The Bicycle

The other day I was coming home from school and saw a guy put his bike against the wall and go into a store. As I continued to walk home I was processing what I just saw and I knew something was not quite right but could not put my finger on it. By the time I got upstairs I had it. He did not lock his bike!

Daniel asked me how Singapore was different or what is Singapore, can’t quite remember how he worded the question. He said he could not quite get a handle on it. As we went out every night to the downtown core ( Orchard Street) to the river, Clark Quay and Boat Quay, as well as the Esplanade and Little India we kept talking about this question..When I think about it, the bicycle incident is Singapore. Whenever I ask Singaporeans and visitors how they can put up with the right wing approach to life, i.e. the lack of freedoms, one newspaper with no dissident view tolerated, citizens waiting for the light to change for fear of getting a ticket, they say they willing give up certain freedoms in return for safety. No matter where you

go, they constantly tell me, you can walk in the middle of the night alone without fear of attack and everything seems to work from the traffic lights, to the roadways to the water taps. Singapore is also a very materialistic city, like Hong Kong, where the size of your handbag or the cut of your suit is valued above all, it seems.

In thinking about Daniel’s question some more though, I am not sure it is a fair question. What is Toronto? Is it Yonge Street

and Yorkville or the various multicultural areas such as Greektown or Little Italy or is it the composite of all things Toronto. You are essentially left with a “feeling” of Toronto which

I am sure would encompass multiculturalism and diversity above all, I would think.

Maybe it is the bicycle incident that says all there is to say about Singapore in a nutshell. As usual, even though I have been here I guess two months now, Daniel showed me around. All of the subways seem to end up in malls which I find impossible to navigate. Miraculously Daniel knew exactly where and when to turn, as well as find the stores he was looking for and the exits! Luckily, some things never change.