Australia Day in Little India

As my fellow compatriots blacken cheap sausages and chops while getting progressively drunker the closer they get to number one on triple J's Hottest 100, I found myself in Little India where it was teeming with rain and cheap kncok off. I can't help myself, I love the colour and smells so much, it's quite intoxicating. As I write this back at the hotel, it is once again pouring with rain in that heavy, sultry way that Singapore does so well. I had thought that we were coming out of their wet season but the thunder storms last night and the rain today seem to be pushing the wet up to the end of January.

But back to Little India. There's so much about this part of town that continually fascinates me. From the 19th centruy buildings painted in garish pastels to the hawker stalls to the semi organised clutter of the Mustafa Shopping Centre. I guess it's the texture of place that does it for me. The colour of the garments and food on display, the grimy walls, the smelly food courts, the clutter on the pavements from hosehold detritus to guys doing motorbike repars in the middle of the pavement.

Walking down the side streets you pass old men on bicycles, small food and drink stands and people hanging their washing on poles out of their apartment or terrace windows. To me it is stange and exotic. To the locals, it is just everyday life and they must wonder why some pale guy with his touch phone wants to keep taking photos of gutted fish. I'd certainly be bewildered if a Singaporean kept snapping myself and my friends sitting outside L'espresso.

In the lead up to today, Australia's national day, it has been interesting the last few weeks to reflect on myself as an Australian citizen and what that means to me and how I see myself in the rest of the world. To be honest I've never really been a fan of Australia Day. Yes, I love my country and it will always feel like home but chest beating and flag waving has always raised my hackles somewhat. National pride is not a bad thing but I get very uncomfortable, especially after the Cronulla riots about dickheads in board shorts with flags drapped around their necks confusing patriotism with nationism.

In my view, Australians can unfortunately be very quick to point the finger at aspects of other cultures that they find offensive or undesireable but are very slow if not openly defiant about looking truthfully at our own backyards. Our collective attitudes towards indigenous Australians and our inherent suspions of Muslims is where I think this most grossly manifests itself.

The thing that has been most interesting as an Australian to observe over here in Singapore is the cleanliness of the place and the almost 100% safety afforded by no (or extremely low) drugs and crime. I have to say that I'm really enjoying walking everywhere at any time of day or night and not really thinking about my personal safety at all. Everyone by and large, is also very respectful here. Where I'm going with this is that it stops you and makes you question whether the voracious egalitarian nature of Australian society is necessarily a good thing. Should we be harsher on those that dare to break our laws and thumb their noses at our legal system? I don't know. Is the level of respect that everyone seems to operate under here a by product of a certain level of fear of their Government and it's agencies. Is that a bad thing? Can the two be separated? These are the questions I have been asking myself as an Australian abroad expereincing a new culture and seeking to fit in with it.

I should say that Singaore's reputation for dullness/ conservatism is much like it's reputation for bargain shopping- one that was true about 20-30 years ago but has no real relevance today. It is a very lively and exciting city and there is certainly no lack of scantily clad women adorning billboards and there are distinct districts where vice and avarice await on every corner. Long hair and beards on men is quite acceptible and Singapore is now a truly multicultural melting pot of the South East where all corners of the globe fly in and out and leave their indelible mark.

Living in another country is a wonderful way to help you define what it is to belong to your home country and how that shapes you as a person. It is a constanly evolving process and one that I am relishing every day.