Tuesday, July 22, 2008

me@ntu.edu.sg

Someone had said, "In the book of life the answers are not in the back", but i say at least the hints are there in the back. I am here at NTU (Nanyang Technological University), Singapore, and I will be spending the next 5 years of my life at this place. I reached singapore on 17th morning at around 9 am. After nature calls and calls to india me and hari got out of the changi airport at 10 am and took a cab to NTU. We reached the International House, Students service centre, NTU and we were humbly overwhelmed by the hospitality here. The student volunteers took us through everything we needed in the beginning. We had to pay the fees for accommodation and fill up certain forms. We both got separate apartments at Nanyang Heights, and were dropped by a mini excursion bus to the apartment.
My apartment had 5 Single rooms, a kitchen(an oven, a refrigerator, and an electric heater), a dining hall( with a dining table),a hall , a washing place(with a washing machine) and 2 bathrooms( in one there is a jacuzzi). The room allotted to me was SR 1(Single room). It was a capacious room with a writing table and a showcase attached, a cot with mattress and a cupboard which was pretty spacious. I kept my stuff and took a bath.
After taking bath and getting freshened up we had to run to the NTU medical centre where we underwent medical tests like eye test, blood test, urine test and chest x-ray. After that I had nothing to do but explore the place. And me and hari walked a lot that day and got some necessary stuffs. Singapore is so neat and clean. People who litter the roads and spit in india dont even think of doing that here.Its because they will be fined if caught littering, which brings in a fear not to do it. India is one place where anything and everything can happen. This is what people from abroad think. If we want to change it we should learn from these people. I was talking with the Cab driver on the way to NTU, and i just said the roads are so clean and neat here. He replied in his crisp malay accent, "Oh Yes! People pay a huge sum as road tax so people except better roads. Every 6 months its digged up and new roads are laid, And watering the plants and trees on either side of the road is one inportant thing". We too pay Tax( Although some do not), but we dont expect anything from the government. We are submissive to everything. We get easily satisfied and adapted to any situation and condition. If at all we can change the plight in India we should demand. There might be people asking me who are you to say that? You are not even in India,You went out of India and are cribbing about the conditions back home. I have just got one answer to them, Yes I am outside India but that does not mean I am not an Indian. And i have come abroad just now, there is lot of time left. Time will tell those people if I come back or not. I am not telling them sternly i will come back after 5 years for sure, They would retort back saying everybody says this. Anyway coming back to me at singapore..
One more thing i noticed here was consumerism. Although not as much as USA, but still people equate happiness with material possessions. There are lot of entertainment centres and food courts. Tonnes and tonnes of cash and electrical power is being used up. All the transport systems, MRTs(Mass-Rapid Transit)(Metro trains), buses and taxis are air-conditioned. For a country which is smaller than Chennai probably uses up almost thrice as much power. Thats because people demand and want such conditions. Thats why probably developing countries are still developing. Its not like there are no plus points about this place, its jus that everything here is almost perfect. They do not probably realise how much this affects a farmer or a normal person in under developed countries. These people s demands will get satisfied and supply will increase. A typical case of rich get richer and poor get poorer...And being perfect is not my cuppa tea!

6 comments:

Quest said...

Enjoy the stay in a clean city.....If such taxes and penalties are introduced here then all will come on the roads with protests and agitations....with a bandh/hartal every other day till it is revoked...

People dont see the future benefits got from taking some tough decisions in the present

Btw my a** hurts after watchn dasavatharam in a local theatre + was holding on to my jaws from drooping after seeing the various scenes...

Chk out my Quest

The Third Twin said...

@viajero
Its not about taxes and penalities.. they should provide good roads and good amenities and then only ask for taxes and penalities.. they cant keep the same conditions and demand more tax.. thats what i meant da.
and yeah i know it sucks if u watch it with open mind.. jus narrow down ur vision to kamals acting..lol. anyways dude will cheak yur blog.. take care

Anonymous said...

oruthanuku oru apartment huh?? with 5 rooms...romba over da...n even my fren told me that the place s great...luxury life :D enjoy pannu n as for india, initiative should be taken by someone who has the power(mental financial n position wise)to bring about a change n be ready to face the consequence n not be stamped over n suppressed..all we can do is set a small example n hope others follow suit..loooooooooong way to go da...

The Third Twin said...

@ruud
Ya probably long way to go.. isnt it prudent to start the first step now at least? The problem is no one is ready to take that big responsibility.. ppl like gandhi and bhagat singh are gone...who has the guts to go against the govt? obviously one person cant. If at all it is to be made possible we must do it together, Unity is strength. But then who takes the pains to dat, everybody is satisfied with their own life(including me, but i am ready to change).. what i am trying to say is how much ever we crib abt it we are not gonna do anything.. me included cos we have the fear of losing our near and dear ones in the process..thats y i said we get easily adapted and accept things.. Revolution is the word!!

Quest said...

Hey where are you????

The Third Twin said...

dude i was busy da. i have written 2 posts and kept.. will post them tonite..

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