ROSE TINTED SPECTACLES (SQ 232)
AS I sit here reflecting on my prior experiences in Singapore - I feel a sense of dissatisfaction. I had had a great time, but things didn't seem right.
Of course the philosophical purists among you will argue that anthropological cultural criticism is invalid because your observations of any external culture are not relative to an absolute benchmark, but relative to your own culture.
From an academic standpoint this is valid. You are biased before you begin. From a practical perspective my view is that if you take the sum of the perceived reactions of several different cultures across the spectrum of history and demographics you can approximate a reasonably objective benchmark. (However - too much of this sort of logic leads to constructions in humanistic philosophy - which is dangerous....'Triumph of the human spirit' - indeed!)
Philosophical purism aside - the point of a travel monologue is vaguely engaging literary prose filled with political incorrectness, cultural judgments and local oddities. (Empathy and humour are dipoles in the realm of thought)
With these considerations in mind, I take a moment to examine my own feelings about Singapore. There are three different perspectives, three different coloured spectacles with which Singapore can be observed.
The first is purely material. If you enjoy shopping for clothes then Singapore is for you. The whole nation seems to be built around working and shopping. On clothing items there are genuine bargains to be found and so to shop for clothes here is practical and pragmatic. However the growing consumer construction around shopping as an ecstasy-filled experience might be described by some as hedonism. It certainly doesn't hold my interest for that long.
The second set of spectacles is around the 'double take' - the sense in which you need to look twice to get the full picture. On first glance - Singapore might appear to be an aspirational South East Asian nation working hard to raise its standard of living, participate in the global economy and be just like any Western nation. It sports an economy of educated middle-class professionals, an organised hierarchial municipal layout and a highly efficient modern train system. At first glance - a model nation.
During my time at Uni I spent a number fo years learning the principles behind the privileges granted to Australians under our Constitution. From a dubiously titled text we learned about freehold title to real property, organised under the Torrens system. Under this system - millions of Australians take out mortgages and spend their lives working to pay off a piece of land that cold in theory be passed down through generations of this Australian family adinfintum.
The system in Singapore is somewhat different. Instead of freehold title to a block of land or apartment - nearly everyone lives in Strata apartments built and owned by the government. Instead of a mortgage to purhase title, you have to take out a loan (for roughly the price of a Sydney house) to purchase an 80 year lease on an Apartment. You spend the rest of your life working to pay off this property- a property for which your hard worked-for legal title will soon vanish into the ether!
What incredible injustice!
Whilst the actual income taxes are relatively low, on top of that the locals are effectively paying the government a large quantity fo their income through a hidden property tax, for which they get little real property title in return.
All of Singapore's grand infrastructure can be viewed through this lens. Efficient trains, the highway system, the military are funded by the sweat of hardworking Singaporeans. I feel a sense of guilt holding onto the gleaming chrome handlebars on the trains, knowing how it was paid for.
(Putting on a philosophical purists's hat for a moment - this is effectively cultural judgmentalism. If you examine this from the point of view of a modern day Sudanese refugee - or ancient Egyptian construction slave - you might think that it's not too bad!)
I suppose achieveing a sense of balanced cultural perspective is the reason that Australians value travel - in addition to collecting anecdotes. I'm a little wary of this because it seems to make you apathetic to unjust situations.
The third set of spectacles flows from the second. In this view - Singapore is not in fact a Western style nation. It is in fact a Corporation - a Property Trust to be precise. There are no citizens - there are customers or tennants. There are no laws, merely body corporate regulations.
This helps to explain the flavour of the government's promotional literature in brochures and billboards. The tone is reminicent of the imperial doublespeak of Corporate spindoctoring.
This I think is the most fitting set of spectacles in which to view Singapore, Pty Ltd.
Of course the philosophical purists among you will argue that anthropological cultural criticism is invalid because your observations of any external culture are not relative to an absolute benchmark, but relative to your own culture.
From an academic standpoint this is valid. You are biased before you begin. From a practical perspective my view is that if you take the sum of the perceived reactions of several different cultures across the spectrum of history and demographics you can approximate a reasonably objective benchmark. (However - too much of this sort of logic leads to constructions in humanistic philosophy - which is dangerous....'Triumph of the human spirit' - indeed!)
Philosophical purism aside - the point of a travel monologue is vaguely engaging literary prose filled with political incorrectness, cultural judgments and local oddities. (Empathy and humour are dipoles in the realm of thought)
With these considerations in mind, I take a moment to examine my own feelings about Singapore. There are three different perspectives, three different coloured spectacles with which Singapore can be observed.
The first is purely material. If you enjoy shopping for clothes then Singapore is for you. The whole nation seems to be built around working and shopping. On clothing items there are genuine bargains to be found and so to shop for clothes here is practical and pragmatic. However the growing consumer construction around shopping as an ecstasy-filled experience might be described by some as hedonism. It certainly doesn't hold my interest for that long.
The second set of spectacles is around the 'double take' - the sense in which you need to look twice to get the full picture. On first glance - Singapore might appear to be an aspirational South East Asian nation working hard to raise its standard of living, participate in the global economy and be just like any Western nation. It sports an economy of educated middle-class professionals, an organised hierarchial municipal layout and a highly efficient modern train system. At first glance - a model nation.
During my time at Uni I spent a number fo years learning the principles behind the privileges granted to Australians under our Constitution. From a dubiously titled text we learned about freehold title to real property, organised under the Torrens system. Under this system - millions of Australians take out mortgages and spend their lives working to pay off a piece of land that cold in theory be passed down through generations of this Australian family adinfintum.
The system in Singapore is somewhat different. Instead of freehold title to a block of land or apartment - nearly everyone lives in Strata apartments built and owned by the government. Instead of a mortgage to purhase title, you have to take out a loan (for roughly the price of a Sydney house) to purchase an 80 year lease on an Apartment. You spend the rest of your life working to pay off this property- a property for which your hard worked-for legal title will soon vanish into the ether!
What incredible injustice!
Whilst the actual income taxes are relatively low, on top of that the locals are effectively paying the government a large quantity fo their income through a hidden property tax, for which they get little real property title in return.
All of Singapore's grand infrastructure can be viewed through this lens. Efficient trains, the highway system, the military are funded by the sweat of hardworking Singaporeans. I feel a sense of guilt holding onto the gleaming chrome handlebars on the trains, knowing how it was paid for.
(Putting on a philosophical purists's hat for a moment - this is effectively cultural judgmentalism. If you examine this from the point of view of a modern day Sudanese refugee - or ancient Egyptian construction slave - you might think that it's not too bad!)
I suppose achieveing a sense of balanced cultural perspective is the reason that Australians value travel - in addition to collecting anecdotes. I'm a little wary of this because it seems to make you apathetic to unjust situations.
The third set of spectacles flows from the second. In this view - Singapore is not in fact a Western style nation. It is in fact a Corporation - a Property Trust to be precise. There are no citizens - there are customers or tennants. There are no laws, merely body corporate regulations.
This helps to explain the flavour of the government's promotional literature in brochures and billboards. The tone is reminicent of the imperial doublespeak of Corporate spindoctoring.
This I think is the most fitting set of spectacles in which to view Singapore, Pty Ltd.
posted by Unknown | 12:30 PM
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