INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2011

“Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.” - Faith Whittlesey

It is International Women’s Day today, an commemorative day that first began to be observed at the turn of the century, which in the industrialised world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America in 1909, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28th February that year. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through to 1913.

The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen in 1910, established an International Women’s Day, to honour the movement for women’s rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance. As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19th March 1911) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25th March 1911, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women’s Day.

As part of the peace movement that was active just before World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8th March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters. With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February 1917 to strike for “bread and peace”. Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. In the same week, the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23rd February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8th March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

International Women’s Day has developed into a truly international anniversary and commemorates the struggles women have had to deal with and are still dealing with in order to be treated as equals to men. The international women’s movement has been gaining strength over 100 years, and was supported by four global United Nations women’s conferences. The commemoration of International Women’s Day is a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women’s rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in history.





This is Australian singer Helen Reddy singing her great hit "I Am Woman"


I Am Woman

Artist: Helen Reddy from "Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits": EMI ST 11467
Peak Billboard position # 1 for 1 week in 1972
Words and Music by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton


I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

FADE
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

MOVIE MONDAY - DINOSAUR

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

We watched Eric Leighton’s and Ralph Zondag’s 2000 movie “Dinosaur” at the weekend. We had bought the DVD on special a couple of years ago, but had never watched it as it sat forgotten on a lower shelf amongst already viewed DVDs. It pays to do some dusting and tidying up, rearranging of shelves and general sprucing up around the house. One tends to discover all sorts of interesting things! In any case, we were in the mood for something lightweight and a Disney film was deemed appropriate. I am great lover of children’s books and films and will often indulge myself as I believe that one must always feed the hungry little child within.

The film was very polished (almost too polished, as can be the case with computer-generated animation) with CGI taking over in a big way and generating effects and animation that are quite amazing. However, in some of the scenes the CGI creatures can look plastic and one can be distracted from the action. One is immediately tempted to compare the Disney “Dinosaur” with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 “Jurassic Park”, as computer graphics and special effects feature prominently in both of these dinosaur films. However, where “Jurassic Park” was exciting, adventurous, thrilling, scary, funny at times with a rollicking good story, “Dinosaur” tends towards saccharine sweetness and didactic moralising – besides which, the story is rather unoriginal and seems to have been compounded from a host of other films: A dash of “Bambi”, a peck or two of “The Land Before Time”, a sliver of “Ice Age”, a soupçon of “Ice Age 2”, a touch of “Mowgli” etc, etc.

The plot revolves around pack dinosaurs known as Iguanodon. During an attack on a pack of Iguanodon, an egg is saved although stolen by predators and ends up in the possession of a group of lemurs. The lemurs care for the young iguanodon hatched from it, which they call Aladar. Aladar becomes an “honorary lemur” as he grows up and spends his time peacefully on an island far away form other dinosaurs. When a meteor hits the earth, a huge tidal wave forces Aladar and his family to leave their homeland. They meet up with a huge group of dinosaurs, led by Kron and Bruton, fellow iguanodons, as well as other dinosaur species. In the wake of the meteor disaster, they try to reach their nesting grounds, but the way there is fraught with danger and great struggles.

The film is full of factual errors and anachronisms, but that is immaterial as it is not a documentary, it is a fantasy. If you can accept that dinosaurs can talk and exhibit anthropomorphic characteristics, it is not hard to accept that lemurs (which evolved 55 million years ago) and dinosaurs (which became extinct 65 million years ago) coexisted. What’s ten million years between friends? The size of the creatures is also misrepresented. The carnotaurs that hunt the iguanodon have been increased in size to make them look more terrifying and the triceratops and apatosaur are not to scale. The habitats of the animals depicted also do not coincide, with animals that lived on different continents being put side by side. But never mind!

If we overlook the deficiencies of the film, it is a good film to watch in one’s lighter moments and children will love the animals and the simple story. Although there are some violent scenes that could scare smaller children (or over-sensitive adults). The music by James Newton Howard is discreet and suits the action, while top marks go to the artists that conceived the background art, which in my opinion s quite ravishing, to the extent of being almost distracting. I found myself admiring the skies and seas, waterways and grasslands, forests and deserts rather than the animals, which were speaking trite homilies at times.

Well worth seeing this film if you find it, but once again if you like a juicier story and a more exciting film, go for “Jurassic Park”!

ART SUNDAY - JAEME NEWTON

“Only in love are unity and duality not in conflict.” - Rabindranath Tagore

For Art Sunday today, a whimsical and talented artist from the USA, Jaeme Newton. She has a distinctly personal style and uses a variety of media to create striking drawings of fantastical creatures and mythical animals. The drawings are detailed and very fluid, showing evidence of a rich inner voice and an imagination that leaps and flies into wonderful new worlds.

