Daily Customs, Singapore

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I don’t know if I should call it unique or an eyesore.
I walked around Upper Aljunied Flats and Apartment one morning, oh dear, I still see clothes hanging on long poles, sticking out from the window, bedsheets, trousers, towels, blouses, blankets and underwears also hanging out for drying.
Mind your head please…dripping waters from above. I thought its bad luck to walk under clothes line and Singapore don’t believe such pantang (abstinence) ;-)) Come on, its pure rubbish to say, it is good to hang clothes under the sun as free, killing the germs on clothing, prolong the life of clothings.

I can still remembered, a man selling multi coloured poles in his truck and go around Singapore flats and apartment and going honking…pooot…pooot..
So if you need any new poles, come down and buy. My aunt also have these long poles to hang the clothes.

In Penang Island or the whole Malaysia, I don’t see clothes hanging like that. I have two balconies at home, one beside the kitchen, where I hang my clothes and my colourful underwears I hang in the bathroom.

And some sad cases, Indonesian maids fell out from the kitchen window and landed on the ground while putting out clothes for hanging. I think its very dangerous house-chores I don’t want to do. :-((

Often and much you will listen of how is a Durian Fruit.
Much people like it.

In Singapore is in the Bugis market area a Durian seller,
where you can see how to manage to open this tropical fruit-
good place to test it!

It is said in restaurants is not usual to offer this tropical durian.

See the photo!

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Chinese believes that statues in the temple are allergic to camera flashes and their images are not supposed to be captured via any instrument.

So taking photographs in certain temples is a no-no. Do check if there is a "No photography" sign before taking pictures of the statues

Every country has people who display rude or anti-social behavior. There's some of that in Singapore. However, I think there not too much of it there.

One of the reasons I like Singapore is because of the friendly people. They are generally warm. They are not out to cheat you. If they step on your foot, they may say "sorry" and not just look the other way like they do in some countries that I've been to. Besides being polite, many Singaporeans are also very friendly. Of course, there are some who can be demanding. That probably happens more often to people whose jobs involve working with the public. I've heard stories from Singaporeans about that.

T shirts and bermudas is ok for most places. If you plan to have dinner at some 5* hotel, clubbing or catching a performance, smart casual will suffice. No jackets needed.

Singaporeans usually prefer casual or light wear largely due to the weather.

Consider eating with a fork in one hand and spoon in the other. Use the spoon to cut food. Use the fork to push food on to the spoon to eat. I think this way of eating originated in Malaysia but many Singaporean Chinese eat this way now.

If you are eating noodles, chopsticks are more commonly used.

If you stay long enough in Singapore and mingle with the local ethnic Chinese, you may be surprised if one day, you are asked by your friend or your colleague if you had taken your meal. Among the ethnic Chinese in Singapore, it is common to ask a colleague or friend whom you bumped into casually in the streets or in the corridor `Have you eaten yet?' regardless of the time of the day. In Mandarin, you say `Ni chi bao le ma?' which literally means `Have you eaten till you are full?' This custom of enquiring about the satiety status of another person is an age-old custom with origins in China. In rural China, food was scarce in the winter months and during prolonged drought or other natural calamities. The families of farming communities had to endure long periods of food shortage and sometimes hunger. It was therefore common to enquire whether your neighbour had taken a meal for the day.

With greater affluence, urbanisation and movement of populations from rural to urban areas, starvation and hunger became less common. However, this custom remains till today and is also prevalent in countries with a Chinese majority like China and Taiwan.

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Bak Kwa which mean bbq pork is a must have for many singaporean during the chinese new year.This particular brand is well loved by all locals and you will see queues forming 2-3 weeks before the chinese new year.