Picture of the Day: Singapore National Library

Singapore isn't Singapore without rules.

The funny thing is how they illustrate these rules with cartoons or funny characters. The subway, or MRT is a case in point with a trio of women in colourful show-stopping outfits singing jingles telling people to queue in line, or let passengers get off the train before getting on.

And the library is no exception.

I spotted these public service announcements plastered on the bottom of the escalator in the library -- don't put your feet up on the seat otherwise other people can't use it; be careful about emailing people you don't know, and look after the library books you have borrowed!

While these posters a good use of space, but do people actually read them?

Islamic Touch in Singapore

The Sultan Mosque on Arab Street

The Singapore National Library is holding an exhibition called "Rihlah: Arabs in Southeast Asia" until December 31. It's a small show, but presents a lot of interesting material.

Many of these Arabs came from Hadramaut in Yemen, trading frankincense and myrrh with other countries like India, east Africa and China. These valuable resins were used for religious rites, medicines and mummification.

These traders became very wealthy and some settled in southeast Asia. Their family names include Al Qu'aiti, Al Kathiri and Al Walaqi. Other names like Alsagoff became famous as Syed Mohammed Alsagoff owned the Raffles Hotel which was opened December 1, 1887. Another family, Al Junied has a subway stop named after it.

The exhibition also shows items from these families, from letters and passports, to clothing and even chinaware. The aforementioned Alsagoff had specially commissioned dining ware with the logo "SM" on it, and "SHA" for Syed Hussain Alkaff. The chinaware was used for lavish tea parties, as shown in black and white photographs of men sitting around small tables outside.

While a few of these families are still around in Singapore, their numbers have dwindled as well as their wealth. Nevertheless, they still have made a strong mark in Singapore, adding another cultural layer to the city.

Afterwards we headed to Arab Street and checked out the Sultan Mosque. The first one was built in 1824, but it was already considered too small a few years later and four years later a bigger one was built where it still stands. Sir Stamford Raffles even contributed S$3,000 to the construction of the mosque. At the base of the dome is a black black ring and apparently they are from all from the crushed empty soy sauce bottles collected from the poor.

That story came from Jason, a docent at the mosque. What surprised us was that he was a Caucasian Muslim, eager to tell us all about Islam.

He explained the mosque has a capacity of 5,000 people and is especially busy on Fridays and during Ramadan. He pointed out there were no pictures or idols in the mosque and that Allah means "creator".

The men prayed in the main hall, while women had to either pray at the back or upstairs. This was to avoid people having sexual desires when they should be focusing on their spiritual development.

As for the mosque and everyone having to face Mecca when they prayed, Jason said in the Koran, Allah says people must be given direction otherwise they will not be sure of what to do or where to go. Islam, Jason said, is about surrender, safety, peace and submission.

He also explained Muslims pray five times a day, and each day the times are different depending on when the sun rises and sets. "We all spend a lot of time watching TV and resting, so why can't we at least spend 25 minutes of our day praying to Allah?" he asked. "Most people only pray when they are in the plane, hoping for a safe landing or trip."

Jason also said Muslims donate 2.5 percent of their annual income to the poor, widows, divorcees, recent converts and veterans. He says it is important for Muslims to first help their community, then their city, country, then the world. This is not dissimilar to tithes that some Christians and Catholics still follow.

As for the annual pilgrimage, or hajj which means planting a seed in the ground, Jason said for a Muslim not to perform the hajj does not make them a lesser Muslim, but it is encouraged, as it is considered a spiritual journey.

And the fasting that goes on during Ramadan brings humbleness to Muslims, be they the CEO of a company to an ordinary person, Jason said. From sunset to sundown, Muslims are not to drink any water or eat food -- but there are exceptions for those who are traveling, pregnant or going through their menstrual cycle. He says while Muslims can break fast at sundown, there are still millions of people still starving and so Ramadan gives them an opportunity to be thankful for what they have.

Polygamy is encouraged in Islam, according to Jason. However, it's not practiced widely in countries where the state only recognizes marriage only between one man and one woman. However, he hinted that a man could spiritually take another woman to be his "wife", but whether the two wives would get along as sisters or become competitors was another issue.

This last point didn't sit well with the predominantly female members of our group -- that and having to pray five times a day.

So much for his attempt to convert us to Islam.

Beijing's Breaking Announcement

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this bulletin --

 

China is attempting to upstage the Nobel Prize ceremony on Friday by giving out its own award tomorrow (Thursday).

 

Only three weeks after the idea was floated by Huanqiu (The Global Times), a mainland Chinese media outlet, Beijing is going to give out its first "Confucius Peace Prize".

 

Named after the philosopher, the new prize is to "interpret the viewpoints of peace of [the] Chinese [people]," the awards committee said in a statement released Tuesday.

 

And like the Nobel Committee, this other award committee made up of five judges is not an official government body, but it does work closely with the Ministry of Culture. Hardly sounds independent. The committee chairman Tan Changliu declined to give specifics about the committee, when it was created and how the five judges were chosen, saying this information would be disclosed later. It will probably be a miracle if they even release this information at all.

 

Nevertheless, the first recipient of the award will be Lien Chan, Taiwan's former vice president and honorary chairman of the Nationalist Party for having "built a bridge of peace between the mainland and Taiwan." And the response from Lien's office? One of his staffers said she couldn't comment because she knew nothing about the prize.

