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Just came across a Business Times article stating that retail shops and restaurants are shutting down in Singapore. This is not just limited to the smaller shops but also big brands like Haidilao, Burger and Lobster and Eggslut.

Is it any surprise? Higher prices are due to high rents charged by landlords. This results not just in higher prices but food with poorer quality and smaller food portions.  Singapore has become one of the worst places now to eat and shop. No value for money whatsoever.

Will something be done? It’s like watching a meteor slowly coming towards you to crash your party and the people below just staring at it and not doing anything and perhaps hoping it won’t crash on them.

It is going to crash and the warning signs are going off strongly. I do hope this government does something real soon and not keep repeating the refrain that it’s because of market forces. That argument is not going to help anyone but the landlords. We need to stop burying our heads in the sand.

On the way back to Singapore I look back on my short trip to Chengdu and what my impressions are about the country and its people.

I was blessed with beautiful sunny cool weather while I was here.

Chengdu is a tier 2 city and it is bustling with people, cars and activities. The city is slightly congested in the city center but has lots of parks and open spaces and I saw well trimmed trees and flowers everywhere.

I didn’t see many foreigners here and that may be because it’s not a tier 1 city and so it doesn’t come up on tourist lists.

Smoking appears to be still a problem. I saw people smoking everywhere. Even in toilets in shopping centers you can smell the smoke. Some people are so addicted to smoking that even when the train stops for just 1 minute between stations, they will run out for a short smoke. I would have thought that for health reasons alone, the government would have discouraged smoking and taken greater steps to enforce smoking bans in shopping centers and trains.

Their transport network both within the city and intercity is good. Metro, buses connect within the city. Ride hailing is a breeze and because they have embraced electric vehicles, I got the sense that the streets were quieter and there was less pollution from vehicle emissions. I was really impressed with the ride hailing service when you called for a 6 seater. All brand new cars, fully electric and the drivers were all suited. Seat belts even for rear passengers is a must.

The city and its outskirts appear well planned with lots of parks, open spaces and greenery. There were flowering trees and plants everywhere. Wide roads and didn’t get stuck in any traffic jams whilst I was here.

The people were friendly and helpful at all the shops and restaurants I visited. With very few exceptions, the people generally do not understand or speak English. And because so few foreigners come here to Chengdu, there is no compelling reason for their service staff, with a few exceptions at the hotel, to learn to speak English. I do not think they watch or listen to English movies or songs here either. Is that a good thing when you are cut off from the lingua franca of the rest of the world I wonder? But in China, without Google and Facebook and other apps we are used to on the outside, I guess even if you knew English it wouldn’t help much because what would you read and listen to anyway?

I could see that the people are hardworking. When I entered any shop, they tried very hard to encourage you to try things. Even for restaurants, they would stand outside encouraging you to look at their menu and try their food. I would be happy to have employees like them!

Their local telco shops are everywhere. I can understand why. They have a full range of phones catering to every segment of the market with the top tiers as good as or even better than the Apples and Samsungs. The government also provides a discount for Chinese citizens to buy phones and laptops. It could be to get them to become digitally savvy whilst boosting the economy at the same time.

Toilets in the hotels and top shopping centers are clean and have tissues and paper towels. Not sure how they are outside of these central places. I understand that there are still squatting toilets in use, which Singaporeans won’t be used to at all.

The young people I saw were well dressed but always looking at their phones whilst being on one app or the other. Not sure why the government hasn’t addressed this. Perhaps it feels its best to leave young people alone for now and not antagonize them?

Food everywhere was good and inexpensive. I thought the prices were even cheaper than in KL. I had some very good food here and I would come here again if for nothing else but for the food.

Ultimately, the key function of any government must be to ensure that their people have decent jobs, decent income, a decent standard of living and decent health care and with the opportunity for anyone who is prepared to study and work hard to move up the socioeconomic ladder. Security and housing is vital. People outside China say there is a lack of freedom in China. I can understand that view. But isn’t everything a tradeoff? Are people better with absolute freedom but with no jobs or housing? Is it better to have freedom even if it means they are living in fear of gangs or being robbed?

When I saw people here going about their daily lives, I couldn’t tell that they were oppressed or living in fear. I understand that in the US and UK shoplifting is now so common that police no longer respond to it or investigate it. Pickpocketing and house breaking are common in both the US and Europe and one has to be always on guard when walking around the streets there.

Actually is absolute freedom and rights all that it is made out to be? Where should one draw the line I wonder?

I visited this place today. It’s a massive building complex. Its said to be the world’s largest free standing structure.

It’s about 30 minutes from the old city center. The city center is packed with smaller roads and side lanes and buildings of all sizes and vintages. This area is well planned with newer buildings, lots of open spaces and well laid out gardens and roads. I saw quite a few new hotels on the way there. I can imagine this to be a good place for hosting huge events.

It was built in 2014. Part hotel, offices, shopping, convention center, Olympic sized ice skating rink, cinema, garden with lots of places for children’s entertainment and with a huge car park.

