Bureaucracy and kindness – Singapore.6th April to 11th April. 2019

A flight to Christchurch, where we were kindly whisked away for lunch with Philippa and Shane Dye and then a couple of Quantas flights to Singapore via Melbourne saw the real start to the adventure.

 

The preparation phase was now behind us. We have been to Singapore before, a place we always love to visit. Our hotel is basic and Lilliputian in scale! Sorry let me rephrase that. The hotel is very tall and I think a bit older than we think. The ‘room’ is Lilliputian in size. With two suitcases and a holdall (filled with parts that arrived after the car had left NZ) and us, the room was tight. It is a single room with a double bed! To move around one of us has to sit on the bed. Haha.

Sunrise over Singapore. The view we wake to each morning.

However it is close to the river and the central city and more importantly the main shipping port. We have been tracking the progress of the cars container ship, “The ANL Amora” from Nelson to Tauranga where it changed to “The Seadream”. Which took three weeks to get to Singapore arriving on the 5th of April, the day before we did. It’s here in port!

We were due to contact the shipping agent on Monday, which gave us a day to explore. Julia loves walking …and boy did we do some walking.

Singapore’s cultural diversity is strongly evident by the mixture of old and new, living hand in hand. Chinese, European, Indian, Malay and others.

The name Singapore is believed to derive from its Anglesised translation “lion city”. “Singa” “pura”. But as lions aren’t believed to have lived on the island, it is unknown why it is called this? From as far back as the 3rd century it was known locally as Pulau Ujong “island at the end”. I like the straightforwardness of that.

In 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles claimed the island as a colonial base for his company the East India company. Hence the colonial architecture of terracotta tiled rooves and shuttered windows. The Indian and Chinese influences of shape and form of the buildings helps distinguish the areas of ‘little India’ with its temple and statues. and ‘China Town’, with traditional style decorations. Some plain and simple some elaborately adorned with Chinese motifs.

At Lau Pa Sat, a food hawkers market, we experienced all of the cultures fused into one area. The intense heat and humidity combines with the smells of smoky cooking fires and spices to create a barrage on the senses. Amazing! The building contains a multitude of delights from China, India and Malay. Tables and stools made it feel like a school dining room. ” choose what you’d like to eat (the hardest part is choosing the food so much choice) pick up your food on a tray. Pick a place to eat at one of the tables. Eat and enjoy people watching, taking in the sounds and smells. It looked like a delicate British railway station or a London fish market. In the shape of an octagon. With stalls around the outside and a few in the middle. The Fine and ornate cast iron structure with a magnificent mechanical automaton chiming the hour in the turret.

Automaton in the bell tower.

Our agent is an unknown quantity! Anton has sent us an address and name? Roger at 20 Malacca Street. On one of our walks we notice the sign for this street and go and investigate. Easy! We go first thing tomorrow as instructed. The car has been offloaded. At least we hope as the latest ship tracker shows our ship has left singapore. Fred will be sitting at the port waiting!

Monday 8th April. We walk to Malacca street, up in the lift and introduce ourselves. Roger is on medical leave he’s had a fall! Mmmm. “Have a seat we’ll call him”. He’s on his way. An elderly man (it was his birthday last week 75) arrives who is very matter of fact, with a folder of paper in one hand and a walking stick in the other. This was Roger. He wasn’t expecting us today. No matter. Nothing is a problem. We are told we will do the paperwork formalities today and pick up the car tomorrow. First stop, a thirty minute drive to The Singapore AA HQ. Here we are required to show, passports, international drivers permits, NZ drivers license. Ownership papers, Carnet de Passage en Douane (Carnet) and a Bill of lading. We are issued with third party insurance for one week. An international Circulation Permit. Our Carnet has been stamped into Singapore and endorsed. They stamp it and give strict instructions to ensure it is endorsed at the boarder when we leave. A copy of the carnet stub then has to be scanned and sent back to the people at The AA. We are also told we must leave by Friday! “Or big fines”. “Customs come to me I come for you”! Rosie is a sweet lady at the AA who is definitely in charge!

Mr Roger Longs Office, 20 Malacca Street.

