some very singaporean things

here's a few things i observed during my weekend breakfast trips to the market/ hawker center that i thought are very singaporean heartland, or for that matter, just very singaporean!

• driving up the multi-storey car park and after parking my car, a lady stopped by and reminded me that the lot i parked in was a red and white lot (i.e. for residents), and added that i should be mindful that the roving attendants patrol the car park very frequently. singaporeans share a common "enemy" and band together against the very "on-the-ball" car park attendants!

• wheeling mum out of the roof top open air car park and people holding the lift for me. and later on wheeling mum out of the lift on the roof top car park and people offering to use their umbrella to shield me from the light drizzle as i wheel mum to the car. many singaporeans are kind at heart and never fail to reach out to people whom they think needs help.

• walking along the shops on the ground floor of the public housing flats and bumping into a minister (yes, a minister of the singapore government and not the church minister) mingling around and chatting with residents. see this quite often actually, regardless of whether the ward is that of the ruling or opposition party. unlike many countries where people often live in areas so large they hardly see the people they elect, here, the city state is so small we cross different wards  every day to the extend that we forgot they are "different". and also becos of this, we see politicians (office holders or otherwise) rather frequently.

• eating at the hawker center and having the flexibility to choose food from the different races, or for that matter, food of different races being sold by member of another race (e.g. chinese selling mee rebus, or malays selling hainanese chicken rice, or lagi more interesting, chinese selling vegetarian mee rebus). singaporeans are a lucky lot to be able to enjoy the best of the different cultures.

• groups of elderly uncles and aunties congregating at their favorite corner of the hawker center chatting away, and once a while, one or two uncles would break into songs and dance. quite interesting indeed. and often we can see people stopping by to cheer them on. at the hawker center, public entertainment act does not exist? haha... it is nice to see our senior citizens having fun, and i feel extra warm to hear them sing old hokkien songs, songs that my nanny sang when i was a kid.

well... these are the little things that i enjoy and appreciate when i visit the market on weekends. it is not just the food, but rather, the ability to enjoy the singaporean culture that makes my visits meaningful and fun. and it happens all the time, we just need to observe and listen.

:-)