BlogTV Experience

By George Yeo

1. Last night’s recording of BlogTV’s ‘Big Boys Blogging’ was fun. The Flying Dutchman (‘call me FD, everyone does’) and Xue Ling (‘please call me Ling’) were great hosts, putting me at ease. Since we were at Brewerkz, I ordered a light beer. Gayle recommended ‘golden ale’. She had hardly completed her sentence before someone asked if she was old enough to drink. Gayle and Bernard had appeared on BlogTV before and were very comfortable on the bar stools. I am not used to having my feet hanging in mid-air and took a while getting into a comfy position. But, once the conversation started, time just flew by. Ephraim was supposed to put in a cameo appearance on 3G phone but it became only a voice conversation because the 3G connection did not come through.

Welcome 2007

By George Yeo

1. The economy has picked up. On New Year’s Eve, I took my family to eat at the East Coast Park. The eating places were packed. During the Countdown at Hougang Mall and Hougang Central, the crowds were huge and in good cheer. The organisers had distributed free whistles which made so much noise, I had to shield my ears occasionally. The poor MC tried to ‘instruct’ the crowd when to blow the whistles but to no avail. People were having fun and enjoying themselves. Gay Chee, Jimmy Gan and others did a wonderful job organising our first countdown.

2. PM announced that our GDP grew 7.7%. This was much more than we expected at the beginning of the year. Singapore future prospects are good. The two IRs have given an additional boost to the economy. Of course, we can never be sure about the global economy. So long as the US economy hold up, we should be OK. Anyway, we should make hay while the sun shines. I think it is the sense of hopefulness that explains the New Year’s eve celebrations all over Singapore. But we must always have a care for those who are not doing well. They need helping hands and we should be willing to offer ours. The Government will do its share but there is nothing like help freely given our of generosity and love.

New Year Resolutions

January 02, 2007

New Year Resolutions

1. Although we don’t always carry out our New Year resolutions, we must still make them. It is a sign of hope that tomorrow can be better than today, that we can improve ourselves. In the last few weeks, I have been talking to my wife and kids about our individual resolutions. It is important to encourage one another.

2. I remember the prayer that we should change what we can, accept what we cannot and have the wisdom to know the difference. You can’t turn this into a computer algorithm. Wisdom is what makes us human and spiritual.

3. Last week, my wife and I visited a friend who is stricken with advanced cancer. She was in pain but serene, not giving up on the chance of a cure, but willing to accept whatever may happen. We prayed for her and prayed for ourselves.

4. Last year was a busy year for me. There is so much to do, so much that can be done, but never enough time to do them all. I’ve resolved to be a better husband, father, colleague, friend, minister, MP, … Don’t laugh. Cheer me on and I’ll cheer you on.

George Yeo

Changes in China

By Josephine Teo

In 1996 and 1997 when my husband and I lived in Suzhou, China, shopping for suitable work-wear was not easy and television programmes were not particularly entertaining.  Last week, while on a short break in Kunming, I encountered the fast-changing face of China.

A sparkling shopping centre within 100m walking distance from our hotel offered a wide range of ladies’ fashion.  It was winter and so most of the offerings would not be suitable for use back in Singapore.  Still, window-shopping proved to be a pleasant experience.  Shop-fronts were attractive.  Pieces has been carefully selected and displayed.  Lighting and music had been adjusted to suit the theme and target customers.  Impressively, many (not all) of the retail assistants had strong product knowledge and good sales techniques.

An Unbelievable Bargain

By George Yeo

1. I have been trying out a new phone Bee Lan’s friend bought for me from Shenzhen. It is very attractive, slim, with the keys arranged in a circle, looking like an I-Pod, with a function wheel in the middle. Measuring 5cm by 10cm, it is about 8mm thick and has a camera which takes pictures of 2 Mega Pixel quality and can play MP3 and MP4. There is a dictionary built in, Eng-Ch and Ch-Eng, with a menu of input systems. Lots of other interesting features. And all for the price of S$50!

