Bangkok Airport - Closed - time for plan!

The People's Alliance for Democracy tactics to close down Bangkok's two main airports are slowly beginning to affect our plans for travelling between Singapore, Thamuang and England. We have sixteen flights booked between now and 4 January and almost all of them involve passing through Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Sue Varna Pume). Thanks to the PAD's demonstrations it looks like the first of those flights, which takes place on Wednesday night, will have to be re-arranged.

Khamma is spending some time in Singapore and the plan was for her to return to the village on Wednesday night. The latest news is that Bangkok airport will not re-open before Tuesday at the earliest, but this is the usual ill founded political optimism and even if the PAD went home today how long do you think it will take to clean up the mess in the airport and get systems running again? It will take a least 48 hours and more like 72 hours to become operational. The protesters have even taken over the control tower and that isn't just a matter of putting the plug back in to the electricity! Passenger safety has to come first. So plan B is for Khamma to stay a little while longer in Singapore.

The next milestone is 12 December when I leave the Singapore project and start my holiday in Thamuang which involves flying to Bangkok and then on to Ubon Ratchathani. I am starting to get the feeling these plans might be affected as well, and this directly affects our plan to return to UK for Christmas.

There is really only one alternative and that is to travel to the UK on the 12 December instead of the 18th. It seems an attractive proposition except I don't get to go up to Owerrrouse and the cost might be a factor as well. It is difficult trying to pre-empt what the situation might be and pleading with the airlines to change the tickets. It also means Khamma wouldn't be back in Thamuang for another six weeks and the family wouldn't too happy about that. It also means I have to look at another plan to get my possessions out of Singapore because some of them were going up to Owerrrouse. But I suppose these are minor consequences at the moment. This is Thailand.

What is the problem in Bangkok? The new middle classes want the government out and they will then replace the democratic process of one man one vote with a selection process that will appoint MPs according to their profession, meaning the rural farmers will not get a look in. It is a return to the old feudal system where the power is the hands of the few. It is an entirely bonkers idea of course but these people are hell bent on usurping the government, which by the way they think is a puppet for the controversial Thaksin. This is the guy the British government effectively kicked out of the UK a couple of weeks ago because he has been found guilty on corruption charges and is on the run from the Thai police.

So you see how complex this situation is; how can you support a party that calls itself democratic but isn't and the other party is one where the 'leader' will be put into jail the moment he sets foot in Thailand. This is Thailand.

The current Prime Minister is in self imposed exile in Chiang Mai about 400 miles from Bangkok. This is a big mistake because he should be where the trouble is and showing leadership and control. I imagine the rural people are starting to ask questions about this.

This is Thailand.

Finally the army and the police are going to have clear this situation up but they are reluctant to make the first move in case they are blamed for the carnage that will surely follow. It is a case of who blinks first! But I think they have already played a major part in allowing the situation to develop. Let me ask a few questions.

1. Why did the police and army allow thousands of people to descend on Suvarnabhumi? The only access is by road and the airport is in the middle of nowhere. Intelligence gathering must have pre-warned them of the PAD plans.
2. Why did they allow the PAD to take over the control tower? Every airport in the world operates in fear of terrorist attack and the most vulnerable part of an airport is the control tower. Why wasn't the plan to protect the tower put into effect?
3. When Suvarnabhumi was taken over wasn't it obvious the other airport at Don Muang would suffer the same fate? DM is the temporary home of the government whilst the Parliament in Bangkok city is under siege. The tactic is obvious, why didn't the army and police pick up on the intelligence and act?
4. Why is the army allowing food and drink supplies to filter through to the protesters in the airports? There are reports of vendors making a killing. Once the protesters are in the confines of the airport it is easy to seal off the entry routes and starve them out.

This is Thailand.

Christmas has arrived in Singapore and so has Khamma!

Big Bird

We thought that putting up Christmas decorations in November was far too early in the UK. The lights in the shopping centres, the endless Musak carols, the cards, the fake Santa; I thought this was unique to UK, until you arrive in Singapore. I think there is a government department behind this because officially on the 3 November Christmas began and it officially ends on 31 January. Three months of peace and goodwill to all men. Is this because of celebrating the birth of Christ in a mixed religious society - no, it is celebrating the spending of the dollar. It is all about an excuse to do more shopping.

Khamma arrived on Thursday night after a long day travelling from Owerrrouse. At the weekend we visited the rather splendid Jurong Bird Park and on Sunday we found the Science Centre and IMAX cinema. So nothing much more than usual touristy things to do, but good all the same.

Digger Bird

Khamma is here for two weeks then goes back to Thamuang, a week later I finish in Singapore and meet up with Khamma in the village for a bit of a break. We then go to England for two weeks arriving on 19 December. Looking forward to seeing you all.

