Berjaya Times Square and Bukit Bintang

I had always thought of Orchard Road, in Singapore, as quite a big shopping centre. That was until I went to Malaysia. Today, we went to Bukit Bintang and Berjaya Times Square. It was like entering a new world - a chaotic, gigantic, new world.

Berjaya Times Square is built as if for giants: it is a shopping centre on such a scale that it makes people seem dwarfish and insignificant. So big is it that I wonder just how often one would have to visit to actually get to know one's way around. At first sight, it seems an impossibility that anyone could ever know their way around such a huge place. Perhaps they don't. Perhaps everyone, there, is as lost as I felt and wanders at random, hoping to stumble on what they seek.

Now, I am moved to mention the Berjaya Times Square because of its bizarre peculiarity. This is a shopping centre so big that it even has a built in theme park. That's right...a theme park is hidden within this never-ending shopping complex. It has all the attractions one would expect of a theme park - fairground rides and a roller coaster, included (which snakes its way across many floors of the shopping centre.) What really struck me is that the shopping centre is just so large, that I had no idea that the roller coaster was there, until we ascended into one particular wing and heard screams passing by above. Looking up, I saw a roller coaster train whizz by, carrying its terrified (or excited) passengers.

Bukit Bintang, was just as surprising in its own way...in quite a scarey way, if you are not comfortable with huge crowds. I rather think that Saturday evening is not the best time to visit Kuala Lumpur's answer to Singapore's Orchard Road.

The most obvious thing that struck one is how much bigger Bukit Bintang is, in every way, than Orchard Road: it seems to be a shopping nation of its own, engulfing one in a booming, bustling, confusion that, at first impression, has no order or meaning. However, no doubt that is because I don't know where I am, where anything is, or even what anything is. There are a lot of unfamiliar names all around. At present, it is a place that lacks clarity of meaning - since I can't encapsulate it in my mind and understand where everything is and what they are. I have no inner map: it is just a sense of retail chaos...however that sense of the chaotic largely derives, I would think, from my unfamiliarity with the area.

Perhaps, should I visit the area often enough, I would come to understand it, but right now, I just get a feeling of its great immensity.

I didn't think it was possible, but perhaps, just perhaps, Malaysians like their shopping even more than Singaporeans do - at least, they seem to have built shops on an even grander scale than Singapore has ever attempted.

Getting back to our hotel wasn't easy. We couldn't find a cab anywhere (there are too few for the capital, I think...and they tend to be choosier than Singaporean cab drivers - as in some of them won't drive you unless you go off meter...). So, we ended up on a crowded monorail train. It had two main recommendations: it was cheap - and it was faster than by road. Other than that, one could point to the overcrowding, but then Singapore has the same problem with its MRT.

As a first impression, I think I will never forget the startlement at seeing a theme park, inside a shopping centre...and those first screams of thrill-seekers hurtling overhead in their roller coaster, surrounded by shops. How wonderfully strange.

Shopping, national superiority and organic growth.

Singapore is a country filled with people busily feeling superior to their neighbours. I have long noticed this and long been puzzled by it. You see, I don't, personally, see that this sense of superiority is particularly well-founded.



It is true that Singapore is a polished country. It is a country that gleams. Every little corner seems to have been organized by someone. Nothing is out of place. Nothing is, more to the point, ALLOWED to be out of place. It is a country controlled down to the very last leaf on a tree. Yet, it could be said that this is a failing as much as a strength. The degree to which a country is controlled, is also the degree to which it is not allowed to breath, to live, to become. Singapore is such a country: perfect in every way, except that it died, long ago. By "died", I mean, stopped living, growing, breathing, organically, as most countries do. There is nothing organic about Singapore, it is, in a sense, the most synthetic country one could ever imagine. There is nothing authentic about any of it, in the least. Everything is imported, imitated or derived. Nothing is created organically, from within - indeed, it seems as if those who are born to create are not encouraged to do so. Perhaps they would upset the order of the way things are - and so they tend to be disparaged, marginalized and, at the very least, underemployed and under-utilized. At least, that is the experience of certain creative people I know, in Singapore: they find it difficult to find a good, remunerative position in life, here, and tend to be pushed to the corners.



Now, I have meandered a little wide of my initial intention, but it is good that I have done so, for it sets the sense of superiority that one observes in Singapore, in a broader context.



Today, I wish to address one little observation. Singaporeans are a nation that loves to shop. Indeed, shopping is about the only thing many Singaporeans do for enjoyment. It is, almost, their sole pursuit (the other being the pursuit of the money necessary to allow them to indulge their desire to shop). Given their love of shopping, one would expect Singaporean shops to be great, to match that desire. Indeed, they are quite good. However, Singaporeans seem to think that they have a monopoly on good shops. There is a feeling that their shops are somehow better than everyone else's. Their malls are a focus of national pride. There is a kind of one-upmanship in the world of shopping, going on. Singaporeans seem to think that, not only are they the best shoppers in the world, but that they have the best shops, too. I have one question for them: have they ever been to Kuala Lumpur to shop?