Jaeme Newton was born the 19th of May, 1982 in Green Brae, California. She spent her childhood traveling to various places throughout the western United States with her father (a political satirist, poet and children's book author) and her younger brother. Shortly after turning fourteen, Jaeme and her brother moved to Huntsville, Alabama to live with their mother and other siblings.

From 1998 Jaeme moved again and furthered her study of art in school at Miami, Florida, and began to paint in her home on a daily basis. Six months later Jaeme’s family moved again, and Jaeme began attending school at Albertson College of Idaho shortly after graduation from Fruitland High School in May of 2000.

Jaeme moved to Somerset, Kentucky where a friend of hers was starting a band named "nemo" in which Jaeme took up the bassist position and toured with 2003. Jaeme took time out to really explore the musician in her. In the course of three years, Jaeme produced three LPs , and one full length CD named “Live from the Theatre of Memory”, which there are very few copies of today.

The drawing above is called “Bridge” and shows a rich tapestry of images, wonderfully vibrant colour and a vivid imagination. I can relate to this drawing personally as it resembles very much some of my own drawings and the composition is very reminiscent of a series of drawings I did several years ago in my “visual diary”. There is a strong rhythmic element to the drawing with the central bridge linking the two sides of the drawing, which surround the bridge and yet are separated by it. There are astronomical figures, rainbows, exuberant swirls of colour and plant elements, as well as the two faces in the lower left that interlock an seem to mirror the two sides of the bridge. The bridge separates the two sides, but also joins them. The faces are joined and yet are different. Yin and Yang, night and day, good and evil, all melding together in a complex and multifaceted drawing that is quite satisfying to explore and delve into.

7 SECONDS

“The African race is a rubber ball. The harder you dash it to the ground, the higher it will rise.” - African Proverb

Today was a lazy day. It’s nice to have lazy days once in a while. Sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast, then enjoying the morning by taking a walk in the garden, smelling the late summer roses, the flowering ginger, the four-o’clocks, the jasmine and the carnations. Revelling in the colour of the orange zinnias, the yellow and brown marigolds, the scarlet salvias, the pink cosmos. Looking at the green growing things and listening to music playing on the radio and happy to be alive, and being grateful for such pleasures. We said we’d go out shopping, but we ended up staying in, relaxing, taking it easy and having a wonderful lazy day…

Tonight, a hit song from 1994, composed by Youssou N’Dour, Neneh Cherry, Cameron McVey and Jonathan Sharp. It was released as a single by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry, the song and remained on the charts for nearly half a year. It reached the top three in many countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Russia and Poland. The single stayed at the top spot for 16 consecutive weeks on the French Singles Chart, which was the record of the most weeks at the top at the time. Its title “7 Seconds” refers to the critical time after a baby’s birth, essential for its survival and it packs a strong anti-racism message.

BACK HOME AND A SIMPLE MEAL

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” - Jane Austen

Ah, it’s good to be home! While I love travelling, after a while living out of a suitcase gets tiring and even if one resides in the best hotel it just doesn’t compare to home comforts. While foreign countries are exciting and interesting and stimulating for the mind, opening the door of one’s home after an absence and smelling that lovely home smell, being surrounded by one’s own things, sleeping in one’s own bed is just wonderful! We got back very early this morning and fortunately we were able to get through customs quickly, hiring a taxi immediately and managing to get home before the morning peak-hour traffic.

After unpacking, I had a shower, a shave and off I went to work, as today was a working day. And there was such a lot to do. Meetings, emails, phone calls, catching up with people. Although we did not manage to get much sleep on the plane, we did manage to snooze on and off. However, the lack of sleep made itself felt in the afternoon at work, and is telling right now. There is a good night’s sleep predicted for tonight, that’s for sure!

Another of the benefits of being home of course is home cooking. Whatever one may have while away – delectable dishes, new tasty treats, interesting and exotic foods, classy hotel food, the best of restaurant fare – one always misses the favourites of one’s own home. Especially so when they are made with the products of one’s own garden. We came back to find growing in abundance in the garden tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, beans and various garden greens. Fortunately the weather had been kind, with some showers and no temperature extremes while we were away so the garden fared well.

