Those were the days

Remember the 70s? Remember when Bugis Street was the place to go see transvestites in bouffant pink wigs? Some so famous you could buy little photo postcards of them? Where you went to tuck into turtle soup or fish ball noodles while seated at rickety tables by the drain? Where anyone trying to park along the street would be kindly waved into the lot by a scruffy man with a dirty rag trying to earn a small tip? It was a bit of a scam that, because you basically paid off the man to not 'clean' your windshield, and for the peace of mind that the car wouldn't be scratched up when you were done with supper.

So we don't have the old Bugis Street anymore. Razed by zealous authorities eager to eradicate any evidence to suggest that Singapore is not a modern, upscale, with-it country. No, no, we're not in China, we don't have bullock carts on the streets, we have everything money can buy.

Except money can't buy everything.

And sometimes, a little chaos and grime doesn't hurt.

It's become a challenge of sorts. Where can my girls bring me to nosh on Malaysia's finest fare. Satay, mamak, claypot rice, roti canai, horfun, hokkien mee, seafood barbecue. Such a surfeit of options, it would seem that I could try something different for every meal and never have to fear repeating a thing. Except some food is so delectable one can't help but go back again and again.

Today, we tried something new and chanced upon a pasar malam that reminded me of those from my childhood in Singapore. The only thing missing was the hiss from kerosene lamps lighting the wares. Why the ones in Singapore now don't make me reminisce the same way, I don't know. Maybe it's because the pasar malams in Malaysia are trapped in a time warp, instead of car dealers you have someone hawking hakka-style char siew out of a small mobile stall on the back of a motorbike. Everywhere you look, you see entrepreneurship in action, simple but clearly thriving businesses. It's as if anyone with an idea and a willingness to slog can make a living, a few ringgit at a time. Never mind the big bucks, a respectable living is just fine.

Contrast that with Singapore, where nostalgia is manufactured and at a price. Glutton Square, Smith Street, you name it, only the big names need apply. How else to afford the thousands upon thousands of dollars in rent a month? No hawking out of a makeshift stand, that's for sure. But that's law and order for you. Colour within the lines, kids. We want it pretty and neat, no smudges thankyewvrrymuch.

No, it's not that one is better than the other, for variety is the spice of life. And it's a blessing to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds. Nay, it's a blessing to be able to enjoy the best of many, many worlds.

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