Day 2 in Singapore

15 May 07 happened to be Graham's birthday.

Sor Hui (USP staff) was very thoughtful to have prepared chocolates (diabetic-friendly ones) as a present for Graham.

Morning lecture was very interesting as the class discussed about the sights and sounds we had experienced over the past week. Several big concepts were discussed. Personally I thought the concept of consumerism was particularly intriguing. At a cursory glance, consumerism seems to be a Western concept. After all, people hanker after branded goods hailing from the West and the large spacious shopping malls in HK and other parts of Asia are actually emulations of shopping malls in the US. However, as we turn the pages of time back to the 18th century, we realize that consumption was centered at products from the Orient. Goods from the East was regarded as exotic and widely sought after. It was only from the 19th century onwards did the Western fad begin to take the world by the storm.

It seems that the trend in consumption does not remain constant over time. The products people favor change over time because what is regarded as exotic and foreign varies as time progresses. Another related concept of consumerism is the celebration of the Golden Week in China. We witnessed a massive influx of Chinese tourists into HK during our stay there as it coincided with the Golden Week. These national holidays were started by the government with the intention to help expand the domestic tourism market and improve the national standard of living. In other words, people are encouraged to travel and spend as much as they can during the Golden Week to support the domestic economy. The underlying message, hence, is that consumerism is an act of patriotism.

I am not too sure if my parents would be convinced by this argument if I ask for more allowance to do shopping during the Great Singapore Sale.

We then visited the Chinese Heritage Centre (CHC) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The ongoing exhibition at CHC was titled Chinese More Or Less: An exhibition on Overseas Chinese Identities. This exhibition was different from the other museums we had visited so far because the exhibits (as well as the guide) kept prompting us into examining the following questions:
How Chinese am I ?
In what sense am I Chinese ?
What does it mean to be Chinese ?

The exhibition was laid out in 3 main portions. We were first led to see portraits of Chinese men and women from different eras, in different places and attires. We were encouraged to think about the commonalities that exist among these vastly different people and identify factors that make them all Chinese. It is clear that environment impact greatly the way of life of people. Many of the Chinese migrants and their descendents looked vastly different from the people back in their hometown because of the new cultures and lifestyles they had embraced.

The second section of the exhibition traced the history of China and the Southeast Asia region. We were led to see how happenings in China impact the lives of Chinese migrants far away from Mainland China itself.

The third section explored the notion of hybrid identities. Composite identities of the Baba or Straits Chinese (Malay and Singapore), the Peranakan Chinese (Netherlands Indies) and the Chinese Mestizo (Spanish Philippines) were introduced to visitors. The mingling of Chinese, Malay and European cultural influences in these identities were evident. Again the exhibits made us ponder if these people can still be considered as Chinese. If so, how Chinese they are. The question is particularly relevant in this era of globalization. As people become increasing mobile, the notion of being Chinese becomes increasingly hard to fathom and pinpoint.

Dinner was at Shatin Restaurant in Geylang Lorong 3.The song Happy Birthday was played as we dined and Graham got a Longevity Peach Bun courtesy of the restaurant.

After durians, the group went over to the even-numbered streets of Geylang to have a look at the redlight district. The nightwalk was certainly a novel experience as many of us were surprised by the vibrancy of our underground economy.

-Hui Ping