Day 9 - Rebecca's Birthday!

Police Cars
Every country needs a police force to keep their streets safe. There are many counterfeit notes here in China, such as $100yuan. Therefore, every time I hand over a $100yuan note to a cashier, they would check for its legitimacy by looking at its secured features. Some of their counterfeit notes appear so real that even professional authenticators in Singapore were unable to verify the notes until multiple attempts were taken.



Cargo Transportation
On the way to the supermarket, I spotted three guys on a motorbike. The standard capacity of a motorbike is designed to carry one pillion only. Although I have personally seen give persons on a motorbike before, it is illegal in Singapore to have more than one pillion. However, this is China! Even riders are not educated about vehicle safety of wearing a helmet to protect their head in case of an accident.


Canned Food
At the supermarket scouring for instant foods, I passed by the canned food section. I felt disgusted by the display rack of luncheon meat. The can of luncheon meat was rusty and looks spoiled. Although manufactured in 21/02/2008 and not expired yet, the condition of the container will put customers off. It is unprofessional for the management in the super market to allow such poor-conditioned food items to be racked for sale.



Birthday Girl!
A wonderful occasion! Rebecca has just hit her 18th birthday today! All of us planned before hand to give her a surprise. We bought a sponge cake for her at the nearby store specialized in cake making. The chef prepared a beautiful cake behind a glass partition and we witnessed his skills in action.



Birthday Gift
The twenty of us made a birthday video with each of us singing a single word in the birthday song. after blowing out the candles, we went back to our childhood days by turning wild! I started the madness by wiping a finger full of cream onto my friend's face. Thereafter, others continued by smacking cream and running after one another.



Cleaning Up
Of course! Cleaning up the mess that we've created is inevitable.

REFLECTIONS

Singapore has taken great steps to improve her security measures. Singapore's currency is rated as one of the high value dollars. This is because Singapore is a wealthy and well-developed country, and does not constantly print money as it will cause inflation. I envy the recent Singapore dollar notes as it has many safety features and is made of good quality plastic-like material. This makes the note water proof, durable, and crease-free. China has poor road safety regulations as compared to Singapore. It is against the law in Singapore to ride a motorbike without a helmet, and with two pillions. However, it is amazing to see how the China people are capable of balancing and transporting cargoes with them.

Singapore's good authority take great measures to ensure high quality and good conditioned food products are sold to customers. Any form of damage or defects will be discarded. I finally came to realize and appreciate the hard effort put in by the Singapore government as compared to China's.


I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.
-Barack Obama