Haircut for 100 Kroner!

Imagine paying 100 Kroner (Aprrox 750 rupees) for a haircut ! In India you will not pay that much for a whole year ! Well in one of the projects based in Copenhagen (Denmark) there was an unoffical item to the travel "checklist" - cut your hair short so that you can survive without a haircut for 2 months !

What a hair-raising experince !

Pack of cards!

My wallet has become heavier after coming to Singapore.. and it has nothing to do with the salary I get for the onsite assignment. Its the cards I have started keeping. In India it was just debit and credit cards. Plus the one than hung round the neck for access.So today I took the inventory and it looked as follows -

1. Nets (debit) card
2. Access card for office
3. EZ link card for Public transport
4. Insurance card if the need for doctor arises
5. Public library card
6. Access card for the housing complex I stay
7. Employment Pass card
8. Credit card (on the wishlist)

My wife keeps two extra membership cards besides the above for her membership of watsons and some other store that i don’t remember the name

Lets go green with electronic annual reports !

The approaching Copenhagen summit on environment will debate one the biggest challenges of the 21st century..environmental degradation. We all know about the stories of low lying areas like Mauritius getting submerged in the sea in the not so distant future.While the Copenhagen summit is not likely to reach any global agreement on emission cuts, individual efforts at using better alternatives will continue to evolve. Solar and Wind energy, more fuel efficient vehicles and machines, control on greenhouse gas emissions, along with the three R’s of reduce, reuse, recycle. In the third world (like India for eg) we automatically recycle a lot.. there is still a market for old newspapers, bottles and milk pouches. In Singapore you no longer get any value for old newspapers and the like, it is too expensive to get the labour to do it.. so any recycling is a conscious effort. for eg - we have three recycle bins placed in each HDB complex for Paper, Plastics and Cans..and its up to us whether to use them or just dump everything in the kitchen chute..That reminds me ..(flashback to India) Its july august last year and my mailbox (the real one not the virtual) is flooded with Company Annual reports. I am a “BIG” investor, and a chela of the big bull, :-) which actually means, like many other investors, I hold small lots in close to 25 companies. As per legal requirements, a company must send out annual reports to all shareholders, so it end up spending anywhere between INR 25 to 250 on a report that it must send out to even those people who hold a single share in the company. Being a Finance guy (who drifted later into a software company), i manage to browse about 10 of them. I am sure many investors have no time to do even that. What a colossal waste of paper !In Singapore now they are thinking of sending CR Roms instead of the printed report. One can browse it on the PC and moreover it can be made more interactive rather than the drab paper copy. Can we have the same in India ?Unlike Singapore, in India the number of investors is huge.. Reliance alone has more than 3 million shareholders..so imagine the amount of shareholder communication it sends.SEBI can make the appropriate regulations so that-

1. Persons holding below a certain number of shares will get the report only in email
2. All shareholders by default get an electronic copy of the report (say CD -rom)
3. Any shareholder interested in a hard copy may write to the company to be provided one free of cost.

Similarly there may be hundreds of other avenues where we can reduce the use of paper, and save trees. Lets be creative in identifying them!Its our choice what state we want to hand over the planet to the next generation. But if each of us starts contributing, it will be only a greener and cleaner one that they inherit. Lets start going green..NOW!

Beautiful botanical gardens

Well a picture says a thousand words.. as these ones from the botanical gardens of Singapore..there is a carnivorous plant too..

