Thursday
First a correction about Wednesday. The dinner and wine was hosted by Dr. and Dr. Ku.(that's not a typo)
We first went to the Singapore National Library. On the 10th floor there is a changing exhibit. now the exhibit was about Rajaratnam, avery important figure in the creation of an independent Singapore and the beginnings of Singaporean government. I like learning about all this history that i haven't a clue about. (All right I like learning about almost any history) The British came ti Singapore in the 1800's And there are no written records(and evidently no oral tradition that was written down, except how the city got the name of Singapore, from the older name of Temasek) before then. Singapore became independent in 1959, not that long ago for some of us. I was born in 1952.
Singapore is made up of three major groups; Chinese, Malay, and Indian(no, Darel, not those kinds of Indians. The ones from the country of India)When the british were in control the groups were kept separate and treated very unequally. Rajaratnam wanted the society to be cohesive and not have ethnic hostilities. Here is my understanding of how they have chosen to accomplish this. Most Singaporeans live in huge apartment complexes. These complexes are divided into smaller groups. Within each group of apartments, the apartments must be occupied in the same prorportions as in the general population, 75% Chinese, 15% Malay, and 10% Indian and others. So, if you are Chinese, you can only sell you apartment to another Chinese, etc. There are 4 official languages in Singapore, English, Mandarin, Malay, Hindu, and Tamil(some people have told me there are only three and do not mention Tamil, but a Supreme Court judge, who we met during lunch said that Tamil was an official Language, and if you can't believe a Supreme Court Judge, who can you believe.)English is the official language of government and business. Instruction in the public schools is in english and students are required to learn another language, either Mandarin, Malay, or Hindu. A student is required to learn their own "heritage language," meaning whatever language group your parents are from, that is the language you are required to study. If your parents are from different backgrounds, you can pick any language to study and are not restricted to only the languages from your parents heritage. Also if you are not one of these ethnicities, you can pick whichever language you want. To me, as an American, it seems actually to be a strange mi of of forced diversity and forced ethnicity. I wonder if this is, in part, because these ethnic diversity laws have only been in effect for about 2 generations. Everything I learn makes think of so many things that I wonder about, but don't end up discussing.
After about an hour of looking at the exhibit, we wanted to see how a Singaporean library is different or similar to american ones. We went across an indoor walkway to a children's section. There were some interesting looking books on display in glass cases. We then went to the shelves and were surprised to see them behind locked glass cases also. The security guard told us that if we wanted to see any books we would have to talk to the reference librarian on the 8th floor, who would then accompany us back to the shelf to unlock it so we could see the book. This reference Library is on floors 7 - 13, levels 1 - 6 have, rental rooms, University of Nevada at Las Vegas classrooms, business offices, etc., but no books. Basement level 1 is the only place where there is a circulating Library, and considering the size of the library building is quite small. I don't know if that is because it is the main library or there is a difference in how library materials are viewed. It was set up pretty much like any regular library in the US. I checked and fund the nonfiction is filed by the Dewey Decimal System. There are also some other types of numbers on colored tape, but I don't know what they meant.
After that we had lunch in a cafe that may be part of the library. In Singapore people make a distinction between restaurants and cafes. When we asked at the library information desk if there was a restaurant nearby, the answer was, "No, but there is a cafe nearby." we then went to a toy museum which is the only museum originally built to display toys. If so. I am disappointed in the designer. There are narrow glass fronted shelves running from about waist high almost to the ceiling. The toys are crammed on the shelves, and only a few are labeled. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the toys that were the same as ones I remembered and those I had never heard of before.
It's getting late and at this rate it is going to take me as long to type the highlights and my musings as it did to go through th whole day. Today we went on a disappointing river cruise/tour. Tomorrow we are trying to take a bus to Malacca, in Malaysia.
Good night !
We first went to the Singapore National Library. On the 10th floor there is a changing exhibit. now the exhibit was about Rajaratnam, avery important figure in the creation of an independent Singapore and the beginnings of Singaporean government. I like learning about all this history that i haven't a clue about. (All right I like learning about almost any history) The British came ti Singapore in the 1800's And there are no written records(and evidently no oral tradition that was written down, except how the city got the name of Singapore, from the older name of Temasek) before then. Singapore became independent in 1959, not that long ago for some of us. I was born in 1952.
Singapore is made up of three major groups; Chinese, Malay, and Indian(no, Darel, not those kinds of Indians. The ones from the country of India)When the british were in control the groups were kept separate and treated very unequally. Rajaratnam wanted the society to be cohesive and not have ethnic hostilities. Here is my understanding of how they have chosen to accomplish this. Most Singaporeans live in huge apartment complexes. These complexes are divided into smaller groups. Within each group of apartments, the apartments must be occupied in the same prorportions as in the general population, 75% Chinese, 15% Malay, and 10% Indian and others. So, if you are Chinese, you can only sell you apartment to another Chinese, etc. There are 4 official languages in Singapore, English, Mandarin, Malay, Hindu, and Tamil(some people have told me there are only three and do not mention Tamil, but a Supreme Court judge, who we met during lunch said that Tamil was an official Language, and if you can't believe a Supreme Court Judge, who can you believe.)English is the official language of government and business. Instruction in the public schools is in english and students are required to learn another language, either Mandarin, Malay, or Hindu. A student is required to learn their own "heritage language," meaning whatever language group your parents are from, that is the language you are required to study. If your parents are from different backgrounds, you can pick any language to study and are not restricted to only the languages from your parents heritage. Also if you are not one of these ethnicities, you can pick whichever language you want. To me, as an American, it seems actually to be a strange mi of of forced diversity and forced ethnicity. I wonder if this is, in part, because these ethnic diversity laws have only been in effect for about 2 generations. Everything I learn makes think of so many things that I wonder about, but don't end up discussing.
After about an hour of looking at the exhibit, we wanted to see how a Singaporean library is different or similar to american ones. We went across an indoor walkway to a children's section. There were some interesting looking books on display in glass cases. We then went to the shelves and were surprised to see them behind locked glass cases also. The security guard told us that if we wanted to see any books we would have to talk to the reference librarian on the 8th floor, who would then accompany us back to the shelf to unlock it so we could see the book. This reference Library is on floors 7 - 13, levels 1 - 6 have, rental rooms, University of Nevada at Las Vegas classrooms, business offices, etc., but no books. Basement level 1 is the only place where there is a circulating Library, and considering the size of the library building is quite small. I don't know if that is because it is the main library or there is a difference in how library materials are viewed. It was set up pretty much like any regular library in the US. I checked and fund the nonfiction is filed by the Dewey Decimal System. There are also some other types of numbers on colored tape, but I don't know what they meant.
After that we had lunch in a cafe that may be part of the library. In Singapore people make a distinction between restaurants and cafes. When we asked at the library information desk if there was a restaurant nearby, the answer was, "No, but there is a cafe nearby." we then went to a toy museum which is the only museum originally built to display toys. If so. I am disappointed in the designer. There are narrow glass fronted shelves running from about waist high almost to the ceiling. The toys are crammed on the shelves, and only a few are labeled. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the toys that were the same as ones I remembered and those I had never heard of before.
It's getting late and at this rate it is going to take me as long to type the highlights and my musings as it did to go through th whole day. Today we went on a disappointing river cruise/tour. Tomorrow we are trying to take a bus to Malacca, in Malaysia.
Good night !