BBC - Around the World - Ariel's 'Foreign Bureau' - 20 July 2004

By Sarah Green, account manager, Singapore/Australia BBC World, 20 July 2004

Last night we had the kind of storm that has children (and some adults) cowering under the bed sheets. The lightning was like paparazzi bulbs going off while the thunder sounded like battleship guns. Yet this is not Hollywood or a war zone – this is Singapore.

I live about as close to Chinatown as you can get, with shops, houses, temples and market stalls on my doorstep. But when I look out of my window I see towering modern buildings. This meshing of old and new typifies Singapore.

Anyone who says it’s clinical has not been here in a while, or given it a chance to enchant.

It’s a melting pot of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Japanese, Australian, British, French, Spanish, German, Canadian, American and more. Take the architecture of the Esplanade, a huge Durian fruit shaped exhibition centre and theatre complex, and contrast it with the regal colonial pillars of what once was the general post office and is now the magnificent Fullerton Hotel.

I have embraced this variety with gusto. I often eat chilli stingray, pepper crab and drunken prawns; I choose clothes material from Arab Street; I buy fruit and veg from the wet markets; I have joined a dragon boat team.

I had my first proper taste of Singapore in 2002 when I covered a colleague’s maternity leave. I soon realised how much I enjoyed it and took a permanent position here in 2003.

Some things take getting used to, such as the late night business calls and the traditional way of presenting business cards – held at the corners with both hands, with the writing facing the recipient; nodding, smiling and looking intently at the person you are receiving the card from and laying it on the table in front of you for the duration of the meeting.

Then there is the use of Singlish – "Cannot lah?" – and the fact it is boiling hot outside but the minute you step indoors it’s arctic cold thanks to air-conditioning.

As account manager for BBC World, my role is to convince advertisers with regional HQs in Singapore and the Pacific Rim to advertise on the channel. I also help manage the local sales reps and business in Australia.

In London there are 15 people in the sales team, with assistance from marketing, research, legal, distribution, engineering, commissioning and production teams also based there. In Singapore, there are seven of us (including the marketing and distribution people) and communication with and support from our colleagues around the world is crucial.

In Singapore I mix with people with whom I usually would not come into contact: ministers, CEOs, chairmen, managing directors, entrepreneurs and so on. I was even invited to the British High Commissioner’s residence for a function in honour of the Queen’s birthday.

I have met Tim Sebastian, Rageh Omaar and Nik Gowing who come to host and participate in events. I have travelled to Hong Kong for the Big Conversation, Kuala Lumpur for the Formula 1 and Sydney for the Rugby World Cup.

For someone who just five years ago passed through Singapore as a backpacker, I have come farther than I could ever have imagined.