Amazon online book store, from Singapore.

There are many books in the world - more than are in Singapore's few bookshops. So, yesterday I thought I would order a book from Amazon.com.

Now, I had never done this before, so it took some time - but eventually I found myself on the shopping cart checkout page.

I had typed in a debit card number and given all the correct details, but when I submitted it, the following statement appeared at the top of the page:

There is a slight problem with your order.

A slight problem? What problem could there be? Had I mistyped the card number?

Down below, there was an explanation of what the "slight problem" was.

We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to the country you selected. You can enter a different shipping address above, or you can remove the item from your order by changing its quantity to 0, then clicking the Update button

To me, that seems more than a "slight problem". Amazon.com, famed online bookstore and supplier of the readers of the world, does not ship to Singapore. This, of course, poses a mystery - why not? Are Amazon's books rejected at the borders? Are they not allowed to ship to Singapore...or do they choose not to? Is there some law disallowing them?

I have no idea what is happening with regards to Amazon, but it does seem really rather strange that it is not possible to order a book, in Singapore, from the largest online book retailer.

Some books are just not available in Singapore's bookshops. I had hoped to be able to order them online - but it seems that I would have to travel to another country to secure them, directly, myself.

It would be good if Amazon actually explained why they don't ship to Singapore. Perhaps that should appear in their warning notice next time. As it is, I am only left to wonder and to guess why a simple matter of ordering a book, cannot be done, from Amazon.com, if I happen to have the wrong address.

Odd.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)