Construction pace

Today I went home at around 9:00 pm and I saw the same familiar scence two blocks from my house : A new large devlopment under construction (about 15 10-story high condos) with construction workers still at work. Most of the workers look Indians or from Bangladesh. By the time I normally leave home (7:00-7:30 am) until I get back well into the night the construction continues. Not only that, they are also working on Saturdays and Sundays.

This pace of construction is not unique to our neighbors. Near to my office at downtown, there is a new mega-development at Marina Bay where construction work is done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This Marina Bay is beign built on reclaimed land, this is, land that used to be under the ocean. It's a facinating process: They build walls in the sea, drain out the water and refill the hole with sand and rocks. There was a recent political conflict with Indonesia because they claimed Singapore was illegaly "depleting" Indonesia from their sand.

A Third example is a new trading building under construction right in front of my office and it's the same story: Working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It is clear that this fast pace of construction cannot be achieved either in Mexico or USA. For whatever the reasons (legal, historical, tradition, etc) work could not be done at midnight or during weekends in our countries. But people here are so determined to improve their economic well-beign that they understand that hard work needs to be done to succeed. While they keep quietly working non-stop here in Asia, the rest of the world is taking a break. I suspect I know how the race is going to go.

Global citizens

Today Christian and Hannah finally became citizens of a country. When they were born, we recieved a "notice of live birth" confirming they were born but their names were not there. They did not exit for legal purposes and I wasn't very comfortable with that idea.

Nohemi, our helper and I took the twins to the Office of Immigration to register. I was pleasently surprised when they attended to us very fast and in less than 30 minutes we had their Singporean birth certificate. Like everything else here, the service was superb and efficient. What a different with public offices in Mexico!

We then went to the American embassy to get their passports and social security numbers. Even though they were born in here, they do not have the right to Singaporean citizenship. At least a parent has to be a citizen and we obvioulsy are not. We stayed at the American embassy for about an hour waiting to speak with the person that would finalize the process. At the end it was done and we will have their US passports in two weeks.

I feel much better now since they now have a country. I guess in the future it may be confusing for them to tell where they are from: They were born in Singapore, are US Citizens and their parents are Mexican.

London trip

Last December I went on a two-day business trip to London. The flight Singapore-London took abour 13 hours but the Quantas 747 was quite comfortable and I got to rest most of the time. I had a number of interesting meetings during our visit. StanChar offices are next to the Thames River and I could see the London Eye, London Bridge and the river.

I had Saturday free, so I decided to take the double-decker tourist bus and visit London. I was staying in a hotel in a zone called Barbican, so I walked from the hotel to St. Paul's Cathedral. As usual for London, it was cold and raining and to top it all off, I forgot to bring an umbrella. I also realized that giving away my winter clothes when we left USA to move into the tropics was not such a smart idea after all.

During my visit to London, I noticed most of the people, including tourist, were elegantly dressed. London is a great city full of historical places. I saw a number of statues and old, old buildings. In particular, I saw a new monument dedicated to the RAF pilots who fought during WWII. It was a sobering reminder of some of the wars this city has been through.

I went by a castle where Ana Bolena was beheaded by her "beloved" husband the King. I also stopped by Buckingham Palace, although I did not get to see the Queen. I like the "spirit" of the city, so vibrant and full of live. The small and curving roads that seem to go nowhere are quite charming (except if you are in a hurry, I guess).

When I returned to Singapore I had an unusual feeling: I felt that I actually was back at home. I arrived late afternoon and by the time I caught a taxi it was already night. During the trip from Changi Airport to my house I went by downtown and I saw the illuminated skyline. Peering outside from the taxi's back window, I felt somewhat nostalgic from the world I left behind but more than anything, excitment for what the future would bring.

Mandarines and soccer

Chinese New Year is almost here and there are decorations everywhere for this special holiday. In particular I have noticed mandarines in walls, trees and decorations . Last Saturday I took my 4-year old son to his soccer practice at Singapore American School in a area called Woodlands, at the north of the island. During the trip there, I saw a mandarin orchard in the middle of the tropical forest. As I understand it, the mandarin means wealth and prosperity and thus the reason for using the fruit in this celebration.

My children attend a relatively small international Christian school called ICS (International Community School). Because of its size, ICS does not offer any after- school sports activities and we take them to the largest international school: SAS (Singapore American School)

As usual, when we arrived to SAS the guards at the main gate stopped us and inspected the trunk and the bottom of the car for possible bombs. Also as usual, there was a Singaporean special force policeman wileding a machine gun. SAS is the only place where I have seen such special forces policeman deployed permanentely. I guess that reflects the hightened terror level for Americans abroad.

Once at the soccer fields, Daniel got to play with his team. Most of his teamates are Americans, there is one Korean and another kid I think is from China. During the game, the kids chase and kick the ball and there is no record of scoring goals. Daniel enjoys the game and he is always looking forward to suiting up and play. I hope he continues to like sports in the future.

