President of Singapore

Feb 2, 2005 | permalink

On a morning walk today, we chatted with the President of Singapore about CharityFocus, the India trip and of course, Singapore. :) It turns out that he goes on this walk on the beach, with just one unarmed bodygaurd and is super friendly!

Singapore is an interesting country:

• Cars are 3x the US price, with all the duty. And every ten years, the government forces you to junk your car. So Singapore streets look really rich!
• Audio CD's are sold for $2 on the streets. Probably pirated copies. :)
• For about $500/month, you can have a live-in, 24x7 maid in the house from anywhere in the world.
• Speaking of 24x7, there's a 5 story, 3 block Indian mall that's open 24 hours a day. Just in case you want to buy jewelry at 3AM. :)
• It's true. Forget chewing gum, many streets impose $500 fine if you bring food and drinks!
• Public transportation is totally awesome. Simple, clear UI that San Francisco should take serious lessons from.
• Thai coconuts. I wasn't impressed. :)
• 8% of Singaporeans are Indian, largely South Indian. And Tamil is one of the four national languages!
• Weather is humid, muggy and nothing to get jealous of.

Oh, and if you've arrived into town via Singapore Airlines, you're already in a good mood -- 60 on-demand movies, 216 full audio albums, lots of leg room, great food and awesome service. Now, if they only had Internet access. :)