Talking Bird

Theroux's Singapore - The Cityscape

Imaginative design in Singapore

The new Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Cricket Club in the Central Business District

The old Singapore shophouse

Mr Theroux introduces Singapore as 'Little Tinky-Winky Singapore'. An image of Disney and sparkly glitter dropping out of the black equatorial night sky. But he really meant that the city was completely transformed and had a 'tinkered with look', nothing was the same, nothing familiar. The street names are the same but the streets are not in the same place. He sees Singapore as 'a single modernized piece of geography' where the island, city and rural areas are one and the same and its boundary marked by the muddy shores of the land reclamation.

Cities change constantly because that is what they are supposed to do. Manchester's transformation is remarkable, Hong Kong and Shanghai are further examples of cities evolving and adapting to reflect the status of their inhabitants. Many cities cannot make this change so easily because of the infrastructure they are built on, New York is a good example, and in these cases the changes are less obvious. This type of city will change from the inside by recognising they need to change the social infrastructure, the welfare of its people, it's transport policy. Cities that don't change lack colour and life and a good example to compare with Singapore is Toronto. Thirty five years ago Toronto was the Singapore of the west with a high immigrant population, lots of growth and go ahead economy. This was reflected in the CN Tower, the Sears centre, the rapid transit system, the young hard 'get-go' work force. Nothing much has changed; the CN Tower is still there, the bank buildings, City Hall. It has become more drab and dull and even the people seemed to have dropped down a gear.

1. Singapore or where? (Answer at end)

Singapore during the same period took its independence and in the attempt to establish itself as a credible world trade centre started to change its appearance and its soul at the same time. Architecturally appealing buildings replaced the old 'downtown' shophouses to establish the city's raison d'etre; money, and lots of it. This is the sole reason for Singapore's success and the changes made is the price of success. But the sensitivity to change is a leading factor and not all of the Singapore's historic past has been cleared away as Mr Theroux suggests. A short walk away from the CBD (Central Business District) you can relax at Clark's Quay where the old shop houses have been restored into restaurants and bars. Even if this is not your style a short walk in other directions brings you to the heart of China Town or Little India or Bugis which are different areas still retaining a lot of the charm and architecture from the last hundred years or so, and no doubt the trading and markets amongst the residents hasn't changed much either. It doesn't have the bustle of Hong Kong or the intensity of Delhi, but you cannot re-create something that is unique.

Mr Theroux observed that fly overs have replaced narrow lanes, that parks have replaced slums, it is a city of restaurants and department stores. This much is true and change is needed to replace structure that wears out. But I think at this point he is leading to something a bit more subtle. Without doubt Singapore is a nation built of shopping malls. Of course there are malls and designer shops in the centre of every world city, but in Singapore modern shopping malls abound all over the island. This policy has created a new pastime for the Singaporean; shopping at every opportunity, day or night, in the city in the suburbs. He is right in this respect but the inhabitants have to do something with the money they earn in the big offices in the CBD! My friends think the mall culture is Singapore's 'cat walk' where both city and people are desperate to be seen in a showcase. This much is true but again a short distance away you can be immersed in different cultures where the markets and shops reflect less obtrusive styles.

2. Singapore or where?

Singapore is diverse but it is no less conscious of its image than other world cities. I remember looking at the city on the first night of the Grand Prix and thinking what a great job they had done and how much they can look forward to as a result of reinvention since Independence. I think Mr Theroux was too nostalgic and whilst he tells that his time here in the sixties was a heady mix of confrontation with authority you can detect a soft spot for the old town and its atmosphere. There is no future in nostalgia.

Mr Theroux concludes that the effect of living in Singapore's newly transformed landscape has resulted in the Singaporean citizen becoming strange without knowing they are strange. Hmmm! Now that's a different kettle of fish.

3. Singapore or where?

4. Singapore or where?

5. Singapore or where?

Answers:

1. Times Square New York
2. Sears Center Toronto
3. Bangkok
4. Toronto
5. Hong Kong

A very satisfying read indeed!

For the last couple of months I have been reading Paul Theroux's new book 'Ghost Train to the Eastern Star' and I really recommend it if you like perceptive travel writing and a style that creates images. Paul Theroux is an honest writer and on occasions bares his soul to add enticing reasoning about the situations he find himself in. I guess he is just an ordinary bloke but he has a special gift of explaining in just a few words where others, perhaps myself included, will take many more and still fail to make the point or capture the moment.

This book is about his retracing the steps of a train journey he made in the early seventies through Asia and Russia. Although today's political map means that he cannot retrace exactly there are significant sections he travels through again and on his way he re-counts the many differences between then and now. Hardly an original idea but the style and the observations make compelling reading.