My first 100 days in office

By Mr Zaqy Mohamad

POLITICS has not only changed my life, it has also changed my perspectives and created lasting impressions. They say first impressions last and I share mine through my first 100 days in office – Mr Zaqy Mohamad

THE CONSTITUENCY

I was in a business meeting overseas. My mobile phone buzzed : a phone call that I hoped I’d never receive. A resident, his spouse and four children were stranded outside of their flat. Their HDB flat had been repossessed by a commercial bank. They were now homeless, with only five hours left to nightfall. The family was in distress.

Immediate calls were made to my parliamentary colleagues, Mohamad Maliki Osman and Teo Ser Luck, from the Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports respectively to inform them we needed immediate attention from their agencies.

Coordinated out of our PAP branch, we had the Residents’ Committee on the ground within the hour, together with government officials, to work out various options. By nightfall, we had a resolution: the family had a place to stay and a long-term housing solution was in the works. This experience manifested a fear I had for residents in the constituency.On the surface, we had new estates that were eight to 16 years old. Most residents were in the middle income group, residing in 4-room, 5-room, executive flats and condominiums. The ward seemed “peaceful” for a new MP to learn the ropes.

[A Bhora Wedding] 1. My wife and kids accompani…

By George Yeo

[A Bhora Wedding]
1. My wife and kids accompanied me for the wedding celebration of a Dawoodi Bhora couple at the Bhora Mosque at Hill Street. The bride is the daughter of Mrs Basrai, an RC member from Lengkong Tiga, Kampong Kembangan. My wife and I knew the bride since she was a little girl. For dinner, the men and women ate separately. For all of us, eating from a communal dish with our fingers while sitting with knees bent was a very interesting experience. The food was yummy. I and my sons put on the Bhora cap while my wife and daughter wore shawls.

2. The Bhoras are a particularly talented community. The great majority are engaged in business. The community in Singapore numbers less than a thousand but many of its members are very successful. They are Shiites but different from the twelfers of Iran and Lebanon. They are in fact twenty-firsters, meaning that there were 21 Imams, ending with the last one going into hiding. Their headquarters is in Surat in the state of Gujerat. They were originally from Yemen with links going back to the Fatimids who established Al Azhar University in Cairo a thousand years ago.

3. Not many Singaporeans are familiar with the Bhoras but they are one of a number of small communities in Singapore who contribute greatly to our country particularly in the economic field including the Jews, Parsees, Sindhis, Chettiars, Jains, Khojas and Marwaris. Because each of these communities has a thriving international diaspora, they source their brides and groom worldwide. In Mrs Bhasrai’s case, the groom is from Sri Lanka where there is a sizeable Bhora community. They were the original worldwide web.

4. The Singapore fabric is strong and valuable precisely because there are many threads woven into it which are unique and special. The important thing is to ensure that they are well knotted here so that we stay together despite the occasional stresses pulling the fabric in different directions. Like a good Persian carpet, the more knots per inch, the better.

[Christmas] 1. It is interesting how Christmas …

By George Yeo

1. It is interesting how Christmas has become a festive occasion for everyone, not just Christians. Whether it is China, Vietnam or Indonesia, Christmas is being celebrated on a growing scale. An important reason is commercial of course. Some Christians object to Christmas being commercialised but I think this is too narrow a view.

2. There is a parallel with Chinese New Year and Deepavali. For many Chinese, there is a religious aspect to Chinese New Year which calls for burning of joss and visits to the temple. But there is a cultural aspect which is not religious at all. It is the same with Deepavali, the festival of light, which is both a religious and a cultural celebration. I believe Christmas is becoming the same. Still, it seems odd that Christmas decorations should become increasingly commonplace in Chinese cities. But then China has become a major supplier of the objects and decorations used during Deepavali (like the oil lamps) and the Muslim Id (like twinkling lights and lanterns).

