Weekend in S'pore<\/p>\n
My son, who happens to work in Singapore, invited me to spend
\nmy weekend there on Feb. 17, 1995, and I enjoyed a wonderful time
\nin Asia's 'Garden City.'<\/p>\n
If I say that the government takes good care of its citizens,
\nby providing proper housing, efficient transportation and jobs, I
\nwould only parrot other foreigners' impression. Further, the city
\ntries its utmost to preserve the environment in its natural
\nstate. Parks, gardens and the trees on both sides of the streets
\nare well taken care of and even the water in the harbor is clean.
\nIt seems that cleanliness and discipline are of prime importance
\nto Singapore, and I did not seen any graffiti on buildings or
\nwalls.<\/p>\n
I believe that all the top names of car makes are found in
\nSingapore -- Jaguars (England), Saab (Sweden), Holden (Australia)
\nFerrari (Italy), Proton Saga (Malaysia), and of course the
\nJapanese makes. However, only affluent people can own a car,
\nbecause to purchase a car, one has to secure a certificate of
\nentitlement, which is expensive and takes up to five years to
\nobtain.<\/p>\n
As in Japan and the United States, water from the house faucet
\ncan be drunk without first boiling it.<\/p>\n
We visited Santosa island, which impressed me greatly. The
\ngardens are well-kept and the restaurants that cater to the
\ntourists are spotlessly clean and the food is reasonably priced.
\nI didn't see any flies around or piles of garbage.<\/p>\n
Many affluent Jakartans of Chinese ancestry send their
\nchildren to Singapore to study, where they can learn the
\nMandarin, Chinese, English and Malay languages.<\/p>\n
There is an ancient Japanese proverb: i-shokujyu tarite
\nreisetsu wo shiru, which means \"a man knows courtesy, if the
\nessentials of life, namely food, clothing and shelter are
\navailable.\" Singapore citizens can buy a government-built
\napartment and pay it in installments for 30 years. So every man
\nearning a salary can afford to buy an apartment.<\/p>\n
A. DJUANA<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/weekend-in-spore-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }