Return to Singapore 1995

The sign at the No. 2 bus stop shows the entire route information: Changi Village → Upper Changi → Tampines → Bedok → Geylang → Bugis → Chinatown → Kampong Bahru.

Li Xiaofan smiled when he saw the "Geylang" stop in the middle.

In that era, there were two options for paying for public transportation in Singapore, one was to use a bus card, and the other was to insert coins and change. There are a large row of buttons on the machine, and the fare depends on the distance of the journey, and passengers can choose consciously.

It costs S$40 from Changi Village starting station to the center of Tampini Town, which is a little over RMB 2, which is not too expensive.

There is only one driver on the buses in Singapore and no other management staff. The driver is only responsible for driving. He doesn't care whether you paid or paid less.

Normally no one takes care of you on the bus, it all depends on you. But occasionally, inspectors will come on the bus for random inspections. If violations are found for the first time, they will usually warn you and ask you to pay for a ticket or fee. If they are found for the second time, you will be fined heavily.

Li Xiaofan remembers that when he first arrived, a certain worker was being clever and often evaded fares or paid less. Later, the inspectors continuously found out and fined him heavily, leaving behind a bad record. In the future, if a person like him with a criminal record applies for a visa extension or a green card, he will definitely be rejected by the Immigration Department. It is really a small gain but a big loss.

Li Xiaofan threw two two-cent coins in and got on the bus.

Singapore Bus No. 2 is a double-decker bus. After getting on the bus, Li Xiaofan chose to sit on the upper deck so he could enjoy the scenery along the road from a high place.

After getting on the bus, Li Xiaofan felt that he was really destined to this "2". Before being reborn, I rented my husband's house in Hongqiao, Changning, Shanghai, with my friends. We took the Shanghai Metro Line 2 to and from get off work every day, from Weining Road to Nanjing East Road, a total of eight stops.

Now he wants to go from Orchid Flower Village to downtown Singapore. There is no MRT subway option, and he can basically only choose bus No. 2 to travel.

The section from Changi Village to Upper Changi is the most beautiful section of Line 2. It basically maintains Singapore’s original kampung style and has not yet undergone large-scale development. The road is lush and lush with vegetation, and the bus feels like it is traveling through In the dense forest.

"Kampong" is a transliteration of the Malay word Kampong. In English, it is called village, which means primitive countryside.

The so-called "kampong spirit" can often be seen in the media in Singapore.

Even the current Prime Minister Lee of the Lion City often mentions the "kampong spirit" when posting on Facebook. During the recent epidemic, he once posted: This time the new coronavirus has allowed everyone to see people's goodwill. Many people help each other to overcome difficulties. Whether it is frontline workers, foreign workers, friends in need, or friendly strangers, every act of kindness makes people aware of the heritage of Singapore’s kampong spirit...

Kampung Spirit in Singapore refers to the abbreviation of the spirit of mutual help and mutual benefit among the early communities living in rural areas. The "kampung spirit" embodies a spirit of sharing weal and woe and sharing weal and woe among neighbors. "Kampong spirit" is a spirit of helping neighbors, making selfless contributions, and asking for nothing in return.

With the urbanization of Singapore and the disappearance of a large number of villages, more and more Singaporeans are nostalgic for the past kampong era. The Prime Minister of the Lion City has criticized Singaporeans at mass rallies several times for having lost the "kampung spirit"...

When Uncle Suba was chatting with Li Xiaofan a few days ago, he was also nostalgic for the good old days when they lived in kampongs as children, when all races and neighbors shared weal and woe and shared joys and sorrows. He also recommended Li Xiaofan to watch a TV series "Under One Roof" on Singapore's Channel 5 English Channel, which tells the interesting stories between neighbors of various races in Singapore during the kampong era.

Uncle Suba said that in the kampung era, kampungs had their own set of moral standards. If you smoked opium, addicted to gambling, joined clandestine parties (triads), bullied neighbors and villagers, and did evil, it would not only bring shame to the family, but also bring disgrace to the family. If you are not allowed to tolerate the villagers and elders, not only will you definitely not be able to marry a girl from this village or a neighboring village, but no one will marry a "gangster" and you may be kicked out of the kampong at any time...

Departing from Changi Village, the bus passes through the military base and Changi Hospital and then passes by a naval base, which is the famous US military Changi Naval Base. The base provides logistical supplies and maintenance services to the US Seventh Fleet and other passing ships.

What then appeared in front of Li Xiaofan was a dense boulevard and a row of high walls with barbed wire, which looked heavily guarded.

Li Xiaofan is very familiar with this scenery: the famous Changi Prison in Singapore has arrived.

In the past few days, he had dug out a lot of old Lianhe Zaobao in his dormitory. There is a piece of news that is still fresh in his mind: last June 1994, an 18-year-old boy named Michael from the United States was caned in Singapore, causing an uproar in the Western world. It turned out that Michael and a group of his friends vandalized traffic signs and spray-painted more than 20 cars on the roads in Singapore. The judge sentenced him to six strokes of the cane and four months in jail. After the news broke, dozens of Americans wrote to the Singapore Embassy in Washington to request a change in sentence. Even then-US President Bill Clinton also interceded for the teenager. But Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the time said: "For the sake of the President of the United States, 2 lashes will be subtracted, but 4 lashes must be implemented."

Later, it was here at Changi Prison that Michael obediently accepted the four-stroke punishment.

After being caned and recovering from his injuries, he said before leaving Singapore: "I will never forget Singapore!"

Seeing Changi Prison, Li Xiaofan remembered Mr. Chen Jiulin's WeChat public account, which he had been following before his rebirth.

Chen Jiulin once served 1035 days in prison here. He was once the president of China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation. At that time, China Aviation Oil, which he led, was listed on the main board of Singapore. The company's net assets exceeded US$500 million, which was 852 times that when Chen Jiulin took over. The market value exceeded US$1.1 billion, which was 5022 times the original investment. He created a business legend and was therefore called the "Aviation Oil King". China Aviation Oil has also won many honors for its outstanding performance, including being rated as Singapore's "most transparent" listed company twice in a row. The company's development process was compiled as a case study and included in the MBA course of the National University of Singapore.

But later, China Aviation Oil accidentally fell into a trap set by international speculators in oil options trading and suffered a huge loss of US$550 million. In March 2006, the Singapore Court of First Instance sentenced Chen Jiulin to four years and three months in prison. The reason for the sentence was that the shareholders sold shares to save the company and the company did not report losses to the exchange...

Because Li Xiaofan had played futures before, he was very concerned about the China Aviation Oil incident, including Mr. Chen Jiulin himself. He also attended Mr. Jiulin's lectures, who was doing well in investment after being released from prison and returning to China. When he was studying for an EMBA before his rebirth, this incident also became a negative case in the EMBA textbooks.

When he was still immersed in the memories of Mr. Chen Jiulin's lecture, the bus had arrived at Tampines Station, and he got off quickly.

Across the bus station was Tampines Central, which was the first shopping mall that Li Xiaofan saw after going abroad. At that time, there was no concept of this mall in China.

It was still a little early, so he went into Tampines Plaza first.

In the morning, he planned to take a good look at the business situation in the Tampines area to see if there were any business opportunities.