Stretch of Road

Like many cities which straddle the traditional and the modern with aplomb, Singapore can give you plenty of sights which give you an idea, over a brief stretch of road, of the worlds Singapore does straddle. Theres traditional architecture, and the modern, humour, and stories (maybe many which we dont even know).

We started the other day at a more traditional part of Singapore, called Arab Street, the history for which you can find here. But of course, pictures are what are needed to complete the picture of the neighbourhood.

It starts with this painting done on the entire wall of a house (of which you can see the window).

A short walk down the street, one comes to a parallel street where the houses are all two-storey, and the architecture part of the heritage that is Singaporean … somewhat like this.

You dont have to look far, though, to see modernity and tradition mixing as neighbours.

A short walk down the street brings you to the iconic Muscat Street (yes, the streets in this part are named after the cities of the Middle Street, and this goes quite well with the ambience, and the food options you find here), with a beautiful view of the Masjid Sultan, which Laurel tells us, is built purely on donations from Muslims of the day, and so, the dome of the mosque rests on bottles, which were donated by a rich trader (glass being a valuable commodity in those days).

Just across the street is the artistically done Malay Heritage Centre.

Of course, some of the folks have a sense of humour, like these folks here, except that when you have caught a cold, you dont really want something cold … maybe vodka shots warmer than … what?

And next door is this beautiful building with a shop whose name could get lost in translation.

Walk around, and you will see street named after the big cities of the Middle East, and one of them is Bussorah Street, where Sushi Express is ready to take you on a Dubaii Escapade.

This is right next door to the artistically walled Sufi’s Corner, with the delicious Baklava.

Further down the road, one would reach Parkview Square, an elegant building, with a beautiful swan ready to take off.

Right next door is this building, which could look strange, given that looked at from certain angles, it almost looks like a 2-dimensional building.

Walking further down, one reaches a part of Singapore which is as modern as it gets, with this mall …

Or this view of the iconic Suntec Towers …

This would be right before one comes across this …

Which is right next door to the Tony & Guy (and no, the queue is not to get in there, but for the food).

And this, in turn, is right next door to another part of Singapore’s heritage …

Walking Along Orchard

Thing about Singapore is that a number of small and big changes keep happening; one just needs to look for them. Some of these changes can come as pleasant surprises. Like the nice ones we saw walking along Orchard Road. Actually, only the stretch from Takashimaya to Orchard MRT.

A number of glass etchings have been installed along the path here, and some depict human scenes, while others are dedicated to nature.

Here are the ones which we saw. As you will see, the depict scenes from a bygone day, from another Singapore.

Walking into Ion Orchard, you see the lights changing colour in a sort of a rhythm.

Then we came across this shop … Lab Series for men? Sounds like some unsavory experiments don’t you think?

Ummmm … who else did you have in mind?

And then this really nice offer …

at The Body Shop.

Inherent Bias

Is bias towards the “other” inherent in a community, or is it something which is built from the outside in? This is something we were discussing this Sunday. While our Sunday random jaunt did take us to some places across Singapore, not many w ecould share. Suffice it to say that we ended the jaunt at Bishan (how we got there is a different story, for another day), and then for dinner at Little India.

We did have this somewhat lively, and definitely animated discussion, over cups of Teh and Kopi about whether a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society has biases against specific communities. The discussion, like any such discussion, meandered down roads, turned down alleys (some of them blind), took minor and major detours, and basically got nowhere. So, it would be impossible to give a blow by blow account (which is also attributed to the fact that when a number of people are all talking simultaneously, no one would be able to take notes, nor would, like in this scenario, anyone be interested to).

The basic argument was that in India, communities have certain biases which are fundamentally against the Muslim community. While the discussion went all over the place, we did agree that there is truth in that assertion. For instance, a lot of people are hesitant to give their house on rent to a Muslim young man. However, there are two aspects which came out of here. One is that this kind of bias isnt specifically based on religional differences, but that people face these biases based on regional, and caste dimensions too, among others. For instance, in some instances, some Bengali folks we know find it difficult to get a house on rent because they eat meat. Or, not many folks would give their house on rent to people from specific castes, because of caste prejudices. In other words, there are many dimensions to biases.

The next question is where these biases emerge from. Essentially, these are created in the public imagination through the imagery we get through different means. This imagery, due to its very nature thrives on generalizing specifics, in order to try to create caricatures. In Bollywood movies, for instance, the Sardars are usually shown consuming copious quantities of tandoori chicken, or Tamils are usually shown with Dosa, Vada, or Idlis. Truth, on the other hand, is that Tamil cooking is far more varied than what is usually portrayed, and the usual Punjabi meal is vegetarian, with meat making an appearance once in a while, and is not a common occurence.