 

Apparently Lien was chosen among eight nominees, including billionaire Bill Gates, former South African President Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Panchen Lama -- the Beijing appointed one, not the one the Dalai Lama had picked. We still don't know where he is being held, even though the Chinese government says he doesn't wish to see anyone.

 

"We should not compete, we should not confront the Nobel Prize, but we should try to set up another standard," said Liu Zhiqin, the Beijing businessman who suggested the prize in Huangqiu. "The Nobel Prize is not a holy thing that we cannot doubt or question. Everyone has a right to dispute whether it's right or wrong." Liu clarified that he was not involved in establishing the award.

 

Lien will be awarded the prize and 150,000RMB ($15,000). "It needs to grow gradually, and we hope people will believe the award is of global significance," said Tan.

 

Does Lien know about this prize? Will he actually come to Beijing to accept it?

 

This hasty and ridiculous attempt at trying to upstage the Nobel Prize ceremony just shows the lack of foresight and insecurity on the part of the Chinese government. It keeps mistakenly putting Liu Xiaobo into the spotlight when it really wants the Nobel Peace Prize winner's name wiped out.

 

Meanwhile it was heartening to read that many Hong Kong people came out on Sunday to demand that China free Liu and his wife to allow them to go to Oslo to receive the award.

 

It is also wonderful to hear the ceremony on Friday will include an empty chair for Liu, a stark reminder of what China has done to this year's Peace Prize winner.

 

A Taste of Peranakan

The Blue Ginger menu features Peranankan folk art

Peranakan is the term to describe Chinese-Malay people who, many generations ago, inter-married and created their own ethnicity. They wear clothes with floral designs in bright colours and their paintings are like folk art, colourful and playful. They have also created their own unique cuisine, called Peranankan food.

If you ask Singaporeans where the best place to eat Peranakan food is, they can only think of three or four restaurants, as the recipes are quite difficult, requiring hours of cooking. However the results are very complex flavours, layers of them particularly in the sauces.

One dining establishment recommended to us was The Blue Ginger Restaurant.

Kueh pie tee, a refreshing bite with shrimp

It's located in a quaint two-storey shophouse converted into a restaurant, a narrow long space that is very cosy and warm, with simple wooden tables, chairs and banquettes.

For starters we had some acha, a Peranakan version of kimchi, with a kind of zucchini, carrots and turnips in a vinegary chilli sauce that wasn't too spicy and made our appetites salivate for our main dishes.

First up was ngo heong (S$9.90), homemade rolls of minced pork and prawns seasoned with five-spice powder and wrapped in tofu skin and then fried to a golden brown. It came with a dark sweet sauce and was delicious and meaty.

Next was the kueh pie tee (S$7.00), apparently a staple dish that can be found in fast-food courts, but probably don't taste as good as these ones. They are small deep-fried cups filled with shredded bamboo shoots and turnips garnished with a piece of shrimp on top. The best part of it was the first bite into it -- it was so refreshing and light, but then got heavier towards the bottom with the deep-fried cups.

Sambal udang, stirfried prawns in a spicy chilli paste

A dark dish was ayam buah keluak (S$15.80), braised chicken flavoured with tumeric, galangal and lemongrass cooked with Indonesian black nuts. The bowl was filled with black liquid from these black nuts, which seemed a bit daunting, but it was a flavourful dish, the meat falling off the bone easily.

A favourite was the sambal udang, stirfried prawns in a rich hot and spicy chilli paste. The prawns were cooked with onions and wasn't too spicy, the prawns meaty and cooked just right.

For the chilli heads, the kang kong lemak (S$8.50) fulfilled their cravings. It was morning glory or water spinach and cubes of sweet potato cooked in coconut milk with a dried shrimp and chilli paste. Here the sauce was complex, with the layers of coconut, shrimp paste and chilli all combined in this reddish sauce.

Nonya fish head curry

My perennial Singapore dish is the nonya fish head curry (S$26.00). The head of a red snapper was cooked to perfection in a sauce that featured okra, here called lady fingers, tomatoes and eggplant. The fish was meaty and delicious, and I always wonder why there are never enough pieces of eggplant and okra to complement the dish.

Our guide told us that fishmongers will often sell large fish without their heads -- as many of them are sold for dishes like this.

For a bit of a reprieve from the spiciness was the scallops nonya (S$28.80), featuring fresh scallops steamed with cubes of tofu flavoured with preserved bean paste and topped with fresh garlic and spring onions. Again the scallops weren't too overcooked, the tofu silky smooth.

Another prawn dish we tried was the udang goreng tanyu lada (S$19.80), sauteed prawns with pepper in a sweet dark soy sauce. This dish wasn't spicy either, but I preferred the other one we tried earlier.

Finally, the ayam panggang Blue Ginger (S$11.00) is a dish of deboned chicken thigh and drumstick that are sliced thinly and grilled then marinated in a coconut milk sauce with exotic spices. By this time I was quite full, but the chicken was good, the sauce very delicate, again with various layers of flavours.

During the whole time we ate, the majority of the patrons were foreigners, coming for an exotic bite to eat. For many Singaporeans, Peranakan food is more of a homestyle thing, and at the Blue Ginger the owner is cooking from recipes passed down from several generations.

It was a good way to have a taste of one of the many cultures that make up Singapore.

The Blue Ginger Restaurant

97 Tanjong Pagar Road

Singapore

088518

(65) 6222 3928

www.theblueginger.com