This evening we decided to have something simple and homegrown for dinner. This dish is a traditional Greek one and is typical summer fare, popular all over the country. It is called “vlita”, as its main ingredient is a variety of garden greens known as Amaranthus blitum var. silvestre. This is a species of purple amaranth and grows as a weed in many a wasteland. However, in Greece, it is considered quite a delicacy and is sown in spring, to be gathered for summer eating. We sow it in the garden and needs little care except watering. One gathers the young and tender shoots and boils them with a variety of other greens and vegetables. A must is the addition of the young shoots of black nightshade, Solanum nigrum. These should be less in proportion to the amaranth, as too many will cause the dish to become too bitter. Other bits and pieces in the mixture are slices of potato, zucchini and French beans. All the greens and vegetables are boiled until tender, drained and served hot or cold with a simple vinaigrette dressing, or some people prefer to dress the greens with olive oil and lemon juice, or even just olive oil.

Accompanying this dish one may have cheese, crusty bread, and some kind of canned of smoked fish, for example tuna or smoked salmon, to make it a complete meal. Alternatively boiled eggs may also be served with such a simple meal. One may be misled into thinking that this is a poor man’s dish suited to fasting. However, it is surprisingly tasty, filling and satisfying, not to mention nutritious and filled with vitamins, minerals and bitter tonics good for the liver. Just the sort of thing after a few days travelling in distant and exotic lands. The taste of home!

BUGIS ST - MARKET AND TEMPLES

“All religions must be tolerated, for every man must get to heaven his own way.” - Frederick the Great

As it was our last day in Singapore today, we decided not to go too far afield and ended up in Bugis Street. This is found in the Arab Quarter of the Bugis district, and its claim to fame is the Bugis St Market, which is the largest street market in Singapore. There are countless stalls selling everything from shoes and clothes, to jewellery and cosmetics, food and drink, souvenirs and gifts, antiques and technological gadgets, CDs and DVDs. Visitors will also find manicurists, tattooists, body piercers, masseurs, reflexologists, cosmeticians and hairdressers to mention a few of the services provided.

Before the arrival of British and American forces from the Vietnam War, Bugis Street was infamous as this was the red light district of Singapore. However, after the armed forces were stationed here everything changed – rather odd I would have thought! At the time of its vivid past, a promenade of garishly made-up drag queens marched through the crowd with sparkling dresses on. They liked to pose and have their photo taken and teased the men walking by. This seamy Old Bugis Street was demolished during the construction of the MTR underground. Nowadays, New Bugis Street is located south-west of the MRT station. The only concession of New Bugis Street to its lurid past are a couple of sex shops, which look more cute than erotic, judging from the merchandise displayed in their windows.

Bugis Street is a crowded, noisy and busy place that has the quality of night bazaar even during the day. There are many pubs, bars, alfresco restaurants, hawkers, street theatre, and of course the markets, open every day and night from about 11:00 a.m. until 3 a.m. (or until the last customer leaves…). The street has a carnival-like atmosphere and is a good place to do some shopping for souvenirs and gifts. We did some such shopping – mainly a few gifts for people back home, but then hurried on visit the temples.

Kuan Yin Temple is on Waterloo Street and rated as one of the most renowned Chinese temples in Singapore. Kuan Yin is a famous Chinese goddess, originally called “Kwan Im”, the goddess of mercy. She is a very virtuous deity as she helps those in need, according to myths retold for many generations. The original Kuan Yin Temple was constructed in 1884 but was reconstructed in 1982. It has the typical structure of a Chinese temple with an impressive gate leading to a courtyard, and then further in, the temple sanctuary. Inside the sanctuary one can see lots of statues of Chinese deities, including that of Kuan Yin. Numerous offerings are made here, including flowers, incense, oil, fruit and candles.

Outside the temple, there are many fortunetellers, flower-sellers and beggars, all of which are part of the attraction of the temple for visitors. The Chinese are very superstitious and have a tradition of asking for divine assistance, consulting mediums and fortunetellers for advice regarding auspicious dates for marriages, selling and buying, lucky number to win lotteries, etc. The statues of the gods may remain silent, but believers shake a circular bamboo box with 50 thin sticks in it, each one having a number on it. When a stick is selected, its number will lead one to the correspondingly marked small piece of paper on which is written the prediction or answer to one’s question.