Chinese New Year

Last Tuesday I went back to my office after a week off. As I jokingly said to my friends: "As soon as I take some days off, the markets crash." In a happier note, now the preparations are in full gear for the Chinese New Year, this will be the Year of the Rat. This is a very important holiday and there are decorations everywhere in red and gold. My office was decorated with a huge red flag, embroiled with golden chinese characters. I have seen drawing of ancient chinese sages and red lamps.

A friend gave me today some New Year Chinese cookies, they were very tasty since they contained peanuts and some sort of soft dough. Actual celebrations will be form February 7 to 9, although I would not be suprise if some people take an early leave to enjy more days off. I'm looking forward to learn more about the different celebrations since this is the first time I directely observe this Chinese New Year.

Twin blessing

Hannah Yael (2.5 kg.) and Christian Alberto (2.345 kg.) were born in Singapore on July 15 at 12:58 and 12:59 respectively. Both babies and mom are doing fine. They were born at Gleneagles Hospital. It is actually a very nice hospital, it's just in front of the American Embassy. Here are some pictures.

















This picture has nothing to do with the twins, but I wanted to put it anyway. This view from my living room shows the port and the refinery at Jurong Island.

Almost there

This week has been very hectict. First, I have been trying to finish most of my project because I am planning on taking a five day leave after the babies are born. Second, Jan 11 was the deadline for MBA application to Cornell and there has been an increase in the number of applicants from this part of the world, so I have been interviewing quite a lot.

Nohemi's mother came from Mexico to help us with the babies, we are most gratful for her help and the kids are very happy to spend sometime with Grandm (Abuelita Mimi).

Today we went to see the doctor and he said the babies are ready, so we have schedule the delivery for next Tuesday. He said their size is OK and it's time. After the seeing the doctor, the kids and I went to shop for some baby items we were still missing. We walked on Orchard Road, the best known street in Singapore. It is full of fancy stores, restaurants and cars. As usual, we saw plenty of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Masserati's and even a Ferrari. We went to a department store called Takashimaya and we found most of what we wanted. We also visited a shopping mall exclusively with children stores. The twist, however, is that there are several brand names stores that I have never seen elsewhere: There is a Ralph Lauren Kids, Dolce & Gabana, Armani, etc. I guess designer-clothing kids stores are good business in Singapore.

Back to AWANA

Last Sunday marked the return of AWANA at IBC (International Baptist Church, the church we attend to here is Singapore). AWANA is a children's christian club and Sarah has been involved since we were back in Champaign. (AWANA stands for Approved Workers Are Not Ashamed). Last September I took Sarah to AWANA and I also wanted Daniel to start attending. Unfortunatelly, I was told that due to lack of teachers, his age class -4 and 5 years old- was restricted only to teacher's children. That's when Ric, the director invited me in. He said I could be the leader for the cubbies (name of the class) if I wanted since they were lacking teachers. I decided to take this unexpected challenge (it was the Lord's) and become the kids teacher, even though I had no experience with a group of children.

Ric told me not to worry much about it, if I raised two kids, I would be able to handle a group of children for two hours. In fact he turned out to be correct. Last semester I enjoyed beign the teacher of Daniel as well as the other kids. For some reason the kids like me and I like them a lot. There is another teacher in my class but I am responsible for it. During the class we have crafts, Bible stories and and other activities around the Gospel.

Last Sunday I was glad to see my cubbies, I had 4 girls and Daniel. The children are a lot of fun to be around and they keep me constantly "in my toes." If I get distracted for a second somebody will throw a toy, or will grab if from someone else or will start running and then I have to reimpose discipline. Sometimes I end up exhausted but at the end I am always very, very happy.

Unfortunate incident

It's been a few days since the event I'm about to tell happened. It was the first day of the year and I took the kids to a water park, so we were gone for most of the day and I did not observe any of the events described below.

When we returned, I noticed that someone had moved the shoe rack out of its place. Here in Asia people leave their shoes outside of their houses and in front of them there's usually a shoe rack and we are not the exception. We live in the 5th floor of a 24-story condo. The first three levels are for parking and in the fourth foor (which is the garage celiling) there are gardens, patios and playground areas, so from our windows it appears as if we are living on the second floor.

The shoe rack is outside our entrance door, next to the elevator and just below a window. Since I thought it was unusual for someone to move the rack, I decided to look ouside the window (remember, I'm still outside of my apartment). Below that window there is an entrance to the fourth floor patio and that entrance happen to have a small roof (about a square meter in size). From my vintage point, that roof looks like a small ledge.

