A Different Side of Singapore

Today while sitting on a bus on my way to school, I saw an old lady rummaging through a dustbin for discarded cans in a bus-stop. Because she wasn't shabbily dressed, I couldn't decide whether she had to do that for a living or simply did that out of habit. Nevertheless the scene left an impression on me: The poor do exist in Singapore.

Later while I was having lunch at hawker center, a disshevelled man in his 50s suddenly sat down on the same table as me and wolfed down the leftover noodles left among the uncollected bowls and plates. To say that I was astonished would be an understatement. I had to pretend that everything was normal and tried to avoid looking at the guy. After finishing the noodles, he went to the public toilet without paying ten cents. I deduced that the people in charge of the public toilet at that hawker center should be familiar with him and hence the free entry. After using the toilet he went around selling tissue papers to other people on other tables.

Before I finished my meal, there was another old lady walking around hawking tissue paper as well as a beggar with a missing left hand asking for alms. All these happened within the short 20 minutes I was at the hawker center. Is it restricted to my particular neighborhood or these sights are more common around Singapore nowadays? Beneath our prosperous veneer, many Singaporeans are actually struggling to make ends meet. And these people are also the least likely to know about any assistance available.

How can we help these people? I believe that there are some who prefer working to receiving any aid. Beside this, many Singaporeans have lost faith in charity organizations since the sagas concerning NKF and Ren Ci. The people who require most assistance are the worst afflicted from the reduced generosity of the public. Is the state doing enough then? Probably not enough in my opinion.

Parcel Tracing Adventure

Prior to leaving Sabanci University in June, I shipped something back to Singapore through the communication center in school.

The parcel contained my jacket, two fleeces, Turkish textbook and an erbu piece (Turkish water painting).

After three months, there was still no sign of it. So I contacted Singpost.

When they asked me for the tracing number, I took out my receipt. Then I realized that I was screwed.
















The guy at communication center created a punch hole which resulted in two digits missing from the tracing number.

FML

(Now I can only hope that they can scan the barcode or something...)

Accomplishments

I accomplished two important things this August.

1) Certified Open Water Diver

2) Pass my class 2B

What's next? Golf?

9 August

The long hiatus was not due to lack of things to write but rather the lack of drive.

I am back in Singapore for a month already and in a week's time school will restart.

Yesterday was Singapore's 44th National Day and there was huge parade as usual.

I don't know whether my exchange experience has made me less patriotic; while Singapore remains a great place to live in, its flaws are more obvious to me after living a while overseas.

Then again it's always nice to be back home:)

Will the real Istanbul please stand up?

Today I ventured into the city again; this time I was in Edirnekapi and Fener on the European side.

As it was a Sunday and the weather was good, there were many families out there with their children on the playgrounds as well as in the parks. It is really nice to see the families having fun together and some of the kids are really cute.

The neighborhoods which I was in weren't anywhere as glamorous as the Taksim or Nisantasi and seem to be more working-class. One very interesting phenomenon that I've noticed is that more than half of the women wear headscarves in these neighborhoods.

Contrast with the glitzy Taksim where headscarves are more often the exception, it made me wonder which is the real Istanbul. Very different lifestyles exist in the city; how do they co-exist together? There are too much differences between different strata of the society in terms of values; I think that a violent clash is a plausibility.

As I read from one of the exchange feedback forms, private university cannot represent Istanbul and Istanbul cannot represent the whole of Turkey. However I still think that there is great hope for the country. It has a really young population and it buzzes with the kind of energy which is only generated by the presence of so many young people.

Well this is just my two cents' worth; there are many things which I don't know yet and I really hope that I can get to know this country better.

Mega-entry

It's been a month since I've arrived and Turkey's been an amazing country. Perhaps I'll share on what I've done in Istanbul so far.

Settling in

Accommodation was a problem as I was given a double room instead of a quad-share. I stayed in the double room for more than a week before my buddy managed to speak to the dorm lady to give me a change of room. I got my spectacles replaced at a reasonable rate all by myself; something that I was quite proud of.