You see, recently, I had the chance to see what the shops were like in Kuala Lumpur. I was, I must say, rather surprised. The shopping malls in KL are BIGGER than the ones in Singapore. What's more - they are BETTER, too. The malls are more spacious, less crowded, often better planned. In Singapore, by contrast, the shops are small, overcrowded and cramped. There is a claustrophobic feel to many Singaporean malls - even on Orchard Road - by comparison to what I observed in Kuala Lumpur.


Yet, of course, merely saying this will attract venomous comment from the type of Singaporean that is nationalistic and likes to defend Singapore at all costs. However, what I say is true and logically consistent. You see Malaysia has something in abundance that Singapore has very little of: space. It is a no-brainer that Malaysia can afford to build bigger, more spacious malls. They simply have more space and the land is cheaper. It is not a difficult thing to do, for them, if they so wish. Yet, still, it was a surprise for me. It was a surprise precisely because Singaporeans are ALWAYS doing down Malaysia. I have heard so many knocking comments about Malaysia since I came here - and read so many not so subtly critical stories in the press, as well. So, I was led to expect the worst from KL. What I found there surprised me, in many ways. It seems to me that a middle-class Malaysian probably has a better life, materially, than a middle-class Singaporean. They have so much personal space that their lives can only be described as more open, than those I have observed in Singapore.



I am not about to go into my thoughts, in detail, in this post, but I just want to observe that much of what I saw there contradicts the views of Singaporeans that constantly disparage Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. Yes, Singapore does shops, well...but in no way does KL do them less well. In fact, in many ways, they do them better - at least in KL. The same could be said for certain other aspects of the city, as well - though it has to be said that Singapore's public transport system is far superior to KL's. So, each city has certain strengths. Yet, it should be made known, that the winner in comparisons between the two cities is NOT always Singapore, as Singaporeans seem to think.



If you are a Singaporean reading this, and you have never shopped in KL, there are plenty good malls to check out: One Utama, The Pavilion, The Curve and so on...the city is full of great malls.



Happy shopping, wherever you happen to be doing it. What's more, keep an open mind while you are there and see KL for what it is, and not for what you have been told it is. In many ways, it is a city that, although less planned and less ordered, is also more organic and more varied, than Singapore. It is a city of more possibilities, therefore, in some ways than Singapore. If you doubt this - go see for yourself - and open your eyes and use your imagination.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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A little shop of horrors.

Today, we went to the airport, fairly early, in a surprise visit, to see my mother and sister off on their journey back home.

In the course of that visit, we passed a clothing shop, on the concourse. There were six of us: my mother, my sister, Syahidah, Ainan, Tiarnan and myself. Fintan was busy elsewhere. As we passed the shop, Tiarnan suddenly stopped and said: "Tacot" (spelling to be checked), which is Malay for "I am scared." What was he scared of? A mannequin stood before him, without an essential part of its anatomy. It was headless. Tiarnan found this apparition scarey. He tapped his chest in the symbol for fear and looked up at the unfortunate "person" before him. Why would a headless body be wearing a short-sleeved shirt in a shop, he may have wondered?

Then he noticed something at the other side of the shop and pointed: "There's the head!", he said.

Sure enough. At the other side of the shop, there was a head, on its own, without a body, wearing sun glasses. Tiarnan had, seemingly, found the headless one's head. He was somewhat relieved to have found the unfortunate mannequin's head for him, but I don't think he was entirely reassured that it was a sensible arrangement - to have one's head so far separated from one's body.

Tellingly, he wouldn't venture into the shop. He bypassed it carefully, leaving the headless and bodiless ones to their fate.

How funny it is to see an innocent child's reaction to modern marketing practices. Truly, it is a fearful thing to sell a shirt with a headless body - or to sell sunglasses with a bodiless head. Certainly, anyway, in the eyes of a twenty-two month old toddler.

He was happy to be led away to a less scarey part of the airport.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two 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, the Irish, the Malays, 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.)

Fintan knows his toys

Yesterday, Fintan, four, was in a toy shop with his grandmother and mother.

Syahidah, his mother, pointed out a particular toy to him, thinking he would like it. It was of an action hero type character, all in multi-coloured plastic, wearing some sort of exoskeleton. Since he is fond of superheroes and of Power Rangers and other programs of that ilk, she thought that he would like it.

He looked at and shook his head: "Don't get me that, it is made in China!"

They laughed at this, and didn't believe him.

"No it is not, it is made in Japan.", said Syahidah, for the writing was all in Japanese on the outside.

So, despite his initial protest, they bought it for him.

When they got home and opened the case and managed to have a close look at the toy, they found a little inscription on the bottom of its foot: "Made in China."

