I fell in love with Singapore the first time I went there. In Feb 2003. It was clean, it was efficient, easy to get around, Asian and everyone spoke English. Yes, it was a little warm - but the airconditioning worked very well.
I was fascinated by the amalgamation of Colonial, Chinese, Arab and Indian influences - and the Komala Vilas in Serangoon Lane with its wobbly wooden chairs reminded me of my grandfathers house in Patan. And the food reminded me of the multitude of ingredients in Indian cooking that I had forgotten about in the last 16 years.
I heard of the SARS outbreak from an anxious VP in my company - who had heard about it in the US and wanted to make sure I was safe. I was safe, and was leaving for the US in a couple of days !
It was an anxious time - as the US was also about to invade Iraq. I remember going into the Admirals Club lounge in Tokyo and seeing all the Americans huddled around the TV seeing the early reports - and thought that this is what it is like to be away from your home in difficult times.
Anyway, I returned to my life in the US even as SARS continued its deathly toll in Asia, including Singapore. 6 months later - in July that year - I was invited back to visit Singapore. It was a whole different country. This was a country that had battled with SARS and won, and emerged more serious and determined from that struggle.
It started with the elaborate card I had to fill out for the Health Authorities telling them whether or not I had had any recent illnesses, the seat I was sitting in , my last address, where I was going to be in SGP, the seat I had occupied on the plane, and where I was planning to go next. Then I had to have my temperature taken and wear a sticker indicating that I was fever free. Then I was allowed into the country - where every one wore gloves and masks despite the heat.
Over the next few days, I found that every building I entered I needed to get a new fever sticker.
When I returned to the Komala Vilas - I saw that they had installed 2 large sinks in the restaurant - not in the bathrooms, but out just where we sat in full public view. What was more, people were actually using them to wash their hands with soap and all. Weird !
I went to a fancy restaurant with live music by the river - beautiful ambience - and then the same sinks again. I asked my host what this was about - "Oh that is for washing hands! Every restaurant is required to have these in public areas. When the SARS epidemic was raging through the city - they published detailed films on how to wash your hands . How to get to the spots that most people miss . You are supposed to wash your hands for a full 2 mins" !!! The front, the backs, the fingers, the finger nails, the mounts on the palms, the sides - I never realized my hand had so many unique part.
Last week I was in the washroom of one of the hotels - and I saw this beautiful Singaporean lady standing at the sink washing her hands. She let some water run over it. Then she squirted a generous amount of soap. And then she proceeded to lather up the soap for a good 2 mins - it was a mechanical routine action - kind of like the Swiss women brushing their teeth - before she rinsed them off.
I had had the opportunity to witness the impact of this deadly disease from afar through reports from my colleagues in Singapore, and then again when I visited during the summer of 2003. But this was the first time that I realized this was a country where they had stopped the onward spread of SARS through sheer will power and determination.
I was fascinated by the amalgamation of Colonial, Chinese, Arab and Indian influences - and the Komala Vilas in Serangoon Lane with its wobbly wooden chairs reminded me of my grandfathers house in Patan. And the food reminded me of the multitude of ingredients in Indian cooking that I had forgotten about in the last 16 years.
I heard of the SARS outbreak from an anxious VP in my company - who had heard about it in the US and wanted to make sure I was safe. I was safe, and was leaving for the US in a couple of days !
It was an anxious time - as the US was also about to invade Iraq. I remember going into the Admirals Club lounge in Tokyo and seeing all the Americans huddled around the TV seeing the early reports - and thought that this is what it is like to be away from your home in difficult times.
Anyway, I returned to my life in the US even as SARS continued its deathly toll in Asia, including Singapore. 6 months later - in July that year - I was invited back to visit Singapore. It was a whole different country. This was a country that had battled with SARS and won, and emerged more serious and determined from that struggle.
It started with the elaborate card I had to fill out for the Health Authorities telling them whether or not I had had any recent illnesses, the seat I was sitting in , my last address, where I was going to be in SGP, the seat I had occupied on the plane, and where I was planning to go next. Then I had to have my temperature taken and wear a sticker indicating that I was fever free. Then I was allowed into the country - where every one wore gloves and masks despite the heat.
Over the next few days, I found that every building I entered I needed to get a new fever sticker.
When I returned to the Komala Vilas - I saw that they had installed 2 large sinks in the restaurant - not in the bathrooms, but out just where we sat in full public view. What was more, people were actually using them to wash their hands with soap and all. Weird !
I went to a fancy restaurant with live music by the river - beautiful ambience - and then the same sinks again. I asked my host what this was about - "Oh that is for washing hands! Every restaurant is required to have these in public areas. When the SARS epidemic was raging through the city - they published detailed films on how to wash your hands . How to get to the spots that most people miss . You are supposed to wash your hands for a full 2 mins" !!! The front, the backs, the fingers, the finger nails, the mounts on the palms, the sides - I never realized my hand had so many unique part.
Last week I was in the washroom of one of the hotels - and I saw this beautiful Singaporean lady standing at the sink washing her hands. She let some water run over it. Then she squirted a generous amount of soap. And then she proceeded to lather up the soap for a good 2 mins - it was a mechanical routine action - kind of like the Swiss women brushing their teeth - before she rinsed them off.
I had had the opportunity to witness the impact of this deadly disease from afar through reports from my colleagues in Singapore, and then again when I visited during the summer of 2003. But this was the first time that I realized this was a country where they had stopped the onward spread of SARS through sheer will power and determination.
No comments:
Post a Comment