A few minutes walk west of Kuan Yin Temple stands the Hindu Sri Krishna Temple. Although this temple normally attracts many Hindu worshippers, it also surprisingly attracts Chinese worshippers from the nearby Kuan Yin Temple. Lord Krishna is believed to be the eighth reincarnation of Vishnu, a very well-known principal god of Hinduism. This temple has the typical architecture of a Hindu holy shrine, and is highly decorated with gorgeous ornaments and multi-coloured statues of the gods. Visitors to both temples must take their shoes off before stepping inside.

temple 1 |ˈtempəl| noun
A building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the dwelling place, of a god or gods or other objects of religious reverence.
• (the Temple) Either of two successive religious buildings of the Jews in Jerusalem. The first (957–586 BC) was built by Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; it contained the Ark of the Covenant. The second (515 BC – AD 70) was enlarged by Herod the Great from 20 BC and destroyed by the Romans during a Jewish revolt; all that remains is the Western Wall.
• (the Temple) A group of buildings in Fleet Street in London that stand on land formerly occupied by the headquarters of the Knights Templars. Located there are the Inner and Outer Temple, two of the Inns of Court.
• A synagogue.
• A place of Christian public worship, esp. a Protestant church in France.
ORIGIN Old English templ, tempel, reinforced in Middle English by Old French temple, both from Latin templum ‘open or consecrated space.’

A TRIP TO JOHOR BAHRU

“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” - Lao Tzu

Today we decided to visit Malaysia, just like that, on the spur of the moment. Singapore, the island, is situated to the South of the Malay peninsula with a short causeway connecting the two land masses, ensuring there is road and railway access to and from each country. The small size of the main island of Singapore (remembering the whole country is only 704 square km) is apparent when one travels from one end to the other. In fact, the area of Singapore is about the same as that of New York City. Travelling from the CBD in the south to the north, where the causeway that joins the island to Malaysia, takes about half an hour and there are excellent bus and rail services that connect the two countries.

We took the MRT (the very efficient underground train) from Orchard station and got off at Woodlands station. Then a short bus ride and we found ourselves in the immigration halls, first of Singapore, then of Malaysia. This was the most inconvenient part of the trip. Getting of the bus, trudging up and down escalators and endless corridors to go where is most convenient for the immigration officials, not for the travellers. This is a huge time waster and a great disincentive for doing the trip at all. Nevertheless, we finally negotiated the halls of officialdom and kept the petty bureaucrats happy, while inflating the egos of the nationalists by traipsing through vast, resplendent halls designed to impress and awe the visitors entering each country…

The main city in the southern part of Malaysia is Johor Bahru (JB in short), which hugs the coastline facing Singapore. It is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and is the state capital of Johor Darul Takzim. JB was established in 1855 by the late Sultan Abu Bakar (the Father of Modern Johor) and now serves as the administrative and commercial centre of the state.

Its population consists of a diverse ethnic mix of races, and offers the visitor heritage attractions, colourful culture, spicy local cuisine, and many recreational activities. It is also a major port, a manufacturing, trade and export centre. The city is popular with Singaporeans, and has many landmarks, such as The Grand Palace with its distinct Anglo-Malay architecture, which houses the museum where priceless treasures of the Royal Collection are showcased. Unfortunately this was closed for renovations and we did not get to visit it.

“Ghazal” music imported from India, is unique to Johor, and is usually performed during cultural shows and weddings. Another famous performance distinctly Johorean is the “Kuda Kepang” dance, which is spun from tales of Islamic heroes. Dancers imitate the movement of horses to the music of a traditional orchestra.

Shopping opportunities abound in JB. Modern malls, arcades, handicraft centres, bazaars and markets offer international and local products. Local craftwork makes good souvenirs of a trip here. The JB Duty Free Complex located at the JB International Ferry Terminal offers all sorts of merchandise for the international traveller. Known as “ZON”, it is a large duty free department store encompassing 163 retail outlets and a hypermarket. The complex offers a variety of goods such as branded designer wear from London, Paris, New York and the likes. Glassware, confectionery, and other items are also to be found on sale.

Another interesting side of JB can be experienced when night falls over the city. A vast array of food stalls and vendors appear and the adventurous tourist can try out the taste of popular local dishes such as the famous Laksa Johor, flake fish and gravy cooked with coconut milk and served with noodles and vegetables. The smells and aromas of this city can best be described as a full gamut – they range from the noisome to the delightful. While walking through the streets, one is assaulted by the malodorous stench of sewers and drying rotting fish, while the next step confronts one with the smell of jasmine and tuberose from the vendors of devotional garlands, while further down the street the delicious smell of frankincense burning on charcoal and joss sticks being offered in Chinese temples caress the nose.

We visited a Chinese temple and saw Hindu temples, mosques and Christian churches. This is another cosmopolitan city of over a million people and its multiracial population appears to be living in harmony with one another, just as is the case in Singapore. We enjoyed this side trip to Singapore’s northern neighbor and in the evening we caught a different bus back, which took us to the Bugis area of Singapore, very close to the CBD. A short taxi ride later we were at our hotel for cocktails at the club lounge. Definitely worth the effort of the travel, and despite the rigmarole of the passport checks and immigration lounge odysseys, this trip is an easy and worthwhile to do if staying in Singapore for a couple of days.

