Part two of two
Go to part one
published August
20, 2001
written by Jia-Rui Chong / New York
illustrated by Melissa
Scram / New York
SINGAPORE
Dear T--,
Yes, it is very clean here: no marks on the white lions
(one English and one Chinese) squatting side-by-side outside
the Raffles Hotel. Our relatives take us out every night--
we're the excuse to sup on shark's fin soup and dishes named
Five-Star Dragon Fantasy. Their digital gadgets do everything
short of serving martinis. I don't complain when they sneak me
red envelopes fat with cash. With nights so warm, I want to splurge
on a rickshaw ride, though my cousins insist it's only
the white foreigners who do that. I've been trying to practice
my mandarin here. The Tamil, Malay, and Hindi throw me off
before I can begin. What I remember most from the Christmases
I used to spend here is the tray of stacked mangoes, starfruits,
and lychees on my aunt's table as iconically offhand
as a New England table with a bushel of apples.
Singapore