Singapura! Singapore Part III

Day 03 (19 March 2008)

My classmates and I had two visits today. The first one was a visit to the IMF-Singapore Regional Training Centre - a dedicated centre for upgrading and enhancing the knowledge and skills in ensuring the stability of financial systems in this region.

During the Q&A session, I dropped a bomb to one of the speakers on the shortcomings of the report for the Article IV Consultation. While the Director of the Centre himself agreed to the limitations that I've mentioned, he, however, insisted that the host countries need to be more transparent and cooperative.

Lunch after the session with IMF training centre

The second visit was to the Association of Banks in Singapore. Again, nothing much that I gained from this visit, except that the Association themselves actively issued standardised operational rules and procedures to its members. I guess if the Association of Banks in Malaysia were to do the same thing, this will facilitate the regulator to focus on more pertinent matters rather than daily operational routines.

After the two visits, we were allowed to do our own things. Aishah, Esther, Huanu, Jibrail and I decided to visit the financial district, Marina Bay (to see the iconic merlion) and Little India. And here are some of the pictures taken during the jalang-jalang:

Can you see the Maybank building? According to the ABS, Maybank is one of the key player in SME financing in Singapore

This is where Datuk Siti Nurhaliza will be performing for her special concert on (last) 21 March 2008

At last we managed to find a less "dirty" restaurant in the Little India area which serves pure vegetarian food

Day 04 (20 March 2008)

Today is the final day of our fieldtrip. We had three lectures in the morning before having a lunch buffet, thank God, not at the Mayflower chinese restaurant. The food, however, was not as good as those served in the SEACEN training centre or any banking or finance courses in Kuala Lumpur.

This pictures were taken on my bus journey to Melaka:

While the Singaporean immigration team was very efficient at the Changi International Airport, nevertheless, their team at the causeway was less efficient and not customer-friendly. It took us a while to get through the security check and I was informed by the bus driver it took longer time now because the authority is still searching for the escaped Mas Selamat. Hmmm... I wonder why it takes them too long to find this fella since I was made to believe that Singapore, like the UK, has so many CCTV installed aimed at combating crime and addressing security concerns. I guess we can't 100% depends on the technology alone. Another important lesson to take note by the authority in Malaysia.

Anyhow, it was an eye opening fieldtrip for me. Goodbye, Singapura!

In the middle of the journey, the bus stopped at Kim Guan restaurant in Ayer Itam. I personally think that this restaurant should be regulated and supervised by the authority because they charged the customer unreasonable prices. I had half a plate of rice, a small one-piece fried chicken and fried sawi - they charged me RM6! At least, the foodcourt in the Suria KLCC charged me 50 sen less for the same menu. Does this mean that cost of living in Ayer Itam is much higher than in Kuala Lumpur?

Insya-Allah, I will never buy anything from the Kim Guan restaurant in the future, and neither my family too.

Singapura, Singapore! Part II

Day 02 (18 March 2008)
Another day with various talks by some top academicians, including Dr. Dennis Wu, a Malaysian who is now attached with the Institute of South East Asian Studies. Well, nothing much that I can share here because most of the facts are those obvious facts.

Thank God, the afternoon session was occupied to visit to the Tourism Board and the infamous Sentosa Island. According to the official from the Tourism Board, there are many interesting projects on the plate for stimulating the tourism sector in Singapore.

Once again, Sentosa Island is not as impressive as other island destinations, but it is run professionally and branded successfully.

At night, I had a dinner with my ex-classmates, Azhan and Sabrina at an Indian restaurant. Azhan came with his wife, Zuraidah. Thanks, Azhan for the lovely dinner.

Singapura, Singapore!

I know I'd promised to update my fieldtrip on a daily basis, but unfortunately my itinerary was just too packed! We've lectures and talks from 9 to 5, and it took us awhile to get to the city centre since the university is NOT connected to the MRT line. The nearest MRT station is Boon Lay, which is a few kilometres away. By the time I returned to where we stay, it's already midnight and I was too tired to sit in front of my laptop. Once again, sorry!

Nevertheless, here is the summary of my Singapore fieldtrip.

Day 01 (17 March 2008)

We had good lectures on Singaporean economy and their success stories given by the Permenant Secretary to the Economic Development Board and another two top academicians from the National University of Singapore.

In summary, despite of those obvious advantages, Singapore does have several inherited disadvantages:

• few natural resources
• small domestic market
• heavy dependence on trade
• dependence on foreigners
• price taker in international markets
• impotence of traditional monetary & fiscal policies
• vulnerability to external shocks

However, the Singaporean government, so far, has put in place an unorthodox demand management and pragmatic policies such as growing second and third wings.

Lunch @Mayflower Restaurant

Talk on multiculturalism by Dr. Norman Vasu

Jalan-jalan in Ochard Road

Jalan-Jalan to Night Safari

At night, I led a group of 20 students on a challenging trip to the city centre. Why I said challenging is because we never short of dramas. From taking a bus to buying MRT ticket, we distruped the efficiency of Singaporean public transport!

Thank God, our big group was then divided into a few smaller groups and this time I led a group of Chinese students strolling along the infamous Orchard Road.

At exactly 8pm, my six Chinese friends and I were joined by 10 more students at in front of Hyatt, to take a bus to the Night Safari. To whoever who have been to a safari, Night Safari in Singapore is not as impressive as other safaris elsewhere, especially in terms of size. Nevertheless, this safari is professionally run and its marketing arm has successfully created a considerable brand. I guess this is another area that Tourism Malaysia could learn from their counterpart.

Hello Merlion!

Alhamdulillah, I've safely arrived in Singapore last night at about 10.30 pm. So far, Singapore is as efficient as the last time I visited her in 1998. May be the Custome and Immigration Department else where (specially in United Kingdom and Malaysia) could organise a fieldwork or lawatan sambil bekerja as it called by PAS to learn how efficient their counterpart in Singapore are.

Another quick and limited observation at the Changi International Airport, in general the stewardesses looked less glamourous as their counterparts observed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

I will write more about my Singapore fieldtrip at the end of each day so that I may adequately make current and spontaneous observation. Until then, let me share with you some pictures that I took on the day before I arrived in Singapore.



This picture is taken in front of my flat. And I suspect it's a funeral of a person with considerate wealth, or at least the deceased has a wealthy family. But I was wondering why there were two caskets. One is in the black car and another one was pulled by the two horses. Were there two dead bodies?

This reminds me how excited I was during my childhood time every time I heard the sound of "dung dung ceh, dung dung ceh!" My two sisters and I will run to our compound and wait for the lori mayat to pass by which followed by a big and loud entourage. Some played musical instruments, some wore special attire made of sacks and walking with sad faces. While one or two threw away rectangular yellowish papers with chinese character, a couple of young boys carried sugarcanes which were tied with red cloth.

Do they still do this in Melaka?



The above picture was the dinner served on the Emirates, and the picture below was the lunch. I personally think that in terms of food, MAS and SIA serve the best and the tastiest food on board. However, in terms of service, MAS stewardesses are the best and no wonder they keep winning the World's Best Cabin crew for seven years in a row. Emirates' was just at par with JAL and BA but uncomparable with MAS and SIA.

I was so shocked to found that a British lady was doing this in the same flight that I was in. Well, no manners are now officially applies on British too!