Singapore Insights from the Inside First published March 2015 Copyright © 2015 Singapore International Foundation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Published by: Candid Creation Publishing LLP 167 Jalan Bukit Merah #06-12 Connection One Tower 4 Singapore 150167 Website: www.SingaporeBookPublisher.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/CandidCreationPublishing National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Singapore, insights from the inside. Volume 2 / editor, Richard Hartung. – Singapore : Candid Creation Publishing, 2015. pages cm “Singapore International Foundation” ISBN : 978-981-09-3504-7 (hardcover) 1. National characteristics, Singaporean. 2. Singapore – Social life and customs. 3. Singapore – Foreign public opinion. I. Title. II. Hartung, Richard, 1956- editor. III. Singapore International Foundation. DS609.9 959.57 -- dc23 OCN900442762 Singapore Insights from the Inside Editor: Richard Hartung Contents Foreword viii Tommy Koh Preface xi Jean Tan Introduction xiii Richard Hartung What Makes Singapore Tick? Is Singapore the Perfect Country for our Times? 2 Andrés Martinez The Singapore Scent 7 Vishnu Swaminathan Emergent Communities are Changing Singapore 12 Grace Sai Singapore—“Can, Can” 17 Mark Howard Contrasts 22 Fu Jun Cosmopolis Singapore—A Beacon of Positive Change 27 in a Diverse World? Andy Holley Eight Dimensions of Singapore 32 Ibrahim Gambari Singaporeans Really do Speak Up 37 Campbell Wilson An Inside-Out View of the Academy 41 Kanti Bajpai Connecting Communities through the Arts 46 Sheriden Newman You Should Hold Up the Sky of the Land Where You Live 51 Cynthia Chang Digital Animation Takes off in Singapore 56 Noraset Rerkkachornkiat Value Reengineering Care for the Elderly 60 Glenn D Steele Jr Pursuing my Passion for Pasta 65 Salvatore Carecci Going Green 69 Lance Ourednik The Heart and Soul of Clockwork Singapore 73 Kavita Choudhry Recollection: Initiation of the First Singapore Biennale 78 Fumio Nanjo A Constant Sojourn 83 Sherman Ong The Botanic Gardens are Singapore’s True Heritage 88 Nigel P Taylor What It’s Like to Live in Singapore I Want to Give Back 94 Raymundo Yu Jr Inspiring Singapore through Art 100 Andrew Mead Growing a Business and a Family in Singapore 106 Glenn van Zutphen What is Singapore? 111 Yuhyun Park Paths of Memory, Identity and Belonging 116 Boedi Widjaja The Blue-Eyed Mandarin Speaker 120 Jim Rogers Making Singapore My Home 125 Odile Benjamin Visitors Made Singapore Special 130 Amanda Brooks Singapore: A Model City 135 Stephen Riady Making an Impact with Empact 140 Peter Yang What is There Not to Love about Singapore? 146 Rodrigo Martinez Reflections on Working in Singapore 150 Doyle G Graham Making the World a Better Place Through Martial Arts 154 Chatri Sityodtong Teaching Everyone to Create a Delicious Fusion of Flavours 159 Annette Lang Sharing Singapore’s Boundless Natural Treasures 164 Shawn Lum Singapore Overseas My Relationship with Singapore 170 M Ridwan Kamil Insights from a Conservation Scientist in Singapore 174 Madhu Rao Culture that Connects and Binds 179 Kamsiah Kamaruddin Revolution Project—Singapore and Melbourne 184 Andria Hutchins Singapore, The Compassionate 190 Haruhisa Takeuchi Born in Malaysia, Raised in Singapore, Worked in India, 193 and Still “Kiasu” Andrew Yin Connected-for-Good in Singapore 198 Lynna Chandra Loving Singapore 202 Kyoko Hasegawa Singapore and the UK: Reflections 206 Antony Phillipson Creating Deeper Thinkers through Art 211 Esther Joosa What Attracts Me About Singapore Colleagues? 216 Hoang Thu Hien The Start-up City for Social Entrepreneurs 221 Prukalpa Sankar A Fellowship for Good 226 Kanlaya Kampan Harnessing Cross-Causeway Friendships for Good 231 Mohd Souffi Mohd Radzi Together We Will Build a Better World 234 Zhou Ji Pay It Forward 239 Dimas Harry Priawan Foreword TOMMY KOH I believe that a better world begins with better understanding between people of different countries and cultures. I therefore congratulate the Singapore International Foundation for launching the second volume of Singapore: Insights from the Inside. I am delighted that 50 of our foreign friends have, once again, generously shared their insights and experiences. I have enjoyed reading the 50 Singapore stories and thank the writers for their kind words and praise for Singapore’s innovativeness, cultural vibrancy, and stewardship as a responsible global citizen. I am equally thankful for their critique and well-meaning advice. Our friends tell us that we can be too anxious for results and too focused on our goals. They remind us not to lose our culture and heritage amidst rapid urbanisation, and to renew our commitment to appreciate and conserve our native flora and fauna. They see the social challenges that have emerged as Singapore develops and suggest embracing our cosmopolitanism and leveraging our social diversity’s huge potential for innovation. They encourage more ground-up initiatives among Singaporeans