There is a large section on his experiences in Singapore and in it he makes a catalogue of observations and comments about how the city has developed and changed, or not, in the thirty years or so since he last visited. I have a high regard for Singapore and I found myself questioning his sentiment, but I also found myself agreeing with some of his comments and I began to question my assumptions. Do I know the Singapore that Mr Theroux describes? Over the next few blogs I will attempt to answer this searching question and hopefully challenge the master of travel literature.

Loi Krathong

What? Loi Krathong is a festival held on the full moon of the twelve month, which is usually November. I know, I know, I know November is the eleventh month, but this is Thailand and it doesn't matter. Settle down and read on! Please!
Wikipedia quotes Loi as to 'float' and Krathong as a 'raft'. So the main part of the festivity is to float your boat, actually this is not far from the modern day interpretation, well at least from what I read.
This year the Loi Krathong day is today; 12 November.
The tradition dates back to the mid 1800's as a mark of respect to honour Buddha with light as he guides the devotees and floating away the raft to represent the letting go of one's grudges, anger and attitude with a view to starting out afresh. Similar I suppose to making New Year's resolutions in the west. The raft is made from banana leaves and is about the size of a large plate. In its centre are fresh flowers surrounding a candle. It is traditional to add finger nail clippings and crop of hair as a representation of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. It is also part of the never ending list of Thai superstitions about creating good luck. Many people go to great lengths to create the Krathong and take enormous pride from displaying their handicraft work. At the call of darkness on the appropriate day the village will congregate at the temple by the banks of the river and light the candles. With reverence and great care the rafts are then released onto the water and no doubt a few of Buddha's scriptures are recited. There may follow a few fireworks and a chat, but generally people then go home.
As you will have no doubt figured out by now I like to indulge in the cultural side of Thai life and I was spurred on exactly twelve months ago by Dave who is a close friend who also has serious ties in Thailand. He actually made a couple of rafts and brought them round to my house in Diggle one Saturday night with a plan to set them free on the local canal. It was all rather surreal and oddly out of character with the surroundings, but it was all right and a bit of fun. But to be honest it was all over a bit too quick. Well at least we went to the pub and thought we had done something a bit different, albeit a little bit eccentric, maybe.
Well it seems the people of Thailand are wondering what to do with their time after their rafts have disappeared round the bend of the river. According to today's Bangkok Post the activities after the Krathong disappeared are aimed at turning the night into romance, eating, drinking and doing what comes naturally. In a reader poll the respondents confided that about 14% of them plan to spend time with their partner, 11% will go out drinking and 5% will have sex. I assume the remaining 70% will go home and tuck themselves up into bed ready for more 'cut rice' in the morning! But there is a serious side to this and the issue is about consumption of alcohol and what happens next and it is giving the authorities some concern.
In the space of one sentence this rather amusing poll turned into a statement that the festivities will change much of Thailand's youth into party animals, and I quote, (they will) 'celebrate the festival with friends in ''improper clothing'' such as tank tops and short pants which make them susceptible to sexual harassment'. Just like every other day of the week then?
But there is more, and the Government minister supposedly in charge of these affairs is concerned that 'young people would have unprotected sex on the night that could land them in trouble from the risk of HIV infection to unwanted pregnancies'. Just like any other night of the week then?

Silly me I thought Thailand was immune from such debauchery.

How's life?

It has been a very busy couple of weeks in Singapore and Thamuang but it looks like all the hard work is beginning to ease a little bit. Firstly in Thamuang the 'cut rice' is almost complete and everybody is now drying the husk in preparation for the milling which will start in a week or so. The rain has been a nuisance during the cutting period and obviously during the drying process. Khamma has cleared the Thai kitchen in Owerrrouse and covered the floor with cut rice in a best effort to get it dry. The yield is about normal but the price on the open market is very poor, as Lloyd commented a week or so ago. We are going to build a 'house for rice' to store it until the price gets better (or if it gets better). So much for a rice crisis about six months ago, and by the way this coincided with oil reaching record levels, but now they can't give the stuff away. Incidentally full marks to my favourite airline Air Asia for axing fuel surcharges from 11 November. Pity I booked about five flights last weekend - I could have saved myself about GBP100. Never mind tirak! Khamma will be just about finished with the 'cut rice' by this time next week which is good news because she is travelling to Singapore for a couple of weeks to stay with me.

As for me, well I don't usually mention work in the blog but I am making an exception today because after months of hard work, late nights and early mornings and all the rest of it, we have a system in the airport that is working really well, and is a success - so far. There are a few more weeks of bedding down but for some folks around Changi airport life will not be quite the same in the future. Enough said. Special thanks to Mike, Darren, Jim, Matthew, Jess and Wati - you know who you are and how hard you have worked for this.

The Nanny State or Common Sense rules?