3. I attended Christmas Midnight Mass at the Carmelite Monastery with my family. This is a family tradition. This year, the Risen Christ Choir sang the hymns and carols. The Carmelite nuns dedicate themselves to a life of prayer. They are a contemplative order and do not leave the monastery except when they need to see a doctor or vote at elections. There is always some disappointment when the constituency is uncontested because they don’t get to come out to vote. (Opposition: please note.) They see visitors only on special occasions (like Christmas Eve) but separated by bars.

4. To all readers of Ephraim’s and Harold’s blogsites: Merry Christmas!

[The Streets of Saigon] 1. The din of road traf…

By George Yeo

[The Streets of Saigon]
1. The din of road traffic continued throughout the night right through the wee hours of the morning. Millions of motor cycles and scooters crowd the roads of the city. Although there are terrible accidents every day, the ability of riders and car drivers to avoid colliding into each other was quite amazing to watch. For Singaporeans used to following rules and regulations, crossing even a minor road in Ho Chi Minh City is a stressful experience.

2. The flow of traffic is the lifeblood of the Vietnamese economy. Everyone is rushing somewhere. You can sense the raw vitality of the Vietnamese eager to make up for lost time. The tour guide said, quite merrily, that everything is capitalist now, and everything has to be paid for.

3. Everywhere we went, we met Singaporeans. Many were on group tours and happy to greet us. At the roadside pasar malam, we took photographs. A poor old lady who was selling fruits shooed us away when we stood too long posing in front of her baskets. Fake goods were easily available at ridiculously low prices.

4. Singaporeans feel rich shopping in places like Vietnam. At the hawker stall, a generous bowl of pho (rice noodles) costs one Sing dollar. As Lim Swee Say said, it is best to spend money earned in Singapore outside Singapore. The cost of living in Singapore is relatively higher principally because our labour and land costs are higher. If the opposite were the case, if our labour and land costs were low, then we would be doing not well, but badly. Because economic growth has benefited the majority of Singaporeans, we travel overseas in large numbers. I marvel at the amount of money our tourists spend overseas. At the dinner on board a cruise boat, almost all the diners were Singaporean.

Singapore History Musuem

By George Yeo

1. My kids were not exactly enthusiastic when I said I was taking them to the new SHM after lunch today. Museums have this effect on many people. Happily, it turned out to be a much more interesting experience. The renovation was well done. The new wing at the back provides large flexible spaces for events and exhibitions. Once you enter through the main entrance of the old wing, the fun exhibits engage young people. Ahead of you is a granite screen wall in the new wing embedded with LEDs.

2. The Singapore history exhibit makes use of a ‘companion’ which is a key pad with display and earphones enabling the visitor to move at his own pace and time. The floors and exhibits are numbered. All you have to do is type in the number to get the explanations. Chor Lin, Director of SHM, told me that teenagers love the companion. In the multi-media age, information, education and entertainment go together. When MITA was formed in 1990, the mission statement incorporated what Lord Reith once laid down for the BBC: to inform, educate and entertain. With new technology, these three aspects can be woven together in a way not possible before. The ability to make education entertaining is the key to success in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. It is wonderful to see our museums making full use of the new technologies.

3. Our museums have improved beyond recognition in the last 15 years. For many years, Singaporeans associated the National Museum with the old whale bones hung from the ceiling. Step by step, we built up our expertise and converted old heritage buildings into museums – the old SJI into the Art Museum, Tao Nan School and Empress Place into the Asian Civilizations Museum, and now, the old Raffles Museum into the new Singapore History Museum. In the coming years, the old City Hall and Supreme Court buildings will also become museums. We have also established the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall at Wanqingyuan, the Malay Heritage Centre at Istana Kg Glam and the Chinese Heritage Centre at the old Nantah Admin Block. This is a work of generations. Slowly but surely, we are recovering and rediscovering our diverse heritage. All this strengthens our sense of self and prepares us for an exciting future, with Singapore once again an important node in a re emergent Asia.

George Yeo