Funny.

What I thought was intriguing about this is that Fintan, four, was aware of the controversy over Chinese toys and their often dangerous lack of quality control. I don't know how he knew this, because we don't watch the news here, as a family (there is little actual news content, so we gave up a long time ago). Yet, he did understand the issue of dangerous Chinese toys.

It was amusing, too, to note that he was better at spotting them than either his mother or grandmother. Well done, Fintan.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, and Tiarnan, eighteen 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, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Singapore shopping with a smile

It is strange how often strangers smile at us, now. Strange - but good.

Yesterday, I went shopping with my wife Syahidah - there is a tale to tell about that, which I shall another time, but for now I would like to focus on the smiles.

We went to an arts supply shop, Art Friend, in Orchard - they have several branches throughout Singapore - and there we asked an assistant about materials. The lady couldn't have been more helpful, leading us to where the pastels were located, even getting us a box to put them in. She told the cashier how to charge us (differently owing to our special request) and made sure we got everything we wanted. She was the second assistant to help us in that shop. The other - a young man - had explained which materials to use with which supplies and shown us where each were located.

I don't know if it was just a lucky day but the service seemed better than average, that day. I had the uncanny feeling they knew of us, already.

(The art materials were for my wife, for, as you may know if you are a regular reader, she is an artist - like her brother, Hafiz. She does portraits, in a unique style; he does abstracts.)

The same thing happened in a toy shop. The assistant was very keen to help; very keen to show us where everything was - and after we settled the bill, she looked directly at me and gave me the biggest of smiles. I am not used to that - big smiles being thrown in my direction - but I must say it is pleasant to be on the receiving end.

Everywhere we went; we were bathed in this warmth. It was not from all people - but enough seemed to know us and respond to us positively to make the feeling of the city warmer than it had been, more welcoming.

This warm welcome says something good about Singapore and Singaporeans. It says that Singapore does not begrudge its gifted - in a very real way, they are welcomed. At least if our experience is anything to go by. In this manner, I see that Singapore has a bright future - for here if, again, our experience is typical - the bright may be allowed to shine and in shining, make the whole society shine. Perhaps that is why they call it a "meritocracy" - and promote meritocratic principles throughout the society. Perhaps the smiles we are receiving are a symptom of the adoption of a meritocratic outlook.

I think it will do Singapore a lot of good to maintain such an outlook - and such a set of principles. It is an outlook and a way of living on which a great city may be built, in time.

The hidden price of giftedness: books

It is expensive being the parent of a gifted child. It is even more expensive when there are several of them - in my case, three.

It is a truism that all children read books, but it would also be true to say that gifted children like to read more of them. As a teenager of thirteen and fourteen, I used to read a book a day. Without fail I would begin to read a book once I got home, after my homework, and I would continue to read until I had finished it. If I was fortunate, this was in the early hours of the morning and gave me time to get some sleep, but for longer books, I would finish as my family rose to get ready for school. On such nights, I didn't sleep at all, such was my love of reading. Growth hormone is released as one sleeps, so perhaps that is one reason why, though relatively tall by most standards, (just shy of six foot) I am the shortest male in my family: I simply didn't sleep much in my prime growth years!

Yesterday, we went to Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookshop on Orchard Road, with all three of our children. The plan was for them to browse through the books, make some choices and for all of us to leave happily laden with books.

Kinokuniya is, I would say, the largest bookshop in Singapore. It is much larger than the only Borders present. The question is, why isn't a European or American book chain providing the best offering in Singapore? I recall some marvellous bookshops in London...none of them are here: only Borders shows a presence with a modest store on Orchard Road that is a little too small to stock the greatest range. Kinokuniya, on the other hand, has 500,000 titles available in five languages.

Each of my children is different. Each has a liking for a different kind of book - and this is not just a matter of age. Ainan's books are of little interest to Fintan and Fintan's would be of little interest to Tiarnan - so I can't just pass the books down: new ones must be bought for each of my little readers.

I used to love bookshops more before I became a parent. Now, when it comes to the counter and we have a pile of books I am aware of something that was less of a concern when I was only buying for one: "sticker shock". Aren't books expensive these days? One of Ainan's books cost 50 dollars - and the total was hundreds of dollars for a few books, after Privileged Member "discount".

I don't know how much it will cost to raise my three sons, in terms of books bought, but I must be careful to remember my own childhood. I have about a thousand books in my childhood home collection. Should my three children require that number each, we will have three thousand, in total: multiply that by the (rising) cost of a book and it comes to a pretty impressive sum. Even that total assumes I don't have more children...which I probably will (given the yet to be won co-operation of my wife!).

Happy reading all.

(If you would like to read more of my gifted children: Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and two months, a scientific child prodigy, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, twelve months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, intelligence, IQ, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, child prodigy, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)