
Lying almost on the equator, Singapore is a thriving city-state that has overcome its dearth of natural resources to become one of the juggernaut economies of Asia. In the crowded streets of Chinatown, fortune tellers, calligraphers and temple worshippers are still a part of everyday life. In Little India, you can buy the best sari material, freshly ground spices or a picture of your favourite Hindu god. In the small shops of Arab St, the cry of the imam can be heard from the nearby Sultan Mosque.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Singapore – Colonial Area (09-10-2003)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Singapore – Colonial Area – Raffles Statue (09-10-2003)
CHINATOWN.
I went to visit Chinatown and Sri Mariamman Temple. I enjoyed the reconstructed Chinatown, even though Singapore is mainly chinnese.
Chinatown is Singapore’s cultural heart and still provides glimpses of the old ways with its numerous temples, decorated terraces and its frantic conglomeration of merchants, shops and activity. Unfortunately much of Chinatown has been torn down and redeveloped over the past 30 years. Faithful restoration by the Urban Redevelopment Authority has saved some parts but it has also posed a new threat, since the restored buildings are now desirable properties commanding high rents, and traditional businesses – such as shops selling incense to temple worshippers, letter writers and chop (stamp) makers – are moving out and a new gentrified Chinatown of fashionable restaurants and expensive shops is taking its place. It’s still a fascinating place to explore though, especially in the early-morning hours when activity is more pronounced.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Singapore – Chinatown (09-10-2003)
Sri Mariamman Temple is the oldest and most important of Singapore’s Hindu religious buildings.
It is dedicated to the goddess Mariamman who is known for her power in curing epidemic illness and diseases. Located in the heart of Chinatown, its ornamental entrance tower or gopuram, has been a landmark to generations of Hindu worshippers and Singapore residents alike. The temple has even given names to the streets flanking it: Temple and Pagoda; to the Chinese, Pagoda Street is known as “Back of the Indian Place of Worship”.
It was an interesting temple. tourist pay a 3 SGD Camera fee.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Singapore – Chinatown – Sri Mariamman Temple (09-10-2003)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Singapore – Chinatown – Sri Mariamman Temple (09-10-2003)
After that i walked to the Thian Hock Keng Temple in Chinatown which is said to be the most interesting in Singapore.
Thian Hock Keng is a fantasy in stone, tiles and wood, with its curved roof, stylized dragons,carved screens and imposing columns. It was built a century ago by Hokkien seamen using special materials imported from China. The entire structure was assembled without nails!!!
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Singapore – Chinatown – Thian Hock Keng Temple (09-10-2003)
Ma Cho Po, goddess of the sea and protector of sailors, presides as the principal deity.
Most of the early Chinese immigrants in Singapore came from provinces in China. Once they were settled here, they built temples as places of worship which also served to foster a sense of belonging among members of their own dialect groups.
One of the first duties of a newly-arrived immigrant was to go to a “joss house” to give thanks from a perilous journey across the China Sea. In 1821,the Hokkiens had established such a “joss house” on the side of the present temple. The grateful immigrants who later became successful businessmen enabled the Hokkien leaders to plan a more ambitious building made of materials imported from China,which combined the functions of both a temple and community centre.
~Joss sticks being burnt to give thanks to the gods.~
Thian Hock Keng is the oldest and most important Hokkien temple in Singapore. Known as the temple of the goddess of the sea and protector of all seamen, the temple contains relics brought from China which are said to be many hundred of years old. The building is supported only on wood poles. Of the two pagodas at either sides of the temple, one is used to contain ancestral tablets.
By 1841, the present building had been completed and housed the first Chinese school,Chong Wen Ke. It also housed a prominent clan association, the Hokkien Huay Kuan from 1840 to 1955. The granite plaque on the entrance records, in letters of red and gold, the names of the contributors to the cost of the temple. Tan Tock Seng was a major donor. His son, Tan Kim Cheng, later became head of the Hokkien Huay Kuan Association. One of his duties was to register Hokkien marriages at his office within temple precincts.
Thian Hock Keng temple was gazetted a national monument on 6th July 1973.
I have decidedd to stay here in Singapore for the Theemidhi (or Thimithi) Festival which is on the 13th.
THEEMIDHI.
Witness the faith, courage and endurance of Hindu devotees at this breathtaking fire-walking ceremony honouring Goddess Draupadi. According to the Indian epic poem Mahabharata, she proved her innocence by walking barefoot on burning coals. With intense concentration, barefooted devotees likewise brave a four-metre bed of red-hot embers – completing the challenge miraculously unscathed. Festival celebrations begin at 2 am at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple; the fire-walking starts at 5.30 am at the Sri Mariamman Temple.
During this festival, a great number of faithful Hindu devotees work thenselves up into a trance. Then they walk over burning ambers. What is so amazing about this is the fact that the devotees’ feet do not have any traces of scars or burns at all after performing the feat. The devotees’ purpose in doing this is to fulfil all their wishes.
I see a bus carrying high school students crashed head-on into a truck on a busy highway, killing at least 50 people.
Police in Banyu Glugur subdistrict said most of the victims burned to death inside the ill-fated bus YPO Transport that was traveling from the resort island of Bali to Yogyakarta.
DID U KNOW………..
-That Singapore only has one main island and 63 tiny islands!
-The number of visitors that come to visit Singapore a year is double the population!
-The biggest fountain in Asia is in Singapore (The Fountain and Wealth).
-Singapore’s airport is rated one of the best airports in the world!
-Singapore is the country where the most number of people wear spectacles!
-Singapore only became independent in 1964
-The 5 stars on the Singapore National Flag represent Progress, Democracy, Peace, Equality and Justice.
-49% of Singapore’s land is used for housing, offices and factories. 2% is used for farms and vegetable fields. The rest of the land is forest, marsh and non-built up places.
