Return to Singapore 1995

After sitting down, Liu Mengchen's eyes fell on the logo of the T-shirt on Li Xiaofan.

This is a T-shirt and jeans that Li Xiaofan bought at the "GUESS" store when he was shopping at Tampines Plaza yesterday. There is a red inverted triangle on the chest of the T-shirt and a big red question mark under the "GUESS" in the middle.

"What brand is your clothes? I have seen several of our Singaporean colleagues wearing jeans and T-shirts of your brand..." Liu Mengchen asked curiously.

"Hehe, this brand is called GUESS. It was founded by four brothers who grew up in a passionate and cultural southern region of France. They immigrated to the United States in the 1970s and started a business in California to pursue their fashion dreams. So this brand is tainted with the flavor of the American West, full of European romantic passion and French fashion design taste. At present, this fashion brand, which is considered to be above average in Singapore, should be more popular among young people in Singapore nowadays..."

Li Xiaofan answered fluently. In his last life, in the last two years in Singapore, he began to pay attention to these popular brands because he started chasing girls and had a deep understanding of them.

"Oh, so that's how it is. Are these clothes expensive?..."

"38 yuan for a T-shirt, 98 yuan for a pair of jeans..."

"It's so expensive!" Liu Mengchen stuck out her tongue. The two pieces of clothes that Li Xiaofan wore were equivalent to a monthly salary of a person in China when converted into RMB.

After a few simple exchanges with Liu Mengchen, Li Xiaofan estimated that it would not take too long for them to arrive in Singapore.

Then, after the two girls whispered to each other, Guo Hanyue said:

"Li Xiaofan, are you studying or working in Singapore?"

"I work here!"

"Where do you work?"

"Ximu Electronics in the nearby Luoyang Industrial Zone, and you guys?"

"Oh, we are nurses at the Changi Airport Hospital next door. What do you do, and what is your education?"

"A technician engaged in electronic testing, with a university degree, and currently enrolled in a part-time course at the Singapore Institute of Technical Education..." Li Xiaofan didn't know if this was a lie. In his previous life, he was also an undergraduate student at a night university.

As for the last sentence, it was to show that he was more motivated and studious.

"Wow, you're still a college student, can you help translate this article?"

Guo Hanyue handed him an English leaflet.

Li Xiaofan took it and saw that it was an introduction to Changi Airport in English.

He read it casually:

"Singapore Changi Airport is located on Airport Avenue in the East Coast constituency of the Republic of Singapore, 17.2 kilometers west of the center of Singapore. It is a 4F-level international airport and a large international hub airport. In 1975, the old airport originally located in Paya Lebar was relocated to the Changi area and construction began. On June 30, 1981, Paya Lebar Airport was officially transferred to Singapore Changi Airport. On July 1, 1981, Singapore Changi Airport was officially opened to traffic..."

"Well, Li Xiaofan, your English is pretty good!" After listening to Li Xiaofan's translation, the two girls began to smile.

"By the way, Li Xiaofan, do you like sports?"

The two focused their eyes on his sneakers.

"Yeah, I like it. I went to the NTUC Club Resort nearby to run and swim this morning..."

"Can you swim? Are you good at it?"

"Not bad. I was on the school team in middle school..."

"Wow, so awesome!"

The two girls were already smiling, and seemed to be a little bit in awe.

Liu Mengchen was interested and continued to ask: "Do you have any bad habits? For example, smoking, gambling, etc.?"

"No, I don't gamble. Smoking shouldn't be considered a bad habit. Because I have to work night shifts, I occasionally smoke a few cigarettes to refresh myself when I'm tired, but I'm not addicted to it! Don't worry, I definitely won't smoke indoors. I know all the laws and rules in Singapore..."

"Oh, do you usually clean the dormitory?"

"Yeah! You can tell by my appearance. I have a slight mysophobia!"

After a few words of communication, the two girls were all smiles and became much more polite to Li Xiaofan.

There's a chance! Li Xiaofan's intuition.

Guo Hanyue continued to ask: "Li Xiaofan, if you want to move in, you have to pay three months' rent first, and another six months' deposit. Can you accept this condition? This is also the condition our landlord gave us..."

Damn, six months' rent plus three months' deposit, this condition is quite harsh. If it were in the past, Li Xiaofan would definitely walk away.

But now, it's not a big deal.

"No problem!" Li Xiaofan agreed.

Guo Hanyue exchanged glances with Liu Mengchen, got up and went to the kitchen next door to discuss, and then returned to the living room.

"Then Li Xiaofan, we have decided. You are welcome to come and share the rent with us, but before you move in, let me be frank. We have to make three rules!"

Guo Hanyue handed Li Xiaofan a rental agreement.

Li Xiaofan took it and looked at it. In addition to the normal rental terms, there were many personalized terms attached: for example, you cannot make loud phone calls that disturb others' rest, you cannot bring outsiders in without permission, you cannot smoke indoors, you cannot be shirtless in public places, you must clean public sanitation, bathrooms, toilets regularly... and so on. There are 28 clauses in total!

If you violate any of them, they will warn you and if you do not change after repeated warnings, they have the right to ask Li Xiaofan to move out within a week...

After reading it, Li Xiaofan was happy: "Very good, these are also what I hope everyone will abide by, I have no objection, you can sign and seal it now!"

"When do you plan to move in?"

"It's better to do it today than today. We can sign the rental agreement now. I'll go to the bank to withdraw money for you later. I'm going back to China next week, so I'll move in after I return!"

"Okay, sure!"

...

After signing the rental agreement and paying a deposit of 200 Singapore dollars, Li Xiaofan left the two girls' residence and took bus No. 2 to the Bedok North branch of the gaming company in Bedok Town to collect the lottery prize.

Tampines Town used to be Bedok Town, and the two communities were adjacent to each other.

Unlike Tampines, which is a new market town, Bedok is an old market town in Singapore.

Bedok is an old place name, called Bedok in English. It evolved from the Malay word beduk, which is a big drum that Singaporean Malay compatriots beat when worshipping. It is taller than a person and is very large and spectacular.

The area of ​​Changi, Orchid Village where Li Xiaofan lives, as well as Bedok, Tampines, Paya Lebar, Pasir Ris and other places belong to Singapore's "Eastern Region", one of the only five major regions in Singapore.

Singapore is a "city-state" and there is no so-called "City of Singapore". The government divides the country into five community development councils, namely the East, Central, West, North and Northeast, and appoints the highest chief of the community development council as the "mayor".

Although the full-time mayor does not have a political position, his rank and salary are the same as those who hold political positions. The position of a senior mayor is equivalent to that of a minister of state (Singapore does not have a deputy minister position, and the minister of state is equivalent to a deputy minister), while the position of a young or less experienced mayor is the same as that of a deputy minister (assistant minister).

In the past, Singapore was too small to have the position of "mayor". It is rumored that the reason why Singapore established a "mayor" was mainly for diplomatic reasons. When mayors of other countries visit Singapore, they cannot let the president or prime minister of the country to receive them. Obviously, it is more appropriate to establish a "mayor" of the same level and let them receive them.

So starting from 2001 when Goh Chok Tong became prime minister, Singapore had five mayors for the first time, but most people didn't know who the mayor was.