The first time I worked in Singapore was in 1986. I shared a 3 bedroom HDB flat with Manfred (a German) in Ang Mo Kio. I worked in Lulla-Motion Pte Ltd. The owner is (was? I don't have any news on him since) Nari Lulla (hence the name).
I drove my dad's Toyota Corolla from the apartment to the office in Toa Payoh for 6 months before I was sent to KL's office.
Lunch were from muslim shops (difficult to find). Dinner was extravagant. Sometimes vegetarian...in places like Newton Circus, Orchard Road, Seletar, even JB... Weekends? Time to fill up on petrol and good food. Why petrol? Same problem as now - pricey. I stayed with my uncle Edros and family near the hospital on my weekend sojourns. Muar trips were monthly on winding and bumpy A roads. No highways except from seremban to KL - I think.
Customs and immigration (CIQ) were a breeze then.
Exchange was just over 1 to 1.2 - I think.
In the good ole days of mid-1960s my grandparents shopped in Singapore. I think these were yearly affairs. To avoid tax, we wore three layers of clothing in the sweltering sun. Fruits were consumed like gluttons before the border. Arab Street, Bugis Street...were the favourite haunts. Cheap hotels near Woodlands were by the score.
Then there were the sending off from the port for those going off on their pilgrimage. These were sombre affairs. The feelings were mutual: those on the ships and those on shore. We might never see each other again! A very long trip - for some, more than three months. On my gradparent's trip, I remembered that I was still crying for two days. After the gut wrenching send-off at the port, we headed home...but we stopped at the Johor Baru mosque perched on a hill. I beleived I could see the ship. A harrowing experience for me then.
Decades passed.
My return to singapore was after Chinese New Year in 2008. I brought my family in our battered proton loaded with junk food, mineral water, diapers... Purpose - reconnaissance. My new place of work was Marina Bay. (Back in 1986 I don't think it was there. I still have a sketch of mine from across the water depicting the lions and Raffles). We drove around with one thing in mind - we can never be lost in singapore. It is an island right? If you smell the sea, then you are going the wrong way.
I did not recognise Orchard Road until I saw CKTang. A lot of differences of course.
To my dismay, the trip home was very long and arduous indeed. We got stuck at the causeway. We arrived at 8:00pm in Woodlands and reached Larkin at midnite. The junk food, mineral water and diapers helped!
This I must share: We witnessed, for the first time in our lives, a motorcycle traffic jam! Miles of them 3 abreast. With horns blaring out of boredom and inconsideration
We went again twice before I started commuting in earnest.
We tried the 2nd link too. Driving on a weekend was next to nothing. Weekdays? The tolls! It was 2.5 times (please don't quote me) more expensive via the 2nd link.
On my first day I arrived at 9am though I left Larkin at 5am. Traffic jam from just passed Danga Mall. So I walked all the way to Woodlands MRTt station. Distance of around 4km. Took MRT to Marina Nay. Going back was the same. Reached home at 10pm.
Next day I drove the long but quiet back lanes passed the grave yards behind the hospital and parked at City Ssquare (rm20!). Walked to Woodlands. All these because the Jemaah Islamiah detainee escaped detention. It lasted a month.
I walked the farthest in my entire life (I think) during my brief stint in Singapore.
Most of that first month I walked a lot. First stop was half way point to perform my duty. I managed to control my "ablution water" (mandatory for prayers to be accepted). Somtimes I do it at the MRT Station on the bridge over the drains. A few times at the entrance to the race course.
Once, I had a big problem. I had to use newspaper. A harrowing experience indeed. The first and my last. From then on, I carry a back pack consisting of breakfast (plentiful at JB CIQ), lunch prepared by my dutiful house bound wife, a 2 litre can of drinking water, a rain coat and a prayer mat.
I slept on the train: sometimes on the floor oblivious of others standing, squatting around me. Sometimes I missed the van (provided by the company) ploughing the remaining 1km.
Praying was not a problem to me. Lessons learned from Pakistan and Doha. At the office, I do it along the walkway, empty meeting rooms... Lunch, though there was a covered mixed canteen with hawkers from all races, I chose my wife's over them. SGD8 for rice, chicken and vegetable! That's rm20!