Next stop The LTA (The Land Transport Association) another drive, to another building. Roger and his friend wait with us. We Queue in order to get a number to Queue!! Here we hand over all our paperwork and our new insurance papers and the International Circulation Permit etc etc. We are issued with an auto pass (s$10). Many of the roads are maintained by a toll. Not a bad idea! 65,000 cars and 500,000 bikes enter Singapore each day! So their licensing system is busy, and Bureaucracy is around every corner.

Tuesday 9th arrives….. Landy is to be delivered to our hotel at 9am. I have given instructions that the tent that is strapped to the front of the Landy must not be removed to save it from being damaged. Roger arrives and sits with us to wait for the Landy. He smokes and laughs and tells us stories, and his political theories. What an interesting and gracious lovely man. Around the corner comes Fred on the back of a truck. Julia is quietly crying! I too am a bit emotional. The driver starts him up….my goodness he sounds great. We are left outside the Robertson Quay Hotel with a Landy, a docket and our adventure ahead. We say good bye to Roger and he leaves with a pocket full of cash, which I don’t mind saying he has earned. I have to say he was delightful. I’m actually sorry to see him go.

‘Fred’ arrives from the main port on the back of a truck.

“Mr Roger” and I.

“Are you really going to England in that“?

The tent is off loaded and refitted and driven to a neighbouring hotel which has a high entrance to its car park. The gear is unloaded sorted and reloaded. The top box refitted, we are now good to go. It’s stinking hot and the humidity is 70-80 % I’m sweating buckets even with these simple tasks.

First stop a trip around Singapore and a visit to Raffles Hotel. Many an explorer has ended or started an adventure here. Fuel is about the same price as New Zealand but is 95/97 ron.

Raffles was unfortunately under repair so we couldn’t drive in.

The roads are immaculate and well maintained, and a horticulturists delight. Lined with bougainvillea, bamboo and Rain trees. The drivers are polite, and weave in and out merging at the speed without any issues. Scooters and Cyclists merge and move. A great place to drive. We could learn a lot in NZ from them!

Julia’s navigational Skills are improving although I’ve learnt not to comment and just drive. She navigates like a flustered world rally championship navigator. Red lights STOP – cars merging ahead slowdown – in 150 metres turn right – HERE – indicate now – your still indicating! Slow down keep right. Etc etc. somewhat nervous but getting better. She refuses to use my pocket Earth gps maps instead insisting on google maps and a local sim in her phone. Invariably it (the maps and directions not Julia!) lies as well as changes its mind.

Whilst in Singapore we caught up with friends and family. Dr Dave Fairley an old Nelson College Head of Science and an old friend of ours met us at The Newton Circus food court and caught up after too long a time. Nice to see him so well and successful, teaching at The Overseas family school. Also at the same school as Dave are the Nelson College ex Head of Mathematics and Rutherford House tutors, Phil Riordan and his wife Deirdre. We were also joined by the 2001 Nelson College head boy and Rutherford house old boy Seb Jones. Great to see them.

Dr Dave Fairley, myself and Julia at the Newton Circus food Market.

Julia, Deirdre and Phil Riordan, Kieran and Seb Jones.

Myself (OS 1989) Richard Thorpe (OS 82) and MalcomThorpe (OS 83)

We couldn’t pass up a small OS (Old Stonyhurst) reunion with the Thorpe Boys. Richard and Malcom. Malcom lives and works in Singapore, and Richard, from Auckland New Zealand, often works overseas with his job as a freight forwarder or “ship shipper” or what ever it is he does! Politics, of all kinds were discussed and the world put to rights. (Richard is the twin brother of my sister Katy’s husband.)

 

Tomorrow we leave Singapore for Malaysia via the Woodlands Causeway. We will miss “The island at the end”.

If we could sum up Singapore by a string of words and phrases to remind us, it would look like this: Walking-heat-Shops-China town-little India-new and old-architecture-poverty-wealth-colonialism-MRT-cold-river-taste of the water-Weather-more walking-languages-cultures-nightlife starts after 8pm-history-lack of insects!-flowers-cleanliness-sunrises-taxi driver habits-skinny-fat-Raffles-cars-roads-money changers-sculptures-touting at markets-pride in appearance(dress)-public spaces-hawkers markets-cultural diversity-Stonyhurst old boy connections going way back in the history of Singapore (Frederick Weld).

Bureaucracy and Kindness.