Visiting Buskers off Bugis Junction

Uncle and Auntie made way for visiting buskers off Bugis Junction.

There’s a larger crowd gathering at this usual spot, entranced by their melodious renditions of the ‘Music from the Andes’.

Street Painter, Dome, Koln

The first street painter I’ve encountered in Germany – I must say he is the best so far amongst those I’ve come across during my sojourns to Germany and Melbourne.

Jaywalking and typical Singaporean

My Taiwanese ex-housemate in Melbourne used to wonder how atypical a Singaporean I am. The object of her curiosity stems mainly from how often I love to ‘short circuit’ the traffic rules: always wanting to avoid taking the roundabout way and consistently attempting to cross this thoroughfare at this junction that is not more than 50 metres from the next traffic light.

She being raised and brought up with the relatively haphazard traffic system in Taiwan, on the other hand, is always insistent on doing it the right (and safe) way. We often end up negotiating whether to take the PC or unPC way home from a grocery shopping trip.

Yes, contrary to a rather popular notion of the Singaporean way of life, us, the red-dotters, aren’t really sticklers for rules.

Just round my neighbourhood for instance, it’s not uncommon to come across balding patches of grass field, made bare by the trampling footsteps of – yes, you get the drift – the otherwise ‘law abiding’ Singaporeans. And no, again, the official footpath ain’t too far from reach. The relevant authorities have perhaps given up on any hopes of ‘institutionalising’ a set behaviour and right of way amongst the residents that they end up

1. building a new footpath on top of the balded grass patches – if you can’t fight them, join them ;)!

2. turned the patches of grass into uneven concrete slabs that render the area rather inaccessible or at least inconvenient for some – it’s either my way or the highway!

In either case, I’m rather bemused by the chain of events which seem to indicate a mutated form of negotiation taking place through an everyday practice.

My fave red dot is certainly more than meets the eye ;).