to grow community. viii | Singapore: Insights from the Inside—Volume II As we celebrate Singapore’s golden jubilee this year, we need both loving critics and critical lovers as we chart the course for the next 50 years. Our friends have not only provided us with food to reflect on what Singapore is, but also to envisage what we can be and what we collectively can do to build a better world. Tommy Koh Ambassador-at-Large Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore: Insights from the Inside—Volume II | ix The Singapore International Foundation makes friends for a better world. We build enduring relationships between Singaporeans and world communities, and harness these friendships to enrich lives and effect positive change. Our work is anchored in the belief that cross-cultural interactions provide insights that strengthen understanding. These exchanges inspire action and enable collaborations for good. Our programmes bring people together to share ideas, skills and experiences in areas such as healthcare, education, the environment, arts and culture, as well as livelihood and business. We do this because we believe we all can, and should, do our part to build a better world, one we envision as peaceful, inclusive and offering opportunities for all. x | Singapore: Insights from the Inside—Volume II Preface JEAN TAN We published the first book in the Insights from the Inside series to gather the unique insights and personal perspectives of members of the international community who have lived, worked or studied in Singapore, and to answer the question, What is Singapore? so that many more, including ourselves, might come to know Singapore better. We were heartened by the enthusiasm of 31 friends who readily contributed stories that shed light on who we are as a people and shared lesser-known facets of Singapore. We were so greatly encouraged that we are publishing the second volume with an expanded collection of Singapore insights. In celebration of Singapore’s 50th year of independence, we have put together 50 essays about Singapore’s head, heart, and soul. They are written by a cross-section of friends of Singapore, including arts and cultural professionals, business people and social entrepreneurs, diplomats, academics and social leaders. We are grateful for their contributions and partnership in our mission to foster greater Singapore: Insights from the Inside—Volume II | xi understanding between Singaporeans and world communities to build a better world. Through their 50 stories, our friends share their ideas and experiences to uplift lives, pique interest, and start conversations that will continue in a series of dialogues on What is and What’s next, Singapore which we are organising in cities around the world. Enjoy these Singapore insights from the inside. Jean Tan Executive Director Singapore International Foundation xii | Singapore: Insights from the Inside—Volume II Introduction RICHARD HARTUNG Even for someone who has lived in Singapore for more than two decades, the stories in this book provide surprising and insightful glimpses into facets of Singapore that often remain hidden. From artworks in unexpected places and caring individuals helping the needy to titans of industry strengthening businesses and creative educators or social entrepreneurs transforming society through their innovations, the impact these people have on us is vast. The stories provide more than just entertaining snippets of what life is like in segments of Singapore society. Indeed, they offer us enlightening viewpoints and a depth of understanding about what makes Singapore tick and about the place that visitors and residents alike have come to like so much. And in reading these many stories, several commonalities rose to the fore. First, rather than being bystanders watching the city evolve, writers who live in Singapore are hard at work creating the type of society that they want to live in far into the future. For some, this means creating the cultural richness that adds so much enjoyment and aesthetic pleasure to the lives of Singaporeans as well as others who now call Singapore: Insights from the Inside—Volume II | xiii Singapore home. For others, it is scaling up existing businesses or catching the crest of the latest trends to create something entirely new. And along with helping build a new Singapore, the writers are teaching, coaching, mentoring, or parenting to help friends, family, colleagues, and students grow up to support this new society too. Whether they are residents or visitors, the writers’ love of Singapore peeks through the stories continually as well. Visitors who came here for work or a study tour went away so impressed that they have changed what they do back home or have come back repeatedly to soak in more of the atmosphere. Some came as sceptics who expected to put up with being here for a short while or stay for a short-term assignment but ended up settling down in Singapore for decades—so far.