Skip to main content

Singapore….a city of change…and new manners

Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino
I started my recent sojourn in South East Asia in Singapore with my companion from Switzerland.

 A few years ago I had a full time office of The Percy Institute of International Protocol based there. The Singapore of the early 21st century was a very different place to the vibrant hub that it is today. While it was “busy” Singapore was also subdued. There were regular “Good Manners Weeks ”... in all fairness, it was fairly dull.

The Percy Institute Singapore staff
Today the “vibe” is different. The most marked change for me was in the superb customer service which was on full display not only in the shops but also at the Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore hotel.  Previously I had instructed on corporate and front of house manners for the Raffles Hotel group and their standards were, and remain, high. So it was really enjoyable to have great service at another hotel group.

Not only was our room upgraded to a Marina Bay view without request but the personal service offered by one of the front desk assistants when we wanted to rebook at the end of our Indonesian sojourn included a hand written note of welcome in our upgraded room, with a beautiful bowl of fruit.

And the food in Singapore was wonderful. Near the hotel, right on the water, was a hawkers food market with the ambience of large, communal tables, filled with chattering people from all walks of life and continents enjoying simple, hastily cooked kway teow, chilli crab, and Tiger beer.

Chilli Crab


 It was great to enjoy Singapore before our time in Bali and Flores. However,  my cultural compass was to become confused by the contradictions of bustling city life….and the humble, and simple fishing villages I was soon to encounter.







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Boyfriend, Manfriend, Partner, Companion…a new word required….

Dance "partners" (microsoft) I read a really interesting article the other day written by a Generation Y male lamenting that his girlfriend no longer referred to him as her “boyfriend”, but in an overheard conversation as her “partner”.  He took exception to this expression writing: “I must have missed the memo on my sexless new categorisation – I would certainly not have approved it.  A ‘partner’ is someone you twirl around at a barn dance”. (Andy Jones, Grazia magazine) I have had a business partner;  there are partners in law, stockbroking and accounting firms. And so to refer to my personal life-sharer as a partner was not comfortable for me. But despite the fact that the English language is alive and evolving, there is not a word or an expression to reflect the status of one’s “life companion” whether in a gay or straight relationship if not committed to, or already married. The word “companion” actually applies in both French and Italian. Although in Engl

Bali…Bogans, Tattoos and the Ugly Australian…

Balinese temple (photo LP 2010) I have returned in the past few days from a holiday in Bali, Indonesia, with my sister.  Unlike my trip in 2010 when I stayed more remotely in the north west at Pemuteran  and  the north east at Amed, this visit was to a five star resort in Legian. What a difference!  The streets of Legian were very busy, the locals almost outnumbered by the Australian tourists.  I heard very few languages other than “Aussie” spoken and it reminded me that when I travelled with my French boyfriend to the northern part of Bali, I was told by the Europeans I met that they tended to avoid the tourist hubs of Kuta, Legian and Seminyak because of the loud, rude and crude Australians…yes a generalisation about the Aussies, but unfortunately, as I was to learn, a correct one. A friendly local trying to sell us a toy (photo LP 2012) It is difficult to write this post without appearing a “snob”.  But having canvassed my ideas with friends, acquaintances, col

Friendships...gold and silver...real and virtual...priceless!

My 21st birthday dinner...Oh so formal then! I was talking with a friend the other day about friendship.  About how it impacts on our lives, from childhood and teenage friends, to becoming friends with boyfriends’s friends, husband’s friends and their wives, parents of other school children, social club friends,  friends after divorce or death of a partner, passing friendships, acquaintances…and now virtual friends. It’s complicated. And I am finding in my “middle” years that my need for friends has reduced…not that I don’t value and cherish my friends, but my actual need has lessened.  Why, I wonder?  I used always be a “People who need People” (with apologies to whoever wrote the song made famous in  Funny Girl ) sort of a person.  I was always out and about, making sure that I saw my friends, knew all that was going on with them and theirs.  Afternoon tea for the girls...with bubbles! However, as the years have moved on, my children have become independent