I love Muzak (and other random thoughts from Singapore)

I was sitting in a little cafe today on campus (National University of Singapore, where I'm studying), and intermingled with the usual din of conversations and chatter ubiquitous to coffeehouses the world over, I noticed the faint melody of a recognizable song. Upon further investigation, I realized that I was in fact listening to a popular refrain from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" rendered helpless by the underwhelming powers of Muzak!

It seems that Westernization has brought not only Coke, Starbucks, and McDonald's to the far reaches of the globe, but also Muzak, also known as elevator music. I was quickly attuned to the subtle presence of some well known tunes (for instance: I Will Always Love You, I Do It For You, Your Song, and Don't Wanna Miss a Thing) all set to the background of strings and the soloist skills of a poorly paid studio saxophonist. It was actually pretty comical, and a real indicator or the spread of Western influence into the deepest levels of society abroad.

Another example: the lack of local Singaporean talent in the music industry. Instead, local bands (a fair share in a population of 5 million) mostly resort to covering American/British popular bands in order to draw attention and fund their own endeavors. I have gone twice to a venue here called Wala Wala to see a wonderful cover band called The Unexpected. I was really surprised to see the extensive knowledge that the Singaporean audience had (displayed by requests and raucous singing along with the songs) of American popular music. For me, the highlight of both nights was a room full of locals (and a couple of us Americans) rocking out to Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name Of," skillfully and powerfully performed by the Unexpected's lead vocalist Shirlyn Tan. (the picture is of my group with Shirlyn, middle).

Of course I am only observing the very surface of these issues and can speak only from a small amount of speculation, but music can be a real indicator of deeper cultural undercurrents.

Next topic: Monkeys. Yeah random right? So here's the deal: Singapore is this little Island with like 5 million people on it. Land is super valuable and everything is about 5+ stories (completely different than Chapel Hill). Yet, they have managed to maintain a decent number of natural reserves on the island where nature is allowed to run free (with nice little paths and such of course) and along with nature comes monkeys.

Which is totally awesome! Somehow they seem to stay restrained to their natural areas and don't like coming much more than a few hundred yards out of the forest, but never-the-less, only minutes from the city center is a fairly large rain forest that is home to at least a few dozen ( at least what we saw) little monkeys. And this is just one of a handful of reserves, some larger. So it is promising that nature has been able to thrive so close to the presence of a large population of humans, but also shows the complete dominance over nature practiced by humans the world over.

For instance, Singapore has recently increased their land size by nearly a third (check me on that) through ocean reclamation. I mean they just stick dirt in the ocean and then build on top of it, that's pretty hardcore domination of nature. Not a judgment call, but shows man's power to alter his environment. So I have been pleasantly surprised to see so much of nature preserved in this little country as well as lots of parks and green areas in this "Garden City." (picture: the forest through the trees)

That's it for now, check out facebook for more monkey pictures, they're pretty cute.