Only in Singapore, Part 1

God blessed us with free will. As a result, we have made some interesting choices and decisions that result in what we accept as being cultural differences, quirks or peculiarities. As an outsider looking in, here are some of the things that makes Singapore special. (The wife agrees that most of these are local oddities, though if anyone has any contrary examples, we'd like to hear of them)

1) Everyone has seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers (either the original or one of its many remakes, ignoring the Invasion) in which people are being quietly replaced by [space] pod clones. Everyday, around the lunch hour, people here are being replaced by - packs of tissue!? Here's the situation. You've just entered the food court and you're looking for a table for you and your friends. As far as your eye can see, empty seats appear to be everywhere, no problem, you'd think, right? Wrong. As you walk up to the seats, a strange sight appears right before your eyes, packs of tissue are carefully placed here and there on the seats. Slowly, but surely, these are replaced by people, with food in hand, that are the owners of these little packets of tissue. This phenomenon is known as choping (that's not a typo), and is generally respected. As much as it is an idiotic notion to me, when in Rome... So next time you think you spot an empty seat, be warned, don't get your hopes up. Somewhere, somehow, some impatient person expects you to honour that little packet quietly mocking you. Now if only the cleaning person came by quicker to clear the garbage....

2) Outside of certain parts of Bangkok (this is heresay of course, I haven't yet been to Thailand), I think Singapore is home to the largest she-male population in Asia (I daresay the world). They're not as exotic as their Thai cousins, but they can be just as hard to distinguish. From a distance it looks like a normal couple walking down the street, a woman and you presume, a man (or a girl and a boy, whichever tickles your fancy). They may look like men, dress like men, but, look closer. Hanging from their shoulder and tucked carefully under their arm, is a purse/handbag. Let me assure you, this is not an isolated incident. This is so prevalent that it has even made the news recently. The emasculated try to convince or console themselves that they are doing this because they love their significant other or they are being chivalrous. I'm not saying I've never held my wife's purse, I've done it for those times when she needs her hands free. Those are for brief moments, not as if it was my accessory and not hers. There are plenty of other ways to demonstrate your love and that you cherish her. Although I can't be sure what Meatloaf was referring to, you can be sure that I won't do that. (Of course, I may be overanalyzing this. After all, National Service is compulsory only for males...)

3) Registration of a marriage and the reception doesn't occur on the same day. I know some cultures have weddings that span several days, but this is not what I'm referring to. I'm talking like a Saturday in March and another one in November. The reason? A flat. Singapore has a very high rate of home ownership, much of it thanks to the government's public housing scheme that attempts to make it accessible and affordable. But of course, it goes without saying, there are rules (like MacDonald's has hamburgers served) around ownership, such that it among other things, favours married couples. This has led to:

1. people first registering their marriages with the state in order to be able to buy public housing and having the ceremony and reception at a much later date, and
2. to a not unheard of way of proposing where the "guy" (methinks the same ones above, who have misplaced their cajones) to propose by asking their beloved whether or not "they would like to buy an HDB together?"

I'm sure there are many other such examples just waiting to be discovered. Stay tuned.