Saturday, October 13, 2007

Modernity in Singapore's Little India



I’m not sure what it is about vending machines that interest me so much. I think it has to do with the way it represents an attempt to completely automate, mechanize, etc., society. It’s the epitome of desocialized consumer interaction. This example is a soda cup machine found in Little India, complete with ice! These machines are more interesting than ours; they fill a cup up, rather than simply popping a bottle out.

Little India was one of the more interesting spots in Singapore, and got me very excited about the two weeks we'll soon be spending in Delhi and Chennai. This area is one of the few in the city that seems even a little bit grubby. Singapore's "strict" government doesn't allow much riff-raff in its city: $1,000 (US$ 666) fines for spitting and littering or eating in inappropriate places. Vandalism carries a lashing punishment. Drug dealing? The death penalty. Singapore takes its security and hygiene pretty seriously, which makes it nice to visit.

The "wet" market we went to in Little India this morning also highlights another trend in modern society: globalisation. Sarah's uncle prefers to visit these types of open-air markets to get his produce, meat cuts, etc. He says the prices are better and the food fresher. He's also keen enough to point out however just how global much of the produce is. His tip was to look at the boxes and crates lying around to see where they originated.



I wonder if there is any Slow Foods movement here as there is in the U.S. Then again, Singapore doesn't really have much of a choice about importing its food (or most other things), given how little room there is already on this island.

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