Its usually easier to identify differences than to understand similarities. Lets understand this with an example. Its quite easy to look at a number of colours and say that these colours are each different from each other, but it is infinitely more difficult (requires more effort, and there is much less tried by the average person) to ponder the fact that after all, all the colours we see emerge from a basic set of seven colours. This requires thinking, and an investment of time and energy which a large number of people are not willing to do with hectic lifestyles.

On A Morning Walk …

Sometimes, a picture may speak more than a thousand words. This is probably why we are able to appreciate beauty through pictures, and not through words. And sometimes, we find something beautiful, something unusual along the way, and words cannot describe it.

On a morning walk, there are quite a few such places and things Hardy comes across. A short walk from his home is this beautiful temple, the Yan Kit Village Chinese Temple, the beauty and the peace emanating from the temple can only be seen through a picture.

A little distance down the road, and turning onto a side-street, one walks past rows of two-storied houses on both sides of the streets. These houses are often fronted by gardens, and theres some things you would see here. These fish, for instance.

The other day, he saw this poor fellow hanging around.

Well, someone thought he would have been getting lonely, so they decided to give him company, and some music, maybe.

Of course, all under the watchful eye of our friend here.

Of course, tyres are for the road, but who says they need to be retyred? They can always be used to make a garden.

And if you are in the mood for football, but value your health, this probably isnt the right place for you.

That one’s made of stone.

Along Changi Road

Two weeks in a row … The first one was a bus ride from Bedok, the next one was getting off the MRT at Kambangan, and a short walk takes you to Changi Road. Here you will find a number of single-storied shops, and varied dining options.

The first sight that greets you is the mosque. The mosque has a rather unusual minaret, and a wonderful peace about it, as you can see here.

Exploring the streets near the mosque one can see some traditional restaurants, like the one you see here …

Or some unusual ones like this halal sushi … Actually, nothing unusual about this, except that we hadn’t seen one before.

Or this place where we needed to take some time to figure out that the name is not that of the empress.

And then you see the iconic Indian brand making its presence felt.

Then there’s this restaurant, with the Chinese Muslim food,not something you would find everywhere.

Along the road, you would come across this, though looking at the Stella Artois board, one wonders what fresh fruits they are experimenting on.

Here’s a view of the market, with the hawker centre right at the corner.

And the hawker centre is where we had our Dutch conversation.

And here’s what you’re could gorge upon here.

Farther down the road you would see this specialty from Singapore.

Farther along the road, you see this lovely mosque, the minaret calling the faithful.

And from here, a short bus ride takes us to Little India.

Science & Religion

Continuing from this post, is another aspect which usually doesnt get highlighted in this science vs religion debate (which, by the way, we unanimously believe, are not two different worldviews, but rather, two aspects of the same worldview), is that the debate leaves out of the discussion a worldview presented by the seers of antiquity, which seems to be the one which science seems to be converging towards. Many of the discoveries of modern science seem to reach out to some of the concepts laid out by scriptures.

Lets start with the Big Bang. Some of the extracts from the scriptures (which you can find on the wikipedia page here) are akin to the idea of the Big Bang. True, the mentions here are more in a philosophical way, which is to be expected. The Puranas declare that the universe comes into existence, and stays thus, for one day of Brahma, after which it is dissolved for one night of Brahma, and then comes again into existence. This implies that before the moment of creation, there was a universe, somewhat analogous to the Big Bang and the Big Crunch. The Rig Veda declares “that none can know from where creation has arisen” which sounds akin to the fact that the laws of physics break down at the point of the singularity.

Coming to the idea of mass-energy equivalence, a consequence of the theory of relativity. The scriptures mention that matter is, in essence, condensed energy, as Paramhansa Yogananda asserted in the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi.

Coming to another hypothesis, that of the multi-verse, which religions talk about. Some of these can be found here. A compelling description is given here.

So one needs to either admit that the ancients who wrote the scriptures had a very vivid imagination, or that they knew something we dont. Either way, this does help us to conclude that there is indeed no fundamental antagonism between science and religion, rather, the two complement each other, and the scientific arrogance is somewhat misplaced, and based on an incomplete understanding of our spiritual traditions. It’s about time, then, that scientists deeply studied philosophy, and religionists studied science.

Religion & Science

Not many would have missed this news about Pope Francis declaring evolution and the Big Bang to be true. We have been discussing this for some time now, before we came around to posting our thoughts here.

To begin with, any truth does not need human sanction. If the Church didnt believe or declare the heliocentric model to be true, and upheld, for some time, the geocentric model, that didnt make the geocentric model to be correct. Or, when humanity believed the world to be flat (which, by the way, wasnt a belief shared by all humanity, but thats a whole separate discussion), that didnt quite make it flat. In light of this, the announcement is important as it represents the Church coming to an alignment with the latest scientific discoveries (ok, not necessarily latest, but you get the drift). The important thing here, more so for followers of the Church, is the bridging of the chasm between church and science, hopefully leading followers to a point where they dont have to be torn between two realities of their lives.

