Inculcating the Needy

 

Chinese New Year begins this week, and Singapore will enjoy what counts for a long public holiday (Thursday and Friday).  The Passengers are going to Lombok for some tropical relaxation in Indonesia.  We will be sure to put up a couple of pictures.

As in many cultures, new-year festivities are a chance for new and better beginnings. Chinese traditions associated with the lunar new year include spending time with family, carrying out a massive cleaning of the home, and giving to charity. We received the above solicitation for donations to the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society tucked inside our gas/electric/water bill from SP Services.

THKMS is a major good-works organization here. They run their own hospital and retirement homes.  We walked past one on Saturday while exploring the old Peranakan neighborhoods around East Coast Road. Donations to the charity are not only tax deductible, but the Inland Revenue of Singapore will automatically factor in the donation when they prepare your annual tax assessment.  Sometimes it helps to think of this island as a family business rather than a city-state.

Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society's appeal for donations.

Be sure to read the above appeal for donations written in English (Click the picture for a larger image.). It's a great example of written English as practiced in Singapore. It is generally technically correct, though occasionally a few articles and nouns get omitted where they would not be used in Chinese syntax. It reads very differently from copy written for British or American non-profits. Sometimes Chinese terms like "ancestor village" receive rather awkward direct translations. Other times older English usage has remained from colonial times: "Granny Yang is at peace too with her present lot..."

When Freshening Can't Wait

Sometimes you end up having a drink at Harry's.

 One can find a Harry's (sound alert) bar just about anywhere in Singapore. I can assure you that almost every new mall, office building, or retail development that opened in the last four years has one of these corporate watering holes. The drinks are just on the wrong side of overpriced. The house wine is usually undrinkable. Harry's Premium Lager is a weak, stale brew. Yet multiple locations regularly host quality live music, and they will most likely have a television tuned to the F1 race, cricket test, or tennis final that you want to see.

Quick! Call the Freshening Singapore Hotline. We haven't a moment to lose.

More importantly, I had to show you all this towelette packet from the Harry's underneath the Esplanade theatres.  It came with some very specific instructions. However, if a freshening emergency does arise, you can call their hotline.

The parent company Harry's Holdings Ltd also operates a boutique hotel, a nightclub, and three restaurants.  They also have a catering business and the license for the Gymboree franchise in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Keeping it Clean Online in Southeast Asia

MICA Minster Lui Tuck Yew. (Image: Straits Times)

The Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts in Singapore said today that the internet is too expansive for the Singaporean government to block viewers from accessing all undesirable content online.  However, internet service providers (ISPs) in Singapore are required by the MICA to exclude users from 100 websites as "a symbolic statement of our community's stand on harmful and undesirable content on the Internet."  The ministry uses censorship in pursuit of its rather milquetoast stated goals "to nurture, amongst Singaporeans, a deep passion for the country, and to inspire Singaporeans to explore, take pride in, and celebrate our identity."  Of course, these measures don't come close to censorship practices in China, where the government recently boasted that in 2010  they blocked 60,000 websites filled with obscenity and pornography, a category that includes political satire.

Men in Jakarta, Indonesia, checking their smartphones. (Image: Yahoo! News file photo)

In similar news, the majority Muslim nation of Indonesia announced today that it has won concessions from with the makers of Blackberry smartphones to keep pornography off the popular handheld devices.  The Communication and Information Technology Minister in that country has given Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion two weeks to placate the ministry.   The Minster baldly stated, "If in the next two weeks, RIM fails to comply with the order by January 21, we will revoke its permit." The encrypted and unfettered connectivity provided by RIM's addictive business gadget drew scrutiny in 2010 from Indonesia and the governments of Saudi Arabia, India, and the UAE.