My roommates are quite friendly and can speak English rather well. So not much communication problems for me so far. The exchange students are friendly; most of them are from Europe (France, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Greece etc) and there are also a significant number from Palestine. It was interesting and fun talking and learning about different countries and cultures.

Academic

I will be taking five courses: Basic Turkish, Entrepreneurship, Comparative Political Systems, NGO Governance and International Marketing.

My favorite subject is Basic Turkish. I would say that it's quite fun but there's a lot of things to memorize. However it will be good for me to get around the country. The instructor is great as well and her lesson isn't dry at all.

The professors teaching the political science modules speak good English as one is US-trained and the other did his doctorate in UK. Both their resumes are pretty impressive; one in fact was an assistant Mayor of Ankara back in the 80s. Some of the concepts are quite dry though and there are plenty of readings to worry about.

Business modules are a mixed bag; it is the first term for the professor teaching Entrepreneurship and I find it hard to keep awake most times. There is really a significant difference in the level of English proficiency between a Turkish-trained and a UK/US-trained academic. I do not want to comment on his capability only three weeks into the semester and I hope that the lessons will improve soon.

International Marketing is taught by a network professor from the States. Originally from Turkey, he spent almost all of his adult life in the States so language wasn't a problem. So far it's been more like International Economics; many of the things he covered are not exactly new to me but economics has never been my favorite subject.

Travelling

I had the opportunities to get around Istanbul for quite a bit; visited many of the touristy places like Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Taksim etc. Istanbul is truly one of the cities which take your breath away; full of history and yet full of energy. I don't think that one will ever get bored staying in such a wonderful city.

Outside of Istanbul, I've gone skiing in Uludag, near Bursa as well as the capital in Ankara. Bursa is only 3 hours away and Uludag is a further hour away and skiing is relatively cheap in Turkey as compared to other parts of Europe. The place was crowded both times I were there but it was not a bad experience. Bursa is a nice city with some nice sights such as Ulu Camii and is definitely not a bad place to spend the weekend. Its most famous food, Iskender Kebab, is a must-try for any visitor to Bursa.

Although Ankara is the capital, it pales in comparison to Istanbul. There are several nice sights such as Citadel and Museum of Anatolian Civilizations but one can really feel the difference between its dullness and Istanbul's vitality. Not a bad place to stop by though enroute to Capadoccia or Safranbolu.

More trips to come; so little time yet so many places to see. Turkey is indeed a wonderful tourist destination.

Food

Turkish eat a lot of bread; I think that they consume the most bread per capita in the world. There will be bread in every meal. The food here is not very cheap; the cheapest sandwich in town is probably around 3 liras; a meal in an mid-range restaurant cost roughly between 8-20 liras. Turks eat a lot of meat as well; it was really quite a big change from Sikkim.

The school has several dining options which are all not too cheap. The dining hall serves decent food and everyday there is an option of a meal at 4.75 liras (consists of soup, staple and meat). There are also various cafes which sell the usual sandwiches and stuff. Of course there's a self-catering option; a supermarket operates on campus where students can do their groceries-shopping.

Transport

The transport here isn't cheap either; there are usually a lot of transfers and every trip cost 1.30 liras regardless of the length. There is discount on transfers using Akbil which makes it a good investment.

The school is located on the eastern edge of Istanbul province; the trip to Taksim takes roughly an hour in good traffic. The school subcontracts out the shuttle service to a private company and it charges accordingly. The two most frequently-used shuttle is those to Taksim and Kadikoy. There are also dolmushes operating outside the school; I think that it will probably take several hours to reach town on them.

That's all for now... Will try to update more often but no guarantee here.

Pissed

Barely into the fourth day of my stay in Turkey, drama began for me.

The housekeeping threw my things away while I was at the orientation.

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaver, contact lens holder, spectacles and socks.

The spectacles is especially serious; without it I'll be handicapped.

Now I'll have to fork out money to get it replaced.

I'm pissed but oh well.

Life definitely isn't a bed of roses.