The other part of the discussion we have been having with friends center around whether science needs this endorsement. While it is true that it does not, this is a step towards bridging the gap between the two. The more important part, though, is a sort of scientific arrogance, which believes religion to be primitive. Bus is that really so?

Sunday Walkabout

On our habit of random walking about on Sunday, and we find that sometimes we are taken to parts of the city which hold treasures for the traveller. Some such treasures were found on one such Sunday.

A short bus ride took us to East Coast Road, a part of the city which has much to walk about. This row of houses, which almost looks out of a fairy tale was the first thing we saw, just across the road from the bus stop, almost a rainbow.

A short walk from here takes you to the shopping part of the stretch of road, where, from a nearby church, the bells could be heard chiming, a sound magnifique! And there, one comes across this landmark of the city, known for the food there, as well as the facade.

The shops on this stretch of road present an old-world look, and charm of the past cannot be missed. Take a look at this pillar, for instance, which, in addition to announcing antiques, seems to be adding one to them, the tiles telling stories of a different era.

Or this corner store, which today houses a 7-11, but presents a picture of many days gone by.

A short walk from here, and one reaches another landmark, one of the popular hotels in Singapore. The shuttered windows, the architecture, the doors on level 2, all present a picture of another day.

The shops on this stretch of the road present a medley of colours, and while the contents of the shops, and the interiors have changed over the years, the impressions of the past are well-maintained here. No two shops here are painted the same colour.

A short walk down, one comes across this restaurant …

… and one wonders, how can anyone eat such cute things.

And this is where we got onto another bus, and while on the way to somewhere (we didnt really know where we would get off the bus), we decided it was time to head to our usual place, Little India. Along the walk we took in Little India, came this pub with an impressive name, and the equally impressive building, though we didnt venture inside.

And then, on to our little rendezvous with Mr. Guinness.

Getting Around

Lao Tzu said: A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.

With this description, we could be somewhat of good travellers, albeit weekend ones. You would have read in this post about our wanderings around Singapore, and would have seen how random buses taken from random bus stops more often than not, take one to Geylang. One wonders why, and the mind boggles. The route we got the other day, though, was quite a different one, and took us to different parts of the city.

Many a times, on bus rides, we have seen this mosque, thinking maybe someday we should get off the bus, and get off the bus, on a sunny Sunday afternoon is what we did. What brought our attention to the mosque was this wonderful quote pasted there, for all to read and comprehend.

And here is the mosque, in the backdrop of the blue sky on a sunny afternoon.

The next bus ride took us to Serangoon, where we walked around NEXX mall, and came across this somewhat crazy advertisement.

From Serangoon, we took a bus which took us to Ang Mo Kio, for something to drink at the hawker centre, where we saw this, the first letter of the Urdu alphabet.

Walking around, we reached the Pathlight School, which is dedicated to children with autism, and is celebrating the 10th birthday. This is being celebrated, in part, through these wonderful pictures, an inspiration to a wonderful cause.

And a few minutes later, we were treated by Nature to the beautiful sight, the clouds forming a beach to the sea of sunshine.

Deciphering Nuclear

Over the last few days, as shelling between India and Pakistan has intensified and reduced over time, there are a number of statements coming about the Pakistani nuclear option. This news report is an example. Over the years, when there is conflict with India, Pakistan routinely bandies their nuclear status, in a sort of a veiled threat. Whether this is meant to be a threat or not is a matter of speculation, but the use of the adjective “nuclear powers” does suggest that. Maybe we should look deeply to understand how the intelligentia in Pakistan thinks, especially when it comes to their nuclear assets, vis a vis India.

Heres a panel discussion moderated by Moeed Pirzada, about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons:

The essence of the discussion is that the Pakistani view of nuclear weapons is as an offset for India’s superiority at conventional warfare. This is why Pakistan refuses to endorse the no-first-use policy which India embraces. In other words, while India pledges to not use nuclear weapons unless attacked with a nuclear weapon, Pakistan makes no such pledge. Pakistan would rather hit India with nuclear weapons even in the eventuality of a conventional war. And thus, Pakistan violates the cease-fire, and carried out unprovoked firing, and when India retaliates, raises the spectre of nuclear weapons.

In effect, while India believes that there is room for a limited war with Pakistan, Pakistan on the other hand, by playing the nuclear card, is trying to build the impression that there is no such space. When this is the thinking of the leadership and the intelligentsia, is it any surprise that the world is concerned?

Heres the military view of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

The other, human aspect of this nuclear bogey is succintly described by Hassan Nisar in this talk … a voice of sanity.