Before I arrived in Singapore I had little idea of the seemingly endless list of its 'Laws of the Land'. There are bizarre rules about not being able to urinate in lifts, it is illegal to be in possession of chewing gum, there is zero tolerance about dropping litter and not only are the fines hefty, there is the public humiliation of offenders having to pick litter as part of a community service sentance wearing a day-glo vest proclaiming that you are a 'litter offender'. You are required to flush the toilet after using it, you can face deportation if you carry a pocket knife, you face a whipping from the cane if you swear at a female and so it goes on.

When you stop for a moment to consider these rules and you look underneath the surface of Singapore you begin to realise that it is because everybody takes the law so seriously it has become a great place to live. There is no litter, no graffiti, no stray dogs, no chewing gum splodges on the pavement. There are very clean toilets, politeness to everybody that often results in a warm smile and maybe a kind word from a stranger! Of course there is crime like everywhere else, but it is safe. This country is only forty two years old with a high immigrant population and many foreign ethnic groups all managing to live together cheek by colourful jowl. Different faiths, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Taoist. Everybody gets on with their business and I can vouch that even in the deepest back waters of Little India or the alleyways of China Town I have never been eye balled suspiciously, threatened or made to feel unwelcome. In fact it is the opposite.

When I compare this to my home town in England I am perplexed by the chewing gum splodges outside the Spar supermarket, the fly tipping, the offensive graffiti, the smelly public toilets, the litter, the youth shouting offensive expletives, the feeling of being on your guard as you walk down the street past the bus shelter with its under aged drinkers and smokers. Yes we do have similar rules of society in the UK but we don't have the strength of our convictions in handing out the punishment.

This is Singapore's Common Sense and successful approach to managing a diverse multi-racial population. Tolerant whilst encouraging moderate behaviour but ruthless in dealing with the deviation. If you don't like it - tough; punishment then extradition of foreigners, serious correction for the Singaporean. Last week a Singaporean male was jailed for six months for grabbing and kissing the hand of a 19 year old girl he did not know. He was convicted because he had outraged the modesty of the young girl. The law is there so you had better observe it.

But under pinning this 'Common Sense' approach to society is a raft of 'Nanny State' observances. For example in the Bayshore Park hawker centre (cheap eating) you cannot bring in pets or animals, no smoking, no rollerblades, no skate boards, no bicycles. On the buses your senses are invaded by the no eating, no drinking, no durian (a smelly fruit), no smoking, give up your seat to the elderly, the infirm, the pregnant and those with babies. On the train it's the same as the bus but you are also reminded not to carry gas cylinders or inflammable liquid, keep clear of the doors, mind the platform gap, don't jump on the track, don't sit on the wall. Then there are the announcements 'For your safety please stay behind the yellow line', 'report suspicious packages', 'the train arriving at the middle platform is not for boarding!' In the airport its mind the wet floor, beware of 'work in progress', do not study in this facility (school kids prefer to study in the airport rather than the local library!), 'please hold onto the hand rail, the train is approaching'. Is it totally necessary? That is a question from me coming from a society where people do not heed these basic rules; where seats are not willingly given up to the elderly, where kids do play on the railway tracks, where youth is threatening, where litter advertising McDonald's, Burger King or Golden Wonder crisps drifts in the winds of the inner city streets. Where graffiti embarrasses parents, where the state of the toilets on trains are a disgrace. Where people stick two fingers up in the air and tell you where to go. In Singapore these signs and notices are social reminders, they are ubiquitous, they invade your consciousness, but, the result makes it a good place to be. It makes civility.

Through all this Utopian ideology there are a few Singaporean surprises that almost defines their sense of humour. Singapore's shophouses are a great attraction because they are small, each one has character, quaintness. But they were built in a time when Singapore was not a nation unto itself, before the town planner, before the shopping mall. The low roofs and narrow door ways make it an obstacle course to negotiate, and to the absent minded pedestrian missing the sudden step on the narrow pavement can be a painful experience. No such warning signs here as I can testify when last week I fell head first into a shop window managing to break my specs and cut my eye brow. (I would like to thank the several people who came to my assistance as I got back to my feet, gathered my dignity and realised I was getting too old to throw myself around like this, and special thanks to the lovely off duty nurse who patched me up - all Singaporean). Another surprise is the law that makes it illegal to walk around naked in your own home. I'm sure somebody is having a giggle over that one.

But the biggest surprise I can muster is the existance of the Ministry for Appropriate Behaviour. Apparently, according to at least one public notice, this department (is it a quango?) exists to protect Singaporeans from the evils of the outside world, particularly the sins and deprivation of the Internet and satellite television. Take a look at the picture and see for yourself.

When I mentioned this to my Singaporean colleagues I realised that the joke was on me, but with all these Common Sense and the Nanny State guide lines I believed somebody was out there watching out for me. Maybe they are.