What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of Singapore?

So a couple weeks ago, I was having a slight debate with a few of my Singaporean friends regarding the world's perception of Singapore - what is the first thing people think of when they think of Singapore?

My guess was that most American, specifically mid-westerners, wouldn't know too much about Singapore, and what they did know would probably be based on two things: Banned Chewing Gum and Caning (from the infamous American kid in the 90s who got caught spray painting cars). My argument was that if Singapore did something as simple as just lift the "ban" on selling chewing gum - they would be more successful in attracting foreign talent from developed western countries. No matter how silly the chewing gum ban may seem, I see it as a symptom of the fundamental authoritarianism that exists in the gov't here.

So the results of the survey came out a little more random that I thought - I didn't get many "chewing gum" or "caning" responses like I anticipated but the responses were very much varied and interesting. There was about 70 total responses:




When focusing only on Nebraskans, the results are highly skewed towards neutral and negative. I think a lot of this is due to Nebraskans having absolutely no clue what to think about when someone mentions Singapore.

Philippines and Fulbrighters

It was a busy last couple weeks as I headed to Manila for a Fulbright Conference and presented my research.



Afterwards, my fellow Fulbrighter Lauryn and I took a trip to Malapascua on the northern edge of Cebu Island. Pictures are here. Plus a few videos a I took on the way there:

Me chillin' and waitin for a Mango shake in a beautiful resort on the island.


Our awesome bus ride complete with interesting smoke coming from the wheels.


Little kids on the island making their own fun!

Quick Survey

Ok, so I have a very easy favor to ask of everyone - please take ten seconds and fill out this two question survey:  http://goo.gl/AvPU

Lots of Work to do! Such a nice day outside! Dilemma?

With my project in full swing after a 3:45AM EnergyPlus conference call last week and fifteen million other obligations which I have committed myself to, I have a lot of stuff to work on this weekend.

But it's sooo nice outside! Probably around 75F, sunny, and breezy. Dilemma? Nope:

"Singapore's producing far too few babies"

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! Last week was the first of the Chinese New Year! It is officially the Year of the Tiger now. While I think that it would be pretty awesome to be born under such an awesome animal - the Chinese disagree and probably plan to have fewer children as the Tiger is seen as "inauspicious".

The Prime Minister even had something to say about that in his address for the new year.

For those of you that aren't familiar with Chinese New Year festivities, its bigger than Christmas for the Chinese, a time to visit family and friends and wish them "Gong Xi Fa Cai!" (literally "wishing you enlarge your wealth" - here are some good examples of the meyhem:

What do you know about the world?

I'd like to consider myself pretty passionate about learning about the world and I thought that I was doing decent job by traveling, talking, meeting people from different cultures, etc. While all of these things are very important in developing an accurate perspective, my viewpoint is still skewed by preconceived notions and it is still very difficult to see the big picture when one can only be exposed to a relatively small view of an new environment and is left to form an opinion from that experience. That is why it is important to also understand the actual facts from behind the scenes - facts which are usually hidden in survey, statistics, and databases which one must search for, aggregate, normalize, visualize, etc, etc - things the average person isn't going to do or be interested in. 


Earlier this morning I watched a lecture by Hans Rosling, a Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet and Director of the Gapminder Foundation. He gives an amazing demonstration of a statistical visualization software which he has helped developed for the purpose of "Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact based world view." After watching his lecture I was really blown away at the potential for this type of data visualization in the energy field and haven't gotten a single thing done today besides read about Gapminder.


I encourage you to spend twenty minutes to check out the lecture - it's well worth it.

The Singapore Solution — National Geographic Magazine

Thanks to my fellow Fulbrigher Lauryn, I was clued in on an article from the latest issue of National Geographic magazine. If anyone out there wants to understand the atmosphere of the place I'm living right now then you must read this article! Lee Kuan Yew, the youth, the food, the culture, everything is spot on.

The following picture is an awesome diagram of how much Singapore has changed over the last 44 years. I'm not using this with official permission but don't turn me in. :)

Also, if you have a chance and are interested in Asian politics, check out this interview with Singapore's very own Lee Kuan Yew. He has really seen it all in this region and his views are fascinating. The video below is the first of a series on youtube: