From Asia to the West

It is kind of weird for me write a story now. I feel as if I was back home, how comes I should write a story on a travel-blog if I am not traveling...

But, hey, Silke!! Wake up!! You are still travelling! You are not home!!
Here's the prove:

After 6 months in Asia it feels really awkward to be back in a Western country:

I am in Sydney Australia since one week, after 6 months in Asia - moreover staying with a friend I know from Europe. And don't even believe, that this wouldn't give you kind of a coming-home shock!

No worries though, the shock was nice: arriving and going straight to the birthdayparty of my friends little son Hugo, 2 years old, at the beach with a nice barbeque and many of their friends!!

But one after the other... before all this, I allowed myself a kind of puffer between Asia and Australia - between Asia and the West:

Three days in Singapore...

Singapore is in many ways something between Asia and the West: The population is mixed between Malay, Chinese and Indian like in Malaysia. But in comparison with Malaysia, and even more with the other countries I visited in Asia, Singapore is really clean and tidy. In German I would have said "nett und adrett". Of course, it is definitely nicer to live in a clean city, no arguments about that. But Singapore is not only clean, but in my eyes simply over-regulated. It is clean because you are fined S$1.000,- if you litter somewhere. Spitting a chewing gum: S$ 1.000,-..

The famous loss of face in Chinese culture seems to be a much more effective use of punishment: If you are convicted of littering three times, you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a bib on saying, 'I am a litterer' (not really sure if this is true though, sounds too weird to me). And - again something I read in a guidebook - in order to make people flush public toilets the names of people not flushing the toilets had been published in the newspaper... (I have no clue how they found out who didn't flush the toilets though... video-cameras??)

But yes, they achieved their goal, and a clean city is nice! And I definitely admire what I read about in a guidebook to Singapore: they managed to get rid of Malaria nearly by 100% by introducing many laws, of which one forbid the citizens to use flower pot saucers (as they are the living area of moscitos).

But they also have tons of rather stupid and highly exaggerated laws: the sale of chewing gums is prohibited; it is forbidden (!!) to walk around naked in your house (because it could be considered as pornography, which is forbidden as well, if somebody saw you)...

And of course there are not only many laws, but many signs of do's and don'ts... Interesting: assaults on the captain in a bus are forbidden by law. Well, if they didn't put a sign in the bus I guess every second person would attack the busdriver, not knowing that it was forbidden, right?

So yes, with strict rules - law and order - they definitely managed to get a clean country.
But in many ways in my eyes a "dead" country as well. And this is in my eyes an evolution I can see in many "civilized" societies: we're heading into an overregulated society where everything has to be regulated and clearly indicated. Otherwise people will fine you for whatever in former days (and in how we call them "less civilised societies") would never have been regulated, because common sense tells you what is right and what is wrong...

hm.... I just wanted to post something about the hot-coffee-lawsuit as an example of what I mean with this loss of common sense. But after reading more about it, I do think that Ms. Liebeck was not too wrong sewing McDonalds (I hate McDonalds anyways...) as they had deliberately sold far too hot coffee... And I won't cite the cat-microwave-story neither, because I guess there is much more background to ths story as well than I know. Am I getting to far away from my point? Yes, I do.
So, to make it short: I do think that our society is over-regulated and that so many things are now ruled by law which have once and could be regulated by common sense. I do really believe, that we don't need a sign saying that it is forbidden by law to assault the captain of a bus!

The reason why I write about this now, is that especially in Singapore, with all these sign and these logical (I can completely understand why chewing gums are forbidden in such a hot country... oh, and check the photo: it's written on the floor how to queue for the ATM) but exaggerated laws, I felt how common sense, and individual thought, ideas, innovation and creativity is killed by law and order. That's what I meant when writing that in my eyes, Singapore is somehow "dead" to me. Everything was nice and clean - "nett und adrett" - but there is nothing more about it.

They managed to give Singapore the image that they wanted it to have: nice and clean. And definitely great for shopping (well, a backpacker is not really into shopping). It is a country where you can do business, go out (nice night scene though!) and have delicious food. Yes, we are approaching my favourite topic :)

However, it is still Asian, and I really fancied the Asian part of the city: foodhawkers!!
Like it was the case in Kuala Lumpur, having the same main population groups (Chinese, Malay and Indian), there is a Chinatown and a Little India in Singapore. But of course with a big touch of Singapore to it: the houses are all nice and sweet, clean and tidy - nett und adrett. If there weren't these famous red Chinese lightbulbs hanging around, you wouldn't believe to be in Chinatown.

The foodhawkers were completely Asian though! Cheap and tasty :) Oh yes, both Singaporians and tourists love them! The foodhawkers in Singapore are different to those I saw in other countries in the sense that they are not spread around the city, but put together in big halls: one foodhawker after the other is offering a few dishes. You just walk around and collect what you want and sit down at one of the tables between the hawkers. For me it was the last chance to taste some Asian food for a relatively cheap price!

I had a great time with Rindo (check his blog, he definitely knows how to write! I laughed my a** off reading his blog!), a guy I got to know at the weekly Couchsurfing meeting. We were wandering around Singapore, drinking loads of wine and beer, and eating Indian food - like it has to be with our fingers of course. My last glimpse of Asia before leaving this continent! And even more than before, I do know I want to travel to India once :)
So yes, Singapore is still Asia! Even though it is the Indian way of eating, I would feel really weird to eat murtabak or curry with my hands in an Indian restaurant here in Australia or back home!
Or to deliberately spit on the floor (I was not doing that, but they were!!) at a Chinese food hawker back home.

So yes, after such a long time it was weird for me, to leave Asia, to get back to Western culture. But one thing I am really happy about, now being in Australia is this:

Am I addicted to cheese??? YES I AM!!
Everybody who expected to hear something about Australia here... well, patience guys!! I will write about Sydney soon! Promised :)

So get yourself prepared for many stories from down under - I prepared in my own way for Australia branding one of my (few) shirts with "No Kangoroos in Austria"
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