I discovered the Keretapi Tanah Melayu soon after buying a road map. That was a blessing - at least for the journeys home. From marina, take the MRT. Change lines at Raffles Square (or was it another station further down). Disembark, walk 1km to the KTM station. Nice place.
There's always the 6pm and 8pm train. Never did take the 8pm one. Slow but steady and surely. Stops at Singapore CIQ at 7pm. Time for my duties just outside the toilet in a niche. Nobody else dared to follow me for two months. The only problem with trains was that on Fridays it is standing room only unless you booked a seat in advance. Initially I bought daily tickets. Then weekly. Finally the first and only monthly ticket.
I reached home normally by the last prayer of 8:30pm.
Only after realising late that the salary I was receiving wasn't kosher that I started to look for a lower salary back on home turf. Look at it this way; I was there for the money like thousands of others. McD crew gets 800 in JB too. But in singapore you get MYR2K - the exchange rate!!!
I did plan to rent and bring the family to Lion City. Checked the papers for rentals. Heck! I could live in the most expensive apartment in JB and still have change in my pocket. 2k for HDB flat in Woodlands was one quote I received. Then there is the parking, the ERP, the petrol, the school fees...
But when I resigned, I realised there were more problems. Taxation! I think I paid slightly more than 30%.
Nothing beats working in India and Pakistan. The chauffeur driven company car, the majestic accommodation with a platoon of gardner, guards, cook, maids... Perhaps, Doha and Dubai were better than Singapore - tax free. Self drive company car. Housed with one other in Doha but ten others in Dubai (but with a cook and maid).
Chalk it to experience.
Would I want to do it again in Singapore? Maybe - if there is MRT from JB. Soon, I hope. India and Pakistan - most definitely. Doha - highly unlikely. Dubai - possible. UK - possible.
Time is no longer on my side. I think I have to stop rolling (stones gathers no moss). Plant my feet firmly in my own backyard and let my mind wander across the limitless space of cyberspace reading of places I could have gone, experiences I could have undergone myself...and beat my drums saying that I have been there, seen it, done it...
I envy you - the ronins...expatriates
I drove my dad's Toyota Corolla from the apartment to the office in Toa Payoh for 6 months before I was sent to KL's office.
Lunch were from muslim shops (difficult to find). Dinner was extravagant. Sometimes vegetarian...in places like Newton Circus, Orchard Road, Seletar, even JB... Weekends? Time to fill up on petrol and good food. Why petrol? Same problem as now - pricey. I stayed with my uncle Edros and family near the hospital on my weekend sojourns. Muar trips were monthly on winding and bumpy A roads. No highways except from seremban to KL - I think.
Customs and immigration (CIQ) were a breeze then.
Exchange was just over 1 to 1.2 - I think.
In the good ole days of mid-1960s my grandparents shopped in Singapore. I think these were yearly affairs. To avoid tax, we wore three layers of clothing in the sweltering sun. Fruits were consumed like gluttons before the border. Arab Street, Bugis Street...were the favourite haunts. Cheap hotels near Woodlands were by the score.
Then there were the sending off from the port for those going off on their pilgrimage. These were sombre affairs. The feelings were mutual: those on the ships and those on shore. We might never see each other again! A very long trip - for some, more than three months. On my gradparent's trip, I remembered that I was still crying for two days. After the gut wrenching send-off at the port, we headed home...but we stopped at the Johor Baru mosque perched on a hill. I beleived I could see the ship. A harrowing experience for me then.
Decades passed.
My return to singapore was after Chinese New Year in 2008. I brought my family in our battered proton loaded with junk food, mineral water, diapers... Purpose - reconnaissance. My new place of work was Marina Bay. (Back in 1986 I don't think it was there. I still have a sketch of mine from across the water depicting the lions and Raffles). We drove around with one thing in mind - we can never be lost in singapore. It is an island right? If you smell the sea, then you are going the wrong way.
I did not recognise Orchard Road until I saw CKTang. A lot of differences of course.
