Trains in Singapore

John Bradshaw

Western Thunderer
As much as I love Singapore, life in the tropics isn't entirely a bed of roses, here is a public information banner just outside our apartment complex on dengue fever. Dengue is always a risk here and much of SE Asia but apparently this year is is especially bad. I've never had dengue (touch wood!!) but those I know who have tell me it is awful, and it can be fatal.
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Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Dengue was not bad in the 1970s but I caught it a few days after arriving in 1974. Not too serious but apparently there are several different types of Dengue. Family who worked in Sri Lanka said it was far worse there.

Mosquitos are the carrier so it is surprising to read that Dengue is on the rise. Back when Lee Kuan Yew was President the official line was that mozzies don’t exist therefore we will fine you if any are found breeding on your property.

On Malaysia TV they had terrifying cartoons on dive bombing mozzies but also how to make a very clever trap made of an old tin can full of water with gauze over the top. The eggs are laid but the larvae never hatch into insects. Brilliant!
 

John Bradshaw

Western Thunderer
They still control mosquitoes here pretty effectively and in most parts of Singapore it is rare to pick up mozzie bites. I don't bother wearing insect repellent here (despite the calls to do so to stop dengue.....) unless I'm going into some of the nature reserve areas or pockets where it is an issue, little India is quite bad (terrific food though). I spend quite a bit of time in Jakarta and other places in Indonesia and I find there that if I wear a tee shirt and shorts even sloshing insect repellent on liberally I am just covered in bites (I found that out the hard way on my first trip). However, I guess what mosquitoes still fly around are the ones which carry dengue, they actually release another species of mosquito to attack the problem ones and then take measures against those ones, it's all too complicated for me :) One of the problem in Indonesia is all the stagnant water in the rain ditches (not helped by using them as trach receptacles), Singapore is pretty obsessive about maintaining the rain and storm ditches and canals and managing surface water. I tend to be more concerned by the fact durians are in season at the moment and so all the local super markets and traditional markets have tables full of durian outside (it's telling even the super markets try and keep the things outside....), oh dear.....
 

John Bradshaw

Western Thunderer
These are rubbish pictures but may be interesting as they give a decent view of the container port at Pasir Panjang. Singapore is the second container port in the world after Shanghai, moving something like 34 million TEU a year. When my US and European colleagues who have never been to the really big ports in Asia come out here or visit China for the first time they are invariably staggered by the scale of it all and the way the terminals are managed. Pasir Panjang was the new container port, built to replace the old one in Tanjong Pagar/Brani, but now Pasir Panjang is also scheduled to be replaced by the new mega port at Tuas.
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John Bradshaw

Western Thunderer
Since this is now a thread about Singapore I will share a story I got from a friend last night. He is posted at the Singapore High Commission in London as a first secretary, this week a visitor from home took him and his wife some durian and when they opened the vaccum packet the apartment building concierge knocked at his door because someone had reported a gas leak, he told me he pretended he didn't know what was happening, oh dear..... For those not familiar with durian, or who have never travelled around East and South East Asia that might not mean much, durian is a fruit which is famous (or infamous) for it's very pungent smell. The stuff is banned from public transport and most hotels don't allow it in rooms. The smell is difficult to describe, the closest I can get is acetylene gas, which doesn't help those not familiar with acetylene gas. And it lingers, it really is hard to imagine just how strong the smell is if you haven't experienced it. However, it is a bit of an obsession out here and people are crazy about it, it is even called the king of fruits. In fairness it is meant to be very nutritious, but I'd have to be properly desperate to eat the stuff. I can handle the smell as my wife loves it (like I say, people from SE Asia and China are obsessed with it) but eating it is a no-no. One of the things to be aware of if locals will often try and tell foreigners not to judge it from the smell, there's a saying that it smells like (naughty word) but tastes of heaven, I guess that's a matter of opinion but to me it tastes as vile as it smells. Anyway, it is in season and all of the markets and super markets are awash with durian, although most supermarkets have durian tables outside to stop their shops stinking. I suppose it is one of those things to try if you visit Asia......
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Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Digging through the distant halls of my memory about the durian fruit I have the following to say
  • The smell is like eating raspberries while in an unclean public toilet
  • The taste is OK though. As a “heating” food it needs to be offset by something “cooling”. In my case very cold iced water was recommended which probably stunned my taste buds
  • In Malaysia they used to report of durian lovers dying in the sun due to drinking too much brandy. I doubt if the durian was actually part of the problem
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Ironically a few hours ago I was using one of those French holes in the ground at an autoroute picnic stop and yes, add a bowl of imaginary raspberries and the memory came racing back!
 

Buntobox

Active Member
I had a friend who was married to a Malaysian woman so durian fruit were part of his life. He once visited me and asked me to help him get his luggage out of the car. When he opened the lid the smell nearly knocked me over. I thought something had died in there! It was awful! He told me what it was and encouraged me to try it. I declined. I've often wondered, given that smell is usually taken as an indication of whether something is edible or not, how the first person to ever eat a durian got past that dreadful pong to actually try it...and then what he thought his chances were of surviving the encounter since a smell like that would ordinarily indicate that eating the thing was a very bad idea!
 
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ovener

Active Member
This has brought back some memories. My dad was stationed in Singapore in the mid 1960's and we were there for several years in Serangoon Gardens during the Borneo emergency - I went to school at RAF Seletar and lessons would stop every time a Beverley, Whirlwind, Belvedere or sometimes Javelins flew by; it must have been hard trying to teach us! Looking back there was quite a military presence then, I certainly remember seeing loads of aircraft and proper big ships. I shudder at durian fruit even after this time, and also recall the smell of drying rubber in sheds not far from us, we would visit the plantation to see the collecting. It was a great place for kids and we had lots of fun. Some wonderful trips all over including several family days out by landing craft(!) to nearby islands - I don't think that would happen now somehow... Great excitement when a praying mantis laid an egg in our house. Eventually it hatched with hundreds of tiny praying manti? all over the place and dropping into the food until the chit-chat lizards came along and ate them up. I tried to find our old house on google earth but I think it's been demolished and rebuilt.
 
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