* Anyone who has been to Japan knows that, despite it being pretty cold in much of it during winter, the country as a whole is mad for isotonic (sports) drinks. You can barely walk 25 m in any city or town without coming across a vending machine with Pocari Sweat, or Aquarius (or various other brands.) Yet it occurred to me in Singapore this trip that, despite it being probably the most sweat inducing major city in the world, they don't have a similar obsession with sports drinks, despite my feeling an actual need for them. There is one brand that is common -
and it's not bad. (Made in Malaysia. I see you can buy it pretty cheaply here too.)
Anyway, my point is - if ever there is a country where you should consider putting an isotonic drink in your day backpack, instead of mere water, this is it.
* Again, in contrast to Japan, you are not even meant to take a sip of a drink (or, of course, any form of food) while on a subway (MRT) platform, or while in the train itself. (I know they aren't subways, but Shinkansen or other long distance trains in Japan can feature vending machines for beer.) Anyway, the end result in Singapore is subway stations that are absolutely spotless. I just find it hard to believe there could be any cleaner ones anywhere in the world. But if you are thirsty, better drink your 100 Plus before you enter the subway station.
* Also speaking of the MRT, you now don't even have to buy a ticket or card, as long as you have a Visa card with a chip in it. Just use that to tap on and off, and it works fine. (I also saw people using their phone too, presumably with NFC.) The charge turned up on our Australian bank account in very short order - within an hour or two I think. Systems in Singapore just work with great efficiency. Having to wait more than 4 or 5 minutes for the next MRT train on a main line is a rarity.
And it's extremely cheap to use compared to Brisbane fees in particular. But the best deal, as a tourist, is still to just buy a Tourist pass card for $20 for 3 days unlimited travel on the MRT and bus network. (Plus a $10 refundable deposit.) You can renew it for a further 3 days too, and they don't even bother asking to see a passport anymore to issue this. This is just extraordinary good value and very convenient. The only odd feature about is that, while you can buy it at many of the MRT stations, some have peculiar hours that their ticket office is open. There is no uniformity there, and it pays to check on line as what time the local office will be open.
* Tourist sim cards are also cheap and convenient too. $12 for a week with 100 GB of data, the M1 company one can be bought from 7 Eleven. Easy to register and great value.
* Mask compliance! Just before this trip, Singapore relaxed its mask wearing rules, so that they are now only required on public transport, and waiting places for public transport. I'm not sure what other airlines are doing now, too, but Scoot certainly required masks be worn the entire flight.
And there was absolutely 100% mask wearing compliance on buses, the MRT and Scoot. On the street, and in shops, I would guess that the slim majority were now unmasked, but there were a substantial number of people who just have gotten so used to it, they keep masks on everywhere.
I was stopped getting on board a bus once because I had forgotten to put the mask in my shirt pocket onto my face - and fair enough. But as a person who thought that Western Right wing endless whinging about whether masks were really effective or not, and elaborate hand wringing about the effects on kids in school, or oxygen levels in the blood, or whatever other dubious reason people could come up with for complaining about what an imposition on liberty it was, I was happy to be in an entire nation state in which they just stoically get on with following rules intended for the common good without complaint.
I would be happy to live in a society like that...
2 comments:
In theory you can. But probably, yes, to live there you would have to accept that it's like living in the best benevolent dictatorship, ever. Just never, ever, get into drugs or crime of any variety.
Democracy superstition. Yes you can change the government. It may be rigged in favour of the incumbents, but they must run a clean shop. They pay their public servants really really well, but thats better than allowing corruption. And they must continue to some very good extent the excellent management that Lee started, or bit by bit an electoral groundswell will grow against them.
There is not much particularly good about democracy anyway. Its a scam that ensures outside control.
Steve this is pretty close to the kind of management I would advocate. Not perfectly so. But reasonably close. At least it was under Lee when I had a handle on it. Though there is this rather distasteful treating adults like 11 year olds. Its paternalism but with a caring parent.
Now scrub away most of the paternalism and keep the good policy. Imagine what could be done in a place like Australia where you have more land to work with? With good policy your average worker can live debt free with the kind of purchasing power that you would now need over 200 000 a year to produce. Not only that but this is easy. This is not difficult to achieve on any technical economic level. Thats why I get so furious with even good economists who kow tow to the myths of the industry.
I am saying that with the kind of sophistication in economics that someone like John Stuart Mill would have, good management will lead to reducing cost of living, and higher wages every year. We just need to follow it and escape top-down mandated bullshit. Like the Trampis irrational belief that red ink produces abundance. This is total stupidity and even Quiggin has stated that they can't find solid evidence for the Keynesian multiplier. Yes he acts like its holy writ. But he knows he can't prove it. And he's a very good economist don't get me wrong. But he always sides with deep state lies, in every area where there is any doubt. This is coming from someone who always eagerly waits any public lecture from him. A sort a sort of demi-fan.
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