asian reporter trisha takanawa waves good bye

poligamy was quite common among chinese men (especially when male:female ratio was 10:1) but it was outlawed in 60s-70s. interestingly, only new registrations of marriages beyond the first one were considered illegal. you're not a criminal if you were lucky to settle it beforehand.

before 60s-70s street hawkers used to walk around the streets and produce tok tok sound with two bamboo sticks, thus announcing the arrival of food (differing rythms for different type). sort of delivery service. nope, hawkers should be clustered into food courts to ensure hygiene.

also, before the war, a third of chinese men were addicted to opium but this chasing of a dragon is also considered illegal nowadays (yes yes, you're executed for any drug abuse).

all the mess is cleared and now singapore is sad. 

long quees near the lottery stands every week are sad. the religion of 5cs (cash+creditcard+car+condo+countryclub+(coffin)) is sad. living life in advance, kiasu, is sad. being proud of it as well.

singapore looks like the worst futuristic dream. it's sad to leave it though.

asian reporter trisha takanawa visits singapore's museums

to make up for its otherwise rather infamous sighs, singapore invested quite a chunck into its museums and it amazes how a country that has no rich history can make it attractive for outsiders.

let's take national museum (although asian civilization museum is probably more exciting). it's divided into four mediums - through photography it tells the development of family relationships, through fashion - female emancipation, film exposes to entertainment while food gives some history on the street life. you can literally spend hours playing with all multimedia installed, scenting different spices or listening to the best of singaporan rockenroll of the 60s.

although the history writen by any (authoritarian) country is forged, singapore manages not to fall into the realms of naked propaganda. well, except for the fact that the recent decades are put under 'reaching prosperity' headline. and although you feel that there is not so much content, you leave museums impressed.

on the other side of the bridge, historical malay capital melaka hosts a daily sound and light show. let's first read the description from a flyer that some malaysians gave me out in the street:

'As you are well aware, the Melaka Light and Sound Spectacle, which is located in the Melaka Heritage Complex in Banda Hilir, is the only show of its kind in Southeast Asia. It takes audience on a journey down memory lane covering Melaka's 600-year history from its origin under the famed Melaka tree right through to Malaysia's Independence. All this is done via a mesmerizing interplay of multi-coloured lights and crystal clear sound. The Show has enchaned the hearts of hundreds of thousands of local and foreign audience since it was opened in 1998'.

ok, the sound might have been crystal clear but cd went on a loop a couple of times which meant a few locals running around trying to fix and the whole foreign audience laughing. i don't know who wrote the script for the 'journey down memory lane' but i took a good nap between sixteenth and twentieth centuries. and then there is this security guy helplessly trying to convince the locals not to cross the square where the multi-coloured lights project.

i am in favour of nice form over a messy content.

asian reporter trisha takanawa reports from singaporan streets

ever wished to speak singlish?

don't spare too much energy on your language, appreciate when you can save a few calories by cutting the last consonants of the words. randomize words in the sentence - why bother.

abbreviate anything possible. one of my favourite singlish words is q. it seems i wasn't the only one who never knew how to spell queue (thanks, spell check).

but don't forget to add extra -lah to the end of the sentence to make up for all the abbreviations and lost consonants. or -mah if you're really sure in what you say.

well, more singlish grammar as always, in wiki, but at least after you q up for your dinner you should manage to give an answer to 'ri or veggie lah?'

asian correspondent trisha takanawa explores the limits of the nanny state

'at a festival it's OK to smile at strangers or talk to your neigbours'. although this quote comes from a brit, it's so singaporan to put it as the opening words for the programme of the beach music festival here. you are explicitly told what behaviour is permited. smiling is granted, it seems.

or if you look too gay on the stage and make an ironic comment that you'll do a song 'about how you love singapore', it might well be your last tune, 15 minutes short of 40 mins gig time.

