You Can Run But You Can't 'Ide

Beware the Ides of March!

So said the soothsayer to Julius Caesar and by my reckoning the 'Ides' remain around the 15th of this month. Today being March 1st therefore promises a good 14 days of normality before the prophecy of doom is made manifest.

The omens are not good however as today's dusk curry (whose virtue I have extolled in the past)at the Asian Civilisation Museum's Indochine restaurant was one tough old bird! Quite disappointing having mingled with the MRT madding crowds as far as Raffles Place just to get to the table overlooking the Singapore River.

While mentioning Indochine, it must be recorded that the service (for that read interest in the customers)was not attentive. To cap the meal off and as we were exiting, I noticed one of the cooks sitting atop a stainless steel food preparation bench. This in full public view as the restaurant has an open kitchen. Just can't get good staff nowadays!

On the subject of "H'iding" there is severe embarrassment all around with the escape of the militant leader of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network, one Mas Selamat Kastari. (pictured)

Heads will surely roll (no pun intended) as the gentleman in question was a major threat and had evaded capture on these shores before, eventually being rounded up by Indonesian police and deported to Singapore several years ago.

To have a man with a pronounced limp, and who was meant to be in a high security environment, break out of a toilet and completely disappear is quite staggering (again no pun intended).

While Interpol have issues a world-wide security alert it would seem that he has successfully flown the coop, no doubt to reappear somewhere in Sumatra in the future.

Such security breaches are very rare in Singapore and the Republic prides itself on the security of its citizens. The confidence of these same citizens, if one believes the Straits Times Forum on this subject, has been severely dented and it doesn't help matters having outsiders making snide remarks about the escape.

Beefy Smells

Body odour is a personal thing.

I recall when I first married into an Asian family one of first things I learnt was that to many Asians, Europeans reek of beef. A simple factor being that meat forms a significant part of the western diet and this is not so in the largely rice diet of Eastern countries.

Dairy products are another point of differentiation . A visit to a New Zealand small cheese producer once elicited a bout of dry retching from one of my sisters-in-law.

It is therefore not surprising to learn through a recent British TV science programme that certain diets result in stronger body odours than others.

A scientific test proved that a curry diet was most prominent amongst the odours that lingered, through the pores of the skin.

Having sat on Singaporean public transport these past two years I can vouch that this is so!

There have been a number of complaints in the newspaper in recent times about the quality or lack of airconditioning on the MRT in peak hours. With the increase in taxi fares more and more people are resorting to public transport.

The government's response has been to increase the frequency of buses and trains which is good news for those of us who queue in the mornings.

Heroism & Hazy Recollections

My 'day job' is at the National University of Singapore, more specifically working in their Alumni Office.

All of us are looking forward to the May move into our new premises - a purpose built home for returning alumni.

Regrettably though, two days ago on the afternoon of February 22nd, a large 60 metre crane working on the site suffered what was apparently structural failure and crashed to the ground killing three workers. Media reports today have identified the crane driver, a Mr Mohamad Homsen Kassan, as a hero.

He apparently stayed in his cab after shouting a warning and attempted to steer the boom of his crane away from the nearby student bus stop and Business building. By remaining in his cabin he was crushed and was killed in the accident. A brave man!

Visitors and locals alike will be very aware of the hundreds of cranes dotting the Singaporean skyline at the moment as there are a plethora of major projects underway. It is perhaps therefore not surprising that from time to time a crane should malfunction. Apparently though, nobody in recent memory can recall such a catastrophic collapse of a large crane.

Today is Sunday and the haze from the burn-offs in Sumatra are back, although not yet at the lung-clutching levels of late 2006 which we experienced shortly after we arrived in Singapore. It remains to be seen if the prevalent monsoon winds will blow this debris away or towards the country. Either way, Indonesia has once again demonstrated a complete disregard for it its neighbours despite previous assurance that they would crack down on errant plantation owners and small holders.

When you burn off land that amounts to the size of 2,000 football fields no wonder there is a problem.