What grad school is like

And what the archetypical grad student looks like:

A Happy 30th Anniversary!

Yesterday, the result of yet another branding exercise was revealed…

It’s no longer the Singapore Science Centre:

Now, it’s the Science Centre, Singapore:

Really, I’m speechless.

And left wondering why it looked so familiar, until I saw a bus disgorge a load of tourists:

In any case, a happy 30th anniversary to the Science Centre!Ah, the fond memories of:

• Falling into the ecogarden ponds
• Gazing at the incubating eggs and hatching chicks
• Hanging out at the observatory on Friday nights (even on those rainy nights…ahem)

May the Science Centre continue to thrill kids for years to come, as it did for me and my fellow classmates in the past!

And now it becomes harder to fill my garage…

…because the Secondhand Goods Dealers Act has just come into effect. Ye old friendly Sungei Road scrap uncle now has to keep:

(a) records of the particulars of all goods bought by him, including the dates of purchase, the names and addresses of the persons from whom he bought the goods and such other particulars as may be prescribed; and

(b) records of the particulars of all goods sold by him, including the dates of sale, the names and addresses of the persons whom he sold the goods to and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

Uh huh. Like that’s going to be enforceable. And the record format looks like this. Nationality? Gender??!?

So what scary secondhand goods comes under this act? All of these:

1. Cameras, video-graphic and photographic equipment including lenses.
2. Computers including Tablet Personal Computers, Laptops, Palmtops, Personal Digital Assistants and computer accessories.
3. Handphones, Personal Digital Assistant handphones and Smartphones.
4. Compact Disc players and Moving Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 3 players and Moving Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 4 players.
5. Jewellery set with precious stones including but not limited to diamonds, jade, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
6. Jewellery made from platinum, gold and white gold without precious stones.
7. Pawn tickets.
8. Watches.
9. Cables and wires made of copper.
10. Items (in whole or parts) that are made of copper, stainless steel, aluminum, steel or brass or a composite of such
    metals, and that are used or intended to be used as fittings or installations that form part of, or are attached to, any
    building, road, sidewalk, amenity or other place (whether public or private), including but not limited to the following:-
    (a) bicycle racks (b) drain covers (c) dry risers (d) earth bars (e) fencings (f) frames or other parts of a door or window (g) grills (h) hydrants (i) lightning conductors (j) manhole covers (k) meters (l) over-ground boxes (m) park benches (n) pipes (o) railings (p)rubbish bins or parts (q) signs or signposts (r) sinks (s) television aerials (f) water taps
11. Scraps of copper, stainless steel, aluminium, steel or brass or any composite of such metals, whether in the form of bars, rods, sheets, turnings or parts of disassembled items or articles, or otherwise, but excluding scraps derived from drink cans or household utensils or articles

Brilliant. Another move that hurts honest traders more than those dealing with stolen goods. Next, the government is probably going to require identification numbers to be engraved on all of the above, and registered into a database.

“Ma’am, we have reason to believe that the homebuilt wireless pinhole camera you intend to sell is derived from stolen property – the trash can casing, the CCD screens, the adapted Bluetooth transmitter and the makeshift tripod made from piping.  Can I see their serial numbers please?”

Why we have so few innovators in Singapore

Let’s look at some of the successful startups out there:

Hewlett-Packard.

Google.

Apple.

What do they all have in common? They all started out in garages!

Imagine if any budding Singaporean innovator wanted to build something cool in his home, an HDB flat, say.

The overzealous maid tosses out half-finished prototypes by mistake.

The neighbours complain because the hammering sounds and burnt capacitor smoke smells are making it hard for their kids to study for their PSLE.

HDB comes after you for not having a licence to drill.

ISD officers haul you away for questioning over the wires, screws, broken and working electronics you have everywhere.

So the solution to encouraging innovation and enterpreneurship is obvious: a soundproof garage in every HDB flat and every condominium apartment!

In all seriousness though, the garage is just a symbol for a culture that we don’t quite have yet in Singapore: that of do-it-yourselfing. Part of it is due to space constraints, yes, there’s not much room in a flat to keep a lot of junk without becoming a fire hazard. But another reason could be the fact that it’s just too easy to get buy stuff around here. Stereo broken? No problem, just throw it away and buy another one. The question of opening it up and trying to fix it almost never arises, neither does the question of building something from scratch. A good deal can be learnt just by physically tinkering with the innards of gadgets, much more than just reading about its specs and working principle.

We need more garages, personal or community, and garages with their own mess and charm. Not clean, neat and sterile ones.