Monkeying About

London Zoo has just announced an exciting new concept; they are going to allow visitors and primates to interact without any barriers such as glass and cages.

Their apparent aim is to simulate an Amazonian ecosystem somewhere near Euston Road.

While I wish them luck in their endeavours there are those of us who can still remember being harassed by troupes of monkeys in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The scenario was not a pleasant one when I experienced this in 1982.

The zoo's director, a Mr Field, is reportedly "evangelical about tearing down the bars and letting the animals roam free".

A good run around Singapore's McRitchie Reservoir pursued by hungry Macaque monkeys is all he needs to bring him to his senses.

The Selling Art

There are things that you realise you can do without and things that will forever remain precious. And then there are the undefined things that fall somewhere in the middle.

It is almost four years that we have lived in Singapore and when we came one of the largest shipping expenses was the transport of the remnants of a painting collection.

These works have remained propped up against our lounge wall still in their original packing. Whereas once upon a time I would not have felt comfortable without wall festooned with art, I have adopted a more philosophical approach to my immediate environment.

Most of these paintings are from the 1980's when I last put brush to canvas and some of the art from this time is the work of other people.

Scarborough Head - Dusk.........  Roger Smith

When we eventaully return to New Zealand most of these works will not be coming back so I have decided to dispose of them here.  Disposing of art works in Singapore is a surprisingly frought business and being able to produce digital art rather than lugging large canvases around is the way to go.

The numbers are in for the opening month of Singapore's first casino and there has been a surge in the February figures according the the statisticians.  Not surprisingly the biggest group to make up these numbers are from mainland China.

At the other end of the 'entertainment' spectrum we have the forthcoming Youth Olympics.  It would appear that it is a difficult task getting the local populace enthused about this sporting event.  Their minds are still firmly fixed on the new theme park at Sentosa and when the roller coaster, which has been temporarily closed down, will be fully operational again.

The public apathy has not deterred the YOG organisers from pressing ahead and this week the Games Song was released.

One Giant Lick For Mankind

The true story of Christian, the lion who thought he was people

5 Singapore tech inventions that rocked our world

I suspect there have been more than five but here they are:

• Creative Soundblaster sound card
• The original Trek Thumbdrive
• Match.com
• MTech FeverScan S3000
• X-Mini capsule speakers

Read the article

and let's not forget the roller coaster at the new Universal Studies theme park!

Art Portfolio

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

Tiger claws are de rigeur amongst the superstitious and apparently readily available in several Singapore outlets. This disturbing piece of news was featured in the Straits Times today.

Just why one would wish to destroy a beautiful and endangered animal like a tiger simply to become the owner of a tiger claw amulet is beyond me.

Evidently 59 outlets were found to have been trading in tiger body parts last month and only seven claimed to have known anything about the trading ban. Such collective amnesia is hard to believe. Some 320 items were seized.

The government meantime continues to gets its claws intom the prickly subject of productivity. With the recession-proofing subsidies being phased out the emphasis is switching to innovation and increasing the productivity of Singaporeans.

Alongside this is the ongoing battle to get the birth rate up. The latest ploy is a combo meal which comes with a free card game. You have to be a couple, preferably married or about to be, for the game to be any fun according to the promotional advertising.

And even you are feeling so inclined after a straight flush, I have it on good authority that tiger will not be featuring on the combo menu.

Own Goal

Welcome to the world of SingHub; an amalgam of two separate telcos who in the process of vying for the Soccer World Cup rights, managed to alienate most fans and FIFA.

The upshot thus far is that most of soccer-mad Singaporeans will not be able to see the World Cup.

Enter the government with a new set of rules to try and avoid this type of situation ever happening again. The new law means that even if one of the telcos will have to carry exclusive content purchased by another player.

The forces of the open market have not been in the best consumer interest so it will be interesting to see what impact this law has. At the very least it will mean one less box on top of the TV.

Not that any of the above is much interest to me, as I have studiously avoided subscribing to any cable offering, either in New Zealand or here in Singapore.

I hold out for free to air television although the entertainment fare here in Singapore is very patchy and the acting pool severely limited.

Chilly In HK

These past two days I have been revisiting Hong Kong. After the very hot and dry weather in Singapore it has come as quite a shock (and a thermal shock at that) to experience an unseasonal cold snap here.

Hong Kong Grey Day - Roger Smith March 2010

Regrettably I came little prepared for this eventuality and according to a gleeful cabbie, tomorrow will be even colder. The prediction is a minimum of 8 degrees and a maximum of 14.

This is entry has been made in the comfort of my hotel room, with the airconditioning gauge set at a balmy 26 degrees to thaw out my outer extremities.

A drop of 25 degrees in the ambient temperature between the two countries sure puts a dampener on things.

Poles Apart - The Rise of the Litter Lout

Something seriously needs to be done about these litter bugs. There has been some publicity in the press lately explaining how the Council are going to use a non stick paint on its poles, to make it difficult for these tear-tab posters to be glued up.

Non stick paint is not the answer - strict policing is.

If all of the population did as we do and rip down and bin this litter then it would act as a deterrent. Regrettably the local citizenry seem loath to assist the authorities and this apathy (non engagement) seems to be ingrained.

The biggest disincentive though would be to apply a more rigorous campaign of prosecution; after all Singapore has strong laws against littering and it is just a question of policing and following through with the fines.

It is not for the lack of evidence, which is clearly visible on the pole such as the one pictured which was one of many by this litter lout at my bus stop by Forfar Heights in Commonwealth Avenue.

Here are some campaign ideas to curb this plague:

1. Take photos on your mobile phone of the poster and send it to the Environment Ministry. The email address is contact_nea@nea.gov.sg and their customer service line is 1800 225 5632
2. Ring the number on the poster and tell the person that they are litter bugs and should be ashamed of themselves for breaking Singapore laws.
3. Whenever you come across one of these pole posters pull it down and put in in the nearest waste paper bin - do this after you have done numbers 1&2
   

These pole advertisers are a public nuisance and their activity scars the environment.

It is time to get serious and get rid of these pests.

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Please Stand Behind The Yellow Line

Queenstown MRT Station
Roger Smith 3 /2010