As it is Poetry Wednesday, here is an apt offering from the pen of Charles Beaudelaire:

EXOTIC PERFUME

WHEN with closed eyes in autumn’s eves of gold
I breathe the burning odours of your breast,
Before my eyes the hills of happy rest
Bathed in the sun’s monotonous fires, unfold.

Islands of Lethe where exotic boughs
Bend with their burden of strange fruit bowed down,
Where men are upright, maids have never grown
Unkind, but bear a light upon their brows.

Led by that perfume to these lands of ease,
I see a port where many ships have flown
With sails outwearied of the wandering seas;

While the faint odours from green tamarisks blown,
Float to my soul and in my senses throng,
And mingle vaguely with the sailor's song.

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)

SINGAPORE'S LITTLE INDIA

“We're living in a time when the world has suddenly discovered India because it’s run out of raw material for its imagination. The raw materials for imagination are inexhaustible here.” - Deepak Chopra

Today we visited Little India, which is one of Singapore’s most colourful and exotic neighbourhoods. The classic shopping arcade of Little India is located on Serangoon Road and was built in 1828. Immediately one enters this district, the sights, sounds and smells are immediately evocative of India. Arts, handicrafts, clothing, carpets, fabrics, food, jewellery, music, films, spices, flowers and flower garlands, sweets, all are to be found here and of course they are all Indian and transport one to the country of their origin.

Ten per cent of the permanent Singaporean population is Indian, most of them from the southern part of the subcontinent. This thriving community has become very successful in business and there are some very rich Indians amongst the well-to-do Singaporeans. However, when one walks down the street, many of the menial workers and labourers are also Indians. These may not be permanent residents, but rather guest workers, of which there are several hundred thousand in Singapore.

At Serangoon Road where Belilios Road crosses it, stands the Hindu Temple of “Sri Veerama Kaliamman” constructed in 1881. This temple is quite an amazing sight, as the colourful façade and roof are intricately decorated with all of the gods of the Indian pantheon. It is really worth a visit if you go to Little India. There are other temples of course, like the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple built in 1855 and designated a national Singaporean monument. This is located on upper Serangoon Road. A block up northeast on Race Course Road stands the Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple. Here one finds hundreds of lightbulbs surrounding an enormous 50-feet high statue of the Buddha. Another temple is Leong San Buddhist Temple, which was constructed in 1800s and is rated as one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples in Singapore.

Heading up Serangoon Road through Kitchener Road takes one to Central Serangoon Road where many Indian cafes, clothing shops, and hardware stores are to be found. Some of the highlights are the Asian Women’s Welfare Association building located at 9 Norris Road, which was established in 1935. It is an interesting mixture of Art Deco, North Indian, and Chinese-inspired fish-scale designs. The Gandhi Memorial was dedicated by Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1950 and is situated behind the Broadway Hotel. A modern S$48 million dollar shopping complex located at Serangoon and Syed Alwi Roads is also worth seeing.

Going towards the East, one enters the Arab Quarter. The atmosphere here changes to one evoking the middle east, Arabia and Moslem world. The Arab community has been settled here even prior to the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. Arab merchants were monopolising Malaysia and Singapore for hundreds of years, and the links are forged very strongly. The Sultan Mosque is one of the highlights and it can be found between Bencoolen and Arab Streets. It was built by the Swan & MacLaren in 1924. Arab Street and the Bussorah Street mall are definitely worth lingering as the air reeks of the Arabian Nights and the fragrance of incense, perfume and spice.

This Muslim centre of Singapore is a traditional textile district, full of batiks from Indonesia, silks, sarongs and shirts. Add to this mix rosaries, flower essences, hajj caps, songkok hats, basketware and rattan goods, and you have a fair idea of the products haggled over in this part of the city. The grand Sultan Mosque is the biggest and liveliest mosque in Singapore, but the tiny Malabar Muslim Jama-ath Mosque (built in 1819) is the most beautiful. There’s fine Indian Muslim food along nearby North Bridge Rd and the foodstalls on Bussorah St are especially atmospheric at dusk during Ramadan. Gemstones and jewelry of all kinds are to be found in the Golden Landmark shopping centre, very close to the Sultan Mosque.

We also visited another sacred place in this area, the Old Malay Cemetery recorded as the oldest Malay cemetery, which unfortunately is note very well looked after and going to ruin. A pity as it is evocative of old times and has the atmosphere of a lost city in the jungle, so overgrown is it with greenery, although surrounded by busy thoroughfares.