Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Reason

Early this morning, the current Thai prime minister, Mr Samak Sundaravej, dropped in for a visit.

I wasn't there when it happened.

Anyway, this signage made it crystal clear why there were so much "touch-up" painting activities going on for the last whole week.

And I thought it was some routine maintenance.

So if you want to experience how Tiong Bahru Market was like when it 1st opened about a year and a half ago, today would be a good day.

And when you visit the market, please take care of the place as we do not want to depend on such VIP visits to look fresh and clean.

Mr Samak Sundaravej's trip to Singapore was not just about official business. The Thai leader had requested a taste of Singapore's food culture, and got that when he toured the Tiong Bahru market. And he proved to be quite a food-lover too! Mr Samak said, "My favourite (dish) is fried rice, we call it 'fried rice, governor style'. But now I am not the governor anymore, I call it 'fried rice, ex-governor style!'"

excerpt from ChannelNewsAsia, 19th March 2008

2 comments:

pinto said...

Ah, our wayang mentality comes to the fore again. Putting our best foot forward is one thing. We seem to put on a veneer for temporary display. Expect more of the same when the Youth Olympics is in town.

SGalf said...

Actually, it is the same everywhere. I think it is a very human thing to want to look good. Just look at Beijing. They are staging everthing to usher that event in. Even the restaurant's menu were not spared.