with the controlled freedom, zookout 2007 didn't look as the music festival at all, very clean and tidy, everyone from they-say-20000 behaving well. it was more like a party in the disneyland rather than the sex, drugs and rockenroll type of night.

the line up was alright though.
smiling asian girls in bikinis even better.

trisha takanawa has a quick snapshot from the street

all blogs on singapore should include at least one post on the fines. and preferably on the fines for the public consumption of  durians (the stinky stinky fruits, very favoured among singaporans).  so, here's my go:

asian correspondent trisha takanawa brings a holiday story from viet nam

saigon (or hcmc if you are already used to singaporan/malay habbit of abbreviating all city names) is busy with scooters (and pedestrians crossing the street are largely ignored) and lonely planet backpackers (and so over a breakfast five street vendors would offer you a pirated version of kerouac and salinger).

da nang (we took a flight to central viet nam) is boring and even its most exciting sight – a temple of a sect that unites christianity, islam, confucianism, buddhism and taoism, is oh well.

but hoi an (30km away from da nang) has easily become one of my favourite towns. food is second to none (and actually makes singaporan or malay cuisine miserable). springrolls! fried won tang! shrimp white roses! banana pancakes!

marble mountains with buddhist pagodas are nearby as well as the remains of mi son, the 4th century temple (guess who bombed it forty years ago), and the beach at the south china sea.

hoi an is also full of shops that sell tailor made clothes and for just a couple of euros, you can get literally any haute couture design, made for your measurements, using any fabric you can imagine.

finally, it’s just a small cosy town with a busy market, narrow streets and relaxing river. am i getting too lonely planetish here?

asian reporter trisha takanawa is promoting no black tie

i have to make this recommendation. no black tie bar in KL is a nice jazz venue, especially if you come across someone like marina xavier (which admitedly sounds better live than on the record). comparetive to other forms of entertainment in KL, jazz might get slightly expensive but hey good music is priceless, isn't it?

asian correspondent trisha takanawa brings a special report on flags

malays have the strongest fetish of their national flag, i have ever seen. every single flat (or even a shelter in orang asli village) has a need to raise one and you can unconsciously learn every detail (e.g. whether it has the same number of stripes as US flag) after a single day in the country. on the contrary, having spent over a month in singapore, i still had to do a quick check before writing this post what are the colours of the respective singaporan symbol.

uniting symbols are probably more important in a federal (and multinational) country, so there might be some government involvement in spreading them in malaysia, although to my knowledge there are none. singapore, however, bans any public display of foreign flags. so, as they say, you better leave your red crossed shirt at home even in the unlikely event that english squad plays in the singaporan stadium.

also, the asymmetry of flag popularity has nothing to do with the love of the country, given the brain drain from malaysia to singapore. so, maybe it's simply an equilibrium of a collusive game in which many flags produce a beautiful harmony, so although your deviation is possible, contributing to turning your city (and maybe your dull building to begin with) more colourful comes at a little cost. still since 'no flags' is another obvious equilibrium, this doesn't answer how they got into the one with 'many flags' in the first place.

asian reporter trisha takanawa is back to report on branding hairdressers in se asia

toni&guy has probably had a strong influence on branding of malay and singy's hairdressers. you can find thomas & guys, peter & guys and similarly named places all around KL or singapore. it seems that the keywords to convey quality of service (or simply a higher price) is a western (male) name and a reference to mysterious guys, although a quick glance over the window would tell that the hairdressers are exclusively female.

asian reporter trisha takanawa comes back with a short story from KL

with its size, diversity and the world famous skyscrapers, KL is more similar to singapore than to smaller malaysian cities such as melaka or kuching. also, in contrast to the other two malaysian towns (and singapore of course), KL feels slightly more muslim. unfortunately, all mosques are closed for non-muslims while my main drag to KL, islamic arts museum, has also shut its doors for reconstruction (?). it seems that islam becomes more exclusive even in such countries as malaysia. and agressive - government has demolished quite a few chinese and hindu temples recently.