Singapore Diary

Finally settling down in Singapore. We are all tired of hearing stories about how clean, disciplined Singapore is. I am not going to write much about it, thankfully. I have been going out almost everyday to different parts of Singapore and I am yet to see an area of Singapore which is untidy. (Little India being the glaring exception where ex-pats in Singapore relive Indian memories by crossing the roads at random, throwing around the litter and generally being our goodwill ambassadors). All of us students were taken to a hospital for some x-rays for student visa. The majority of the students are Indians and thankfully we behaved exactly the way we should have behaved while in transit and while at the hospital taking utmost care to spoil the image of our country.

I miss India so much because I haven't yet heard a single car or bus sounding horns either while the traffic is in motion or while the traffic just takes off at signals. Another thing which irritates me is the fact that people actually wait patiently behind you if you are on the wrong side of escalators. Why can't they simply start an arguement?

Singapore has opened Pandora's box of fundamental questions. I have always had a socialistic bent of mind and always believed that socialism was one of the ways to address poverty and that socialism is a greatly misunderstood concept which needs to be thought of in a new light. I will have to do a lot of re-thinking about this approach. In contrast, Singapore is an epitome of capitalism. Yet, you won't find a poor in Singapore. This prosperity comes with a price. Singapore, since its birth as a nation has been ruled by one single party and it has no opposition. People do not discuss political issues as openly as we do in India. I do not really know where lie the answers to problems of a country as vast and as populous as India with very unique settings and problems. I will talk about it more some other time.

As for the course, it is just brilliant and gives me an intellectual high. We have started with three core subjects namely Quantitative Techniques, Global Business Management and Financial Accounting. The approach to the course is very brilliant and uses case studies a lot. Right from day one, we are kept on our toes. It is 3.15 am here and I have just finished my assignments for tomorrow(rather, today). It is indeed very interesting to study the pioneering works of some of the greatest minds. More about this as I progress.

I hope to keep writing as often as I can.