Poem - The Wind Before The Rains

The wind before the rains
cooly announcing
the passing of sun
anticipation that the still
will be broken
precipitation that thrills
the soul with its cleansing

Rain without the winds
that I remember still
from lives before
and passing time
for dreaming

Roger Smith
January 2007

Blending In

I have taken an aversion to nonsensical marketing statements, even though I spent many years in marketing myself and can appreciate the value of a good slogan or tag line.

A quick walk or bus ride around Singapore reveals many examples where the English language has either been completely mangled, or abbreviated to such an extent that the original context of the sentence or statement becomes totally obscure.

This morning as I sat on the 111 bus I was invited to "Blend into the intersection of work and play" on a large billboard announcing yet another condominium development.

I would have thought that the concept of "blending into intersections" was promoting an activity that is fraught with danger.

At Christmas, a Japanese manufacturer implored me in tinseled tones to “Celebrate the Real". The real 'what' was never explained and the value of such open-ended statements has to be questioned. (I never did by my new vacuum cleaner from this company).

The concern for the 'mangling' of the English language has even moved to the local newspapers. There is a regular column in the Straits Times dedicated to the worst examples on view in public places.

In far more humorous vein is the The Coxford Singlish Dictionary , a part of the satirical site, TalkingCock. It contains some good writing and ribald commentary and is not for the faint hearted, but fun never the less.

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The panoramic view from our new condominium's lounge window

Chiquitita and Chips

How could we ever forget such eloquent lyrics as: " Chiquitita, you and I know, How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they’re leaving" or "Ring, ring, why don’t you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all" ? While not the greatest of verse, it creators, ABBA, were certainly one of Sweden's most successful exports. In Singapore there is another such export with Swedish connections- in a word, Ikea.

As I have always enjoyed Scandinavian design it has been a great relief to discover low cost furniture with good design principles and of a scale that is suitable to modern apartment living in Singapore.

Not only does the local populace flock to Ikea every weekend they also have taken a shine to the restaurant offerings such as Chicken Wings and Swedish Meatballs (see picture). The meatballs in question vary little in design from the traditional English Meatball but are noticeably smaller.

Lucky I was wearing my reading glasses at time of ordering or I might have missed them on the plate.

Ikea is no 'Johny Come Lately' on the Singaporean scene - it has been here for the past twenty eight years. At the end of 2006 it opened an even bigger megastore at Tampines and did do with a traditional wood cutting ceremony.

Knowing the efficiency of the Swedes, it is quite possible that the table we decided to purchase yesterday was recycled from the same ceremonial log.