Weekends Feel Like Weekends Again

Another Saturday rolls by and I’m reminded of the fact that here, in Toronto, a weekend feels like a weekend again. People who have never been to Singapore probably don’t know this, but when it comes to places like offices, many Singapore companies have a 5 1/2 day work week, where, despite the fact that no work usually gets done, employees are expected to come in and put in a half-day of work (usually ending at noon or 1 pm) on Saturday. If that sounds a bit excessive, you also have to remember that Singapore is the kind of place that values time over efficiency; given a choice, a Singapore employee will prefer (and handsomely reward) a worker who is so hopeless inefficient that it takes them all night to do a simple task that could be done in an hour. I’ve personally seen people who were completely incompetent at their jobs rise the corporate hierarchy for no other reason than the boss would see them sitting at their desk well after hours, struggling to finish a simple job that another employee could finish in a much faster time. Said efficient employees are usually punished for their speed by never getting promoted because they’re not as “hard working” as the ones that stay at the office working (or in some cases, playing Counter-Strike with their co-workers, something I’m happily guilty of) till the wee hours of the morning. Which is why the typical Singapore worker quickly learns that the best way to get ahead is to waste time. Most people who figure out the system have a regimen of checking e-mails, surfing the ‘net, talking to friends on Instant Messaging systems and going to lunch for an hour or two, then coming back and doing more of the same until about 5 or 6 pm, then finally getting around to doing work when it really counts. Needless to say, this doesn’t necessarily work once you get out of Singapore, but if you plan on staying there for life, it’s actually a pretty sweet arrangement.

But anyway, the weekend.

The Annex is slowly coming to life, which is pretty cool to see. Now that the temperatures are in the teens, or, as in the case of today, over 20, the streets are bustling, but it’s not that hurly-burly, everyone’s in a rush kind of energy you normally feel during the week. People are sitting at their porches, reading books, smoking cigarettes with friends, or even just napping. Dogs of every size are being walked by people of every color and fashion, and even the women are getting into the act with ridiculously short shorts and incredibly small, tight tank tops that are causing drivers to fail to notice the change in traffic lights as these Poster Girls For Slut-cercise promote their bounce and their curves on the street.

It’s very weird to have that sense of time and progression again. After over 10 years living in a country where the sun always-and-without-fail set completely by 7:30 pm, regardless of the year, still having daylight outside at 8:00 pm is unfamiliar and, to the Wife, extremely unnerving. But it’s nice to see the change in the people as well. And feel that relaxed bustle of people everywhere, who are simply taking their time to do what they want or just enjoy themselves. When Saturday rolls around in the Annex, it really does feel like everyone is loosening up and taking it easy, as opposed to Singapore where the nervous energy actually jumps up another notch because the mentality is “Oh my God, I’ve only got 36 hours to get this stuff done before work starts up again, I gotta’ hurry!”

People who go shopping here seem so relaxed and leisurely. People who shop or even simply walk around in Singapore always seem to have a clock ticking over their heads and that makes them jumpy.

Did I mention I’m really, really, REALLY happy to be back? Well I am.