It was easy get around on the Metro. I have a 10 SGD card that allows me access without paying for all journeys separately.
I went to the Qantas ofice (found the address on the NET) to change my Singapore to Bangkok flight. I do not want to be in Malaysia for Ramadan (Islamic month of Fasting) which starts October 25th.
RAMADAN.
Islamic month during which Muslims (believers in Islam) fast daily from dawn to sunset as part of an effort towards self-purification and moral excellence. Ramadan is believed to be the month in which the first verses of the Quran (divine Scripture & Final Testament) were revealed by God to Prophet Muhammed between 610 and 633 CE.
Still, i read on one site that Western employers should assign lighter dutie to Muslim staff since the employees are on a fast, they might find it more difficult to handle strenuous tasks. They Worry also that western or non-Muslim hospital workers should be aware that injections and oral medications might break the fast of a sick Muslim patient. Patients should be given the opportunity to decide whether or not their condition exempts them from fasting. That doesnt sound right. Let the atient get sicker or die.
I also went to see the world’s biggest fountain right in the centre of the four skyscrapers and exhibition hall that make up Suntec City, and learn how it was built according to the laws of Chinese geomancy. It had been closed for the lst 3 weeks but will re open tomorrow. Anyway, it seems my four lucky numbers are 1,3,7 and 6. Seems, you get more lucky if you walk around the fountain for TWo hours.
A waste of two hours. Anyway it was 5.00pm and I head abck to Litle India. I went to walk around the festival area again
DEEPAVALI.
Deepavali, the most important date of the Hindu calendar, occurs on one day during October, and in the ethnic quarter of Little India, the festivities last practically for the whole month of October.
Deepavali is the Festival of Lights, and marks the defeat of the evil Narakasura by the Lord Khrishna. All round the world, Hindus celebrate this day as the triumph of light over darkness, and of good over evil. It marks the New Year for Hindu devotees, and is a great time of rejoicing and renewal.
During this time, Little India throbs with evening roadside stalls, booming music and strings of colourful lights. Shoppers throng the streets in search of the perfect sari to wear, or to fill their baskets with Indian foods and spices. Hindu homes are lighted with oil lamps, and offerings of sweetmeats and garlands of jasmine are placed at the family altar.
The streets and temples of Little India are lit up with streamers and fairy lights lining the streets and forming arches and gateways to the night bazaars.The Sri Veeramakaliamman, Sri Vadapathira Kaliammanand and Sri Srinivasa Perumal temples are garlanded in lights as the whole of Serangoon Road glitters to welcome the New Year.
Campbell Lane, meanwhile, takes on the mood of a street carnival for 21 days. The Deepavali Festival Village features stalls offering Indian costumes, jewelry, foods, furniture and arts and craft. Every evening except on Sundays, right up to the even of Deepavali, local and foreign artistes perform South and North Indian songs and dances.
SINGAPORE LAW IS SINGAPORE A REAL DEMOCRACY
I read up on Singapore law. Importing gum cops a $10,000 fine. For years they have been conducting different campaigns which are trying to persuade their beloved citizens that life without queue jumping, rushing and pushing, not to speak about using words excuse me, please and thank you a bit more frequently, would be nicer. Years ago, when long-haired male tourists entering Singapore were either sent straight to the hairdresser, who adjusted the length of their hair properly, or were refused entery into the country. there are posters everywhere promoting GRACIOUSNES. For example, giving up your seat for people, saying thank you, smiling etc. They have stiff fines for smoking inside building, eating in the metro, dropping garbage. If you are caught with more than 15 grams of heroin or more than 500 grams of marihuana at the border, you won’t escape the death penalty and no embassy of no country in the world will be able (or willing) to help you. Around 50 people were executed due to drugs possession within the last few years. If you posses smaller quantities, they will throw you into a jail for up to 30 years, and give you up to 15 notoriously painful cane strokes. more information here. Still, as people are charged to bring cars into the city centre, trafiic is VERY light and its easy walk around and cross roads and no pollution. Still you get the urge to cross the roads as there is no traffic but there is a heavy fine if you dont croosss the road at designated crossings.
I heard from a colleague here that you need a permit to speak against the government. We here of the silly laws but accoring to THE US DEPT OF STATE:
The Government has wide powers to limit citizens’ rights and to handicap political opposition. There were a few instances of police abuse of detainees; however, the Government investigates and punishes those found guilty, and the media fully cover allegations of mistreatment. Caning, in addition to imprisonment, is a routine punishment for numerous offenses. The Government continues to rely on preventive detention to deal with espionage, terrorism, organized crime, and narcotics. The authorities sometimes infringe on citizens’ privacy rights. The Government continues to restrict freedom of speech and the press significantly and to limit other civil and political rights. Government pressure to conform results in the practice of self-censorship among journalists. Government leaders historically have utilized court proceedings, in particular defamation suits, against political opponents and critics.
The entire media is controlled by the government. Amnesty said in its annual report for 2003 that the city-state had one of the highest execution rates in the world, relative to its population of about 4.2 million people. Basically. Amnesty further accused Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party of maintaining its iron grip on power by imposing control.
Lots more anti-government stuff here. Interesting stuff that I knew little of. When i though of here, it was the clean streets, the nice airport and not Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee has been ruling Singapore since 1959 when he first became the prime minister. His dictatorial grip on society remains to this day. A good article here.
LIGHTER TOPICS
Back to lighter topics. I should have mentioned that i did visit one of Singapore tourist offices todat. They are fully stocked with information about every attraction and district. They are too good, asking you every two minutes whether you needed anything. They then sit you down on a couch and bombard you with information and maps. good though.
On another note, Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called “Ghettopoly” that has “playas” acting like pimps and game cards reading, “You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50