Dark skies all day long over Singapore ...
The entrance of Orchard Road at the junction with Scotts is a tunnel under a dark cover of black clouds heavy with rain ... rain that has been falling over this equatorial city for so many days that one does not remember what a sunny day is like.
As an arch to this tunnel, a huge Merry Christmas banner greets you, ornamented with large plasticky childish figures and christmas trees ... It is too early for it to be lit yet and it looks drab in this drab stormy light. Yes, Christmas comes early in Singapore. Those signs have been up for two weeks already. They are supposed to make you merry and tell you that it is time to buy presents for your family and friends.
But, far from evoking these happy thoughts, the ugliness of these decorations is for me a dark reminder of how infantile a society Singapore is. At night, swarms of people come to Orchard Road, the commercial Mecca of Singapore, with their cameras and tripods to take pictures of these illuminations, which, presumably, they find beautiful!
This rich city state is apparently not prepared to pay for artful Christmas decorations that would elevate the taste of its people. No ... those are paid for by Hitachi. A red sign reminds you of it ... "Hitachi Inspires the Next" this sign proudly claims in white letters on the bloody background ... The next what? Who knows? Who cares?
Lacrymosa dies illa ... Mournful that day ...
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