From Third World to First : Autobiography of Singapore's legendary leader

One of the advantages of staying close to the office (in India I have been staying around 20 kms away at least) is that you get more time for other activities, like going to the library. Singapore's Library network encompasses several local and regional libraries at various locations on the island. Among the different sections like fiction, travel, management that you find in a typical library is the Singapore collection which houses the history of Singapore, stories and novels by local writers, books on local customs, on Singlish which is the Singaporean corruption of English. Singapore like India was liberated from British rule in the mid twentieth century after WWII and the fall of the British Empire. Practically the entire South and South east Asia became free around the same time, yet we find how different paths led different countries to a different fate. While the rest of Asia was busy in myriad experimentation with socialism and democracy, this island nation was slowly crafting its own destiny.. The book is the story of the vision of the western educated leader from a Peranakan Chinese family, Lee Kuan Yew, and the challenges he faced in realising it in the next thirty years he ruled. It makes an interesting read especially for someone from India, which is grappling with similar problems and seems to be nowhere near to overcoming them. If a small island nation like Singapore with no natural resources can transform itself in a such a short time, then what stops a large country like India with all the men and materials it has to realise its full potential ? The answers could like somewhere in this book. The Chinese entrepreneurial spirit (75% of Singapore's population is of Chinese descent or origin), a strict enforcement of law, commitment in carrying out development programs, a transparent and empowered bureaucracy have all contributed to this roaring success.



When Singapore was thrown out of its union with Malaysia in the early sixties, it had no army of its own and for its food and water it was still dependent on its neighbours. Modern housing was unknown, people stayed in kampungs in huts, corruption was common and unemployment was high. Kuan Yew and his team of educated ministers started out with the basics, a national service to create a functional army, a housing program to create houses and jobs, an open investment climate with strict laws at the same time, a thriving tourist and trading industry ..well the results are here to stay after half a century. Travel, aviation, banking and financial services, refining, logistics, trading, are thriving in Singapore today.

The book also gives anecdotes about Kuan Yew's interaction with world leaders from US, China, Taiwan, and its neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia . Since most of the Singapore's population if of Chinese descent, Singapore has a special relationship with China, and has partnered several industries in the liberalisation initiated by Deng Xiapeng post the Mao era. Also are insights into the leadership in India and his thoughts on IAS, which is considered pale in comparison to the ICS of the British era.

Overall, a must read..

Can Can ! My first impression of Singlish

The English language has united the world and speeded its transformation into a global village. But the varieties of English we hear across India and the rest of the world may make the Englishman wonder if its his language they are using after all. In India we say ” I did’t like the movie “ya(ar?)” Well there is no word like “Ya” or ‘yaar” that can be used like this. Or the way we use “Actually” , “ basically” in any sentence. Well like Hinglish there in Singlish. it may take you just a while to catch the tone. Take the word “can” . It refers usually to a metal container for beverage. In Singlish it denotes action. can means yes or “can do” as opposed to “cannot” or its not possible.

This is how a dialogue goes :

Yourself : This bus go MRT lah?

Bus captain: Can.

U : Don’t have EZcard .

Bus captain : Ok no need. put the coins in this box.

U put the coins.

Bus captain: I issue the ticket already.

U take the ticket from the ticket dispenser.

Well that how it works. So you ask something it may be either “Can” or “Cannot”. And the ubiquitous “already”. The Englishman uses it when things have happened in the past. In Singapore it's ok to say ” Tomorrow i go market already." Already is useful after any sentence.

Or take another example.

MRT or the mass rapid transport system is the backbone of Singapore transport. But do not even dream of calling it a train or a metro. You ask something : Which is the way to the metro station? And you may get a blank stare. This guy is new and needs help - that's what the other person is going to think.. Instead just ask : MRT which way ? Then its easy : You go straight, turn left and you are at MRT already!

Or you go to buy a mixer grinder. The salesman suggests “this one better already.. 500 watts.. ” then u ask : Peanut crushing.. can ?” he is happy you are speaking the same language .. there is a loud “Caaan” but immediately he points out “Ice crushing.. cannot”. In Singapore they always want to be fair to you and help you take a wise decision.

Well that all for the first lesson, Singaporeans are very friendly people, and its a very open society so once you know the basics its easy to get around .

Firstly obey all the rules. Secondly u need a card for everything- the EZlink card for transport, access cards, bank cards. Do not break the traffic lights even while walking and if you smoke do not throw the cigarette end around. And lastly when you get down from an MRT, as the announcement will tell you .. “Please mind the platform gap”.