jet lag has really kicked in. am sleeping intermittently. not helped by Rosie Fewer ringing me at 4am thinking I was travelling next weekend! As I said not to worry the phone was ringing anyway (old Irish joke!). yesterday was a busy day. met my first aussie and kiwi racists - HFOB you did warn me! - visited China Town twice, went to botanical gardens - very peaceful - and saw range of Singapore accommodation. Am not guaranteeing any of this is in order as mind a bit fuzzed. managed to try out the rooftop pool for an hour or so. met up with a Scouse couple heading for Oz to see children - a growing tale with people I meet - he was an Everton fan so was glorying in the beachball incident! he will be even happier this morning as Liverpool lost again.
decided to go on Singapore tour. coach supposed to be air conditioned. small man at front with battery fan. toured 'high rises' which are where most Singapore residents live. guide vey proudly announced that 90% of Singaporeans owned own flat in high rises. land at a premium. lots reclaimed from the sea in the last forty years or so. further back Singapore - 'lion country' - basically swampland occupied by very few people until the British got their eyes on it - spotted potential of natural harbour - aren't we good at that! problem was that the Dutch had got here first. so in 1819 Sir Stanford Raffles - more of him later - 'bought' the island and its 100 inhabitants from some stoned Dutch sailor who couldn't remeber he sold it the next day so that caused a bit of a row. compromise was that Dutch took Indonesia - more 'hemp' there! Population now 4.5m. Good investment Mr Raffles! stayed British until 1942 when Japanese took it over. Remember the bikes? well Singapore was one of the best defended places onm earth as lopng as you attacked it from the sea. The Japanese of course cycled the length of the Malay peninsula and popped in the back door and Bob's your uncle. British surrendered with hardly a shot fired and paid the price for it in japanese prison camps and on the Burma railway!
the japanese of course had to surrender it back in 1945 when our own Dickie Mountbatted took the surrender on the steps of the Parliament building. we kept it unitl 1963 when we handed it over to Malaya - the residents not happy about this and so went independent in 1965. Guide vey proud to tell us a saga of foreign investors, banned strikes, low wages, market forces and rapid economic growth. government set up Provident pension fund for all workers - took 20% of pay but made employers gicve 20% too. thus able to fund cheap housing and guaranteed pensions. 'Boom' helped by lots of foreign workers. gov very heavy on crime - crushed Chinese gangs ruthlessly. Area now 'low crime does not mean no crime'. I did notice the 'death for drugs' on my landing card. guide proud to say Singapore a very safe place but I did notice the plethora of CCTV and high fences in the wealthy areas. death penalty for kidnapping too.
back to the racist aussies and kiwis. wnet in the evening on a tour of China town, which included a meal. sat with retired Oz couple, retired kiwi couple, and two women from oz - one of whom on way back to have first baby at home. nice conversation until retired Oz lady mentioned she had seen a young woman with twins in Stockport of all places - problem was that one twin white and the other black! up pops her husband with ' it'll come through you know. Like cattle. the strain will come through. not like in aborigines. strain can't come though in abos.' well it was like the flood gates being released. off they went down racist lane. the maoris got it - 'they tatoo their faces you know! it looks filthy!' people with tatoos got it! people with ear and body piercings got it! and then they launched into foreign toilets! the Oz gut was such an expert on the losiness of toilets all over the world that I suggested he write a "Rough Guide' to them. the attempt at humour went down like a tatooed maori with body pierced mixed race twins at a Melbourne beach party. I was still rolling with the punches when the meal suddenly ended and we spilled into the street to catch our Trishaws. glad to say the evening got more surreal but for the right reasons. there were eight of us each in a trishaw powering in convoy through the streets of China Town, and on to the main thoroughfares. one of the trishaws had its own sound system so to the beat of Bony M - "Ra ra Rasputin!' - and Michael Jackson's "beat it" we traversed the city.Great fun! even the racists were smiling - but not at the irony like me!
time to pack for my flight to Darwin. hope to visit raffles Hotel this afternoon - if they let me in!
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