When I looked at that ledge, I noticed the glass cover was totally shattered and there was blood. It was evident that something heavy had hit it and made a crater in the glass. The ominous sign of blood gave the me the chills. I went inside immediately to avoid my kids seeing that. I asked my wife if she knew anything about it and she said no, she had heard a big thump and commotion but had not paid any more attention. I went back to my kitchen balcony and I could clearly see the shattered little roof at no more than 2 meters from me. It was all smeared in blood and there was blood on the fourth floor, underneath the roof. And then I saw a policeman looking at the roof and taking notes. I think I knew at that time what had happened.

Later that day we learned the grim truth: A man had jumped to his death from the 17th floor. All we know about him is that he was a Singaporean Chinese, married with family. It appears that he said his life was not worth it before jumping.

Then I understood why the shoe rack was removed: That window was the only acces to the little ledge were the body ended up and someone moved it our of the way to go through our window.

He was Buddist, since for the next two days a group of people burning incience assembled on the fourth floor to chant and to cover the area with black pieces of cloth.

The kids don't know anything about it and Nohemi and I, while impacted for a couple of days, are back to normal. However, our helper was deeply shocked and is very scared to this day. I don't know what her superstions are but she and all the other Phillipino girls in the complex (and a number of other people too) are quite scared. They think the spirit of the person is here and now there are stories circulating around about the deceased appearing in the garage.

We had explained her that it's not possible for the dead to come back but still she is too shocked. I understand her fright, because it happened just a couple of meters from the room where she sleeps (Thankfully, she wasn't home and she didn't see anything). To help her cope with it, we had allowed her to sleep in the living room instead of her own room by the kitchen.

I don't claim to understad why this man decided to commit suicide. I know this sad things happen, specially in this time of the year. However, it seems to me he could have chosen another avenue to solve whatever his problems were. Now his widow and children will have to live with the burden of his irresponsibility for the rest of their life. I don't think that's fair.

Durian treat

I'm suspecting that a couple of friend wanted to play a joke on me today. They asked me if I had ever had Durian and when I answered no they took me to the office's kitchenette.

Here an explanation is due: Durian is a tropical fruit very common in South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, etc). It looks like a green coconut with a skin that resembles pinapple spikes. However, the smell is HORRIFIC. It smells incredibly bad. The odor is in fact so disgusting that there are signs all over Singapore that read "No smoking, no eating and NO DURIAN." It seems that here it is a common trick to offer Durian to foreigners.

Fortunatelly, they gave my dried Durian so the smell wasn't as bad as it could have been. Still, the taste was too strong for me and the smell was indeed bad. After a few bite they asked for my opinion and I responded "I am trying to decide whether I dislike it or I hate it" A friend laughed off and said even though he is Singaporean he still hates Durian. I am still not sure what my opinion is.

Back to work and ...school uniforms?

After almost 2 weeks of vacations, I returned today to my job. The bank requires all employees to take what is called "block leave" at least once a year, that requirement includes even new employees like me. I have to admit that I was quite happy to learn about that rule since I was not expecting any vacation during my first year of work after my MBA. I guess it is one of the advantages of working at an European bank in Asa.

I went to have lunch with two of my colleagues and we went to a Chinese joint. It was one of those countless small Chinese restaurants by the Singapore River. Both of my friends order for me since the girl that was attending had just arrived from China and did not speak a single word in English. They suggested what to eat: A tradicional dish of noddles, pork, and dumplings. Note to people that do not know Asia: Food can be quite "different" of what we eat in the USA. When I go to an Asian restauran with Asian friends I have learned that sometimes it is not wise to ask what you are beign served; You may not like the answer. In this particular case, the food was quite good.

During the lunch, we talked about school uniforms. In Singapore all the chidren (and I believe it also include people in High School) wear uniform to school. People in the USA can find this concept strange given the emphasis in individual choices. The interesting comment is that here, even American kids attending American schools wear uniforms. My children go to an American school called ICS and have to wear uniform. The same is true for children attending Singapore American School (SAS), the best known school.

Another important difference is what here in Singapore is called "tuition classes." Since education is highly price, almost all children have to attend these after school classes to improve in math and English. It is not uncommon for children 10-14 years to go to school at 7:30 am and go back home at 7:00 pm. The desire to improve academically is ingrained in people at every level.

Today I also came back home by taking the MRT (Accronym for the Subway, I don't know what it means). As usual, I was observing people and I saw a mixture of races that represents this culture fairly well. I would say about 70% of riders were ethnic Chinese, about 20% Indian and 10% from Indonesia (Indonesian women always cover their head) Less than 1% are people from other places (like myself). This MRT is the only subway where I have seem people reading books and magazines without holding to the handrails. The ride is very smooth and people tend not hold on on rails. What a difference with Mexico City! El Metro (Mexican Subway) stops suddenly quite often and if you are not holding on, you will end up in the floor. Sngapore's MRT is highly efficient, like almost everything else in this country.