Days 1 & 2: Continued

Just a quick snapshot of day two:

We started with a guest lecture by Dr. Wong, who has lived all over the world and who gave us some great insight on the politics and society of Singapore. It was interesting to hear about how the government is set up. The government owns EVERYTHING. Bus lines, taxi companies, and airports, are a few items at the top of the list. The whole place is designed as a business, and it runs with maximum efficiency. The idea seems impossible to me, because I am so used to a democratic government. But it seems to work well for the most part. The one thing I will say is that Singapore is beautiful, clean, efficient, and highly regulated. There isn't that much land here, so the government owns most of it and leases it to the people. They have the power to take the land that they don't own in an expression of extreme imminent domain. Taxi drivers must have lots of cameras on their cars because in the case that they get in an accident they are assumed to be at fault unless they can prove otherwise. Two accidents for any driver would mean the loss of a driver's license. The average person doesn't seem quite as free, at least in the American sense of the word. 

We toured the Paranakan museum yesterday, and then headed to the SIngapore Art museum. For dinner we went to Chinatown to a traditional dinner where we had salted egg and fried noodles. It was pretty typical of what I have had in San Francisco's Chinatown, except for the salted egg. I am not sure if it was hardboiled or preserved with salt, but it was potent. I had to cut it up into really tiny pieces and mix it in with the rest of my food because it was SO SALTY. 

For dessert, we went to the very touristy section of Chinatown. As we sat down at a Thai restaurant on the street, we were passed by a parade of AARP members, cameras flashing, being driven in bicycle carriages. We had a delicious coconut ice cream with raisins and cashews for toppings. 

The cool thing about Singapore is that there is so much diversity here, and it is a completely different kind of diversity than I've ever seen in the United States. One street can have a Hindu Temple, Muslim Mosque, and Baptist Church within earshot of one another. Dr. Wong made an great point that diversity is not just about tolerating one's neighbors, but accepting them and getting to know them as your community. And it's this mindset that makes Singapore work so well. 

Peranakan Museum

My addition to the Singapore Art Museum

Salted Egg