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Jakarta
vs Singapore by:
Joyce Odom
After nearly three happy, if
harried, years in Jakarta I was finally compelled to leave the
"big gembira" for a new landscape. I've moved to
Singapore - the land of ruthless efficiency, scrumptious
pedestrian thoroughfares, outdoor cafes and a plethora of public
transportation choices.
Now, depending on whom you ask,
a move to Singapore could be considered an "upgrade"
or a shift to a more vapid life in "Asia Lite". In
fact, it's a bit of both. In Jakarta many things are taken for
advantage – owning (let alone operating) a car, the ability to
haggle one's way for just about everything, having a full-time
maid and a degree (tenability varies from person to person) of
uncertainty which can be exhilarating or frustrating.
In Singapore, however, there is
a uniquely staid status quo. The denizen of this paragon of
orderliness, efficiency and hi-tech calm will inevitably find
herself fenced in by the myriad of regulations that are
voraciously enforced. Having relocated with no Employment Pass
(EP), I've quickly learnt that I cannot sign a lease on an
apartment (as opposed to the immediate choice of house, as in
Jakarta), cannot open a bank account or get a proper hand phone
subscription service.
It can really make one feel
like a woman without a country. All of the above are well
underway now, as I embark on the final round of tedious dealings
with officialdom here in Singapore that is EP-obtaining process.
On first sight it’s all very
odd because one pretty much has to handle the entire running
about town oneself. In Jakarta, agents handle such trivial and
troublesome matters. But the most glaring difference is that the
process cannot be sped along with the astute application of a
little cigarette money.
One glimpse of the stony faced
and sense-of-humour-deficient civil servants here in Singapore,
and you’re left with no doubt that cash, smiles or any other
wiles will get you anywhere. Sigh.
Of course, that being said, I
can rest assured that once this bureaucratic maelstrom ends -
that's it, all done. There is no uncertainty, no favouring of
certain professions or nationalities. Perhaps most satisfying is
the rock-solid knowledge that whenever leaving or arriving the
country there will be no trumped-up claims of
"irregularities", no visits to "the little
room" at immigration at Soekarno-Hatta which require those
pained, glued-on smiles, deep stores of patience and a patent
refusal to reach in one's wallet. That I don't miss...
Have I landed myself in the
land of thinly-veiled homogeneity and dull predictability? Or
have I simply left a half-baked, time (and Rp.
20,000 note) consuming system that guarantees great stories to
tell at the expense of consistency? The hard face of reality a
la Singapore or the loop-de-loop surreal dance of Jakarta?
Hmm...
Join me next month for a
(hopefully) more compelling tale of settling down to life -
professional, social and otherwise - here in the happy island
state of Singapore.
copyright :
Mrs. Joyce Odom
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