To my dismay, the trip home was very long and arduous indeed. We got stuck at the causeway. We arrived at 8:00pm in Woodlands and reached Larkin at midnite. The junk food, mineral water and diapers helped!
This I must share: We witnessed, for the first time in our lives, a motorcycle traffic jam! Miles of them 3 abreast. With horns blaring out of boredom and inconsideration
We went again twice before I started commuting in earnest.
We tried the 2nd link too. Driving on a weekend was next to nothing. Weekdays? The tolls! It was 2.5 times (please don't quote me) more expensive via the 2nd link.
On my first day I arrived at 9am though I left Larkin at 5am. Traffic jam from just passed Danga Mall. So I walked all the way to Woodlands MRTt station. Distance of around 4km. Took MRT to Marina Nay. Going back was the same. Reached home at 10pm.
Next day I drove the long but quiet back lanes passed the grave yards behind the hospital and parked at City Ssquare (rm20!). Walked to Woodlands. All these because the Jemaah Islamiah detainee escaped detention. It lasted a month.
I walked the farthest in my entire life (I think) during my brief stint in Singapore.
Most of that first month I walked a lot. First stop was half way point to perform my duty. I managed to control my "ablution water" (mandatory for prayers to be accepted). Somtimes I do it at the MRT Station on the bridge over the drains. A few times at the entrance to the race course.
Once, I had a big problem. I had to use newspaper. A harrowing experience indeed. The first and my last. From then on, I carry a back pack consisting of breakfast (plentiful at JB CIQ), lunch prepared by my dutiful house bound wife, a 2 litre can of drinking water, a rain coat and a prayer mat.
I slept on the train: sometimes on the floor oblivious of others standing, squatting around me. Sometimes I missed the van (provided by the company) ploughing the remaining 1km.
Praying was not a problem to me. Lessons learned from Pakistan and Doha. At the office, I do it along the walkway, empty meeting rooms... Lunch, though there was a covered mixed canteen with hawkers from all races, I chose my wife's over them. SGD8 for rice, chicken and vegetable! That's rm20!
I discovered the Keretapi Tanah Melayu soon after buying a road map. That was a blessing - at least for the journeys home. From marina, take the MRT. Change lines at Raffles Square (or was it another station further down). Disembark, walk 1km to the KTM station. Nice place.
There's always the 6pm and 8pm train. Never did take the 8pm one. Slow but steady and surely. Stops at Singapore CIQ at 7pm. Time for my duties just outside the toilet in a niche. Nobody else dared to follow me for two months. The only problem with trains was that on Fridays it is standing room only unless you booked a seat in advance. Initially I bought daily tickets. Then weekly. Finally the first and only monthly ticket.
I reached home normally by the last prayer of 8:30pm.
Only after realising late that the salary I was receiving wasn't kosher that I started to look for a lower salary back on home turf. Look at it this way; I was there for the money like thousands of others. McD crew gets 800 in JB too. But in singapore you get MYR2K - the exchange rate!!!
I did plan to rent and bring the family to Lion City. Checked the papers for rentals. Heck! I could live in the most expensive apartment in JB and still have change in my pocket. 2k for HDB flat in Woodlands was one quote I received. Then there is the parking, the ERP, the petrol, the school fees...
But when I resigned, I realised there were more problems. Taxation! I think I paid slightly more than 30%.
Nothing beats working in India and Pakistan. The chauffeur driven company car, the majestic accommodation with a platoon of gardner, guards, cook, maids... Perhaps, Doha and Dubai were better than Singapore - tax free. Self drive company car. Housed with one other in Doha but ten others in Dubai (but with a cook and maid).
Chalk it to experience.
Would I want to do it again in Singapore? Maybe - if there is MRT from JB. Soon, I hope. India and Pakistan - most definitely. Doha - highly unlikely. Dubai - possible. UK - possible.
Time is no longer on my side. I think I have to stop rolling (stones gathers no moss). Plant my feet firmly in my own backyard and let my mind wander across the limitless space of cyberspace reading of places I could have gone, experiences I could have undergone myself...and beat my drums saying that I have been there, seen it, done it...
I envy you - the ronins...expatriates
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device via Vodafone-Celcom Mobile.
No comments:
Post a Comment