I didn’t spend much time there. It’s a pity the shops were mostly local brands. Not many exciting food options like the other places I visited either. There were a few Chinese tea shops and I drank tea but it wasn’t a very satisfying experience.

The design of the building might be ok for a convention center but not ideal for a shopping mall. Quite a number of units were not occupied. There was a huge escalator from the 1st to the 4th floor. That was impressive.

Spent the whole day here. Amazing how they have designed an entire complex of low rise buildings with many different shops centered around a temple.

They have high end designer brands, high street brands and many restaurants and cafes.

I started the day with a 2013 lincang raw puer at Wang De Chuan Fine Chinese Tea. Lovely sit down place serving only tea. It’s from Taiwan and the place was well patronized. I sat down for a while sipping tea and reading the Economist.

After walking around the shops there I discovered a wonderful Chinese dessert place called Very Chinese Pastry. They had such wonderful Chinese desserts. All freshly made. The sesame pastry was wonderful! Must try this place again.

Then I had red bean soup at RuXu. Lovely pastries and Chinese desserts. I only managed to try the red bean soup and am hoping to try some of the other desserts before I leave.

Came across Zara. This was one of the few selected Zara stores in China that carries special collections. I picked up so many items but in the end I narrowed it to only 4. The new collection was a collaboration with Anderson Bell. The shop assistants were very helpful in showing me the new things and patiently waiting for me to try.

An entire section of the complex was decorated with LV Murakami items. So beautiful!

I also came across Abercrombie and Hollister, both of which were mega crowd pullers about 15 years back but both these brands have since disappeared in most places. Chengdu had both of them and it was good to see them well patronized here.

Finally rounded of the day with an early dinner at a Michelin starred Fujian restaurant YanYu Fujian. I was really impressed with the high quality of the food and service and the items were all so reasonably priced.

This is a must visit place in Chengdu.

Sometimes I wonder why Chinese come to Singapore to spend their money. I can understand if it is to sightsee or visit the casino.Otherwise it just doesn’t make sense.

I had coffee today at M Stand. It’s a coffee chain with different varieties of coffee and tea from Shanghai. The coffee was good and cost $4.20. Cheaper than what you would pay in Singapore.

Lunch at a good Chinese restaurant in the shopping center. I had 5 dim sums, radish cake, tofu and tea. It was $52 all in.

I started the day with red bean soup and yogurt at a food court. Both from specialty shops. Good.

Bought some t shirts from Urban Revivo. It’s a local Chinese brand but high quality stuff. True Religion was having a 50% sale on all their items.

Then I came across several local designer brands from Shanghai. I was surprised with the quality and price point. These are not brands seen outside China.

Their shopping center even for a Fri night wasn’t crowded. Not sure if it’s always like that or a current phase because of the present state of the economy.

Every Didi ride I’ve had here is a brand new electric 6 seater. So quiet and comfortable. Feel like royalty when traveling in these new cars.

I thought Malaysia was cheaper and better. Now I can say that Chengdu is also cheaper and better.

Singapore seriously needs to think about what it can offer the world. At some point in time, if the quality and prices are not competitive, tourists will not come, except for very limited and specific purposes and even Singaporeans will decide to spend their hard earned money elsewhere.

Today I visited the Terra Cotta warriors museum in Xian.

Although it was a weekday , it was still packed with people. Mostly locals. I had a guide to pick me at the train station.

Xian, which is almost in the center of China, was the capital of China for a long time starting with the Qin dynasty. The capital only moved to Beijing with the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty later.

This place was discovered in 1974 by some farmers who were digging a well. They came across broken pottery pieces, clay figures and metal weapons and alerted the authorities. It was only then people realized what they had discovered. The mausoleum of the first emperor of China, Qin shi huang, together with his fully armed terra cotta army comprising soldiers, horses, archers, generals and chariots to serve him in the afterlife.

There was no mention of this army in any records and therefore this was a lucky accidental find. Assembled in about 230 BCE, it had been buried underground for 2000 years waiting to be discovered.

3 pits that have been dug and exhibited. They have started digging a further 3 pits but they suspect there are over 600 pits in the surrounding area.

Can’t imagine the immensity of this construction more than 2000 years ago.

As a mausoleum for an emperor one cannot imagine a more perfect place. The place is very serene with lots of trees and mountains in the background. This place was clearly picked for a auspicious reason. Hard to imagine he had so many people killed to ensure the location of his mausoleum remained a secret and many others buried alive there to serve him after he died.

It is now suspected that after the emperor died, a rival entered the pits and stole the arms and destroyed most of the warriors and burnt the place down. That would also explain why all memories of this massive historical endeavor were forgotten to posterity.

It has been described as the eight wonder of the world and rightly so.

Outside the museum, the guide introduced me to the farmer who discovered the warriors while digging a well. He was 18 years old in 1974. He is farmer Yang and I got to shake his hand and get his autograph!!

I had a quick lunch near the museum before the tour. Pleasantly surprised with the good variety of food. I had broccoli, eggplant and chilli chicken.

In 2019 I saw the Great Wall and I have now seen the other wonder of China!

Took the train from Chengdu East Railway Station to Xian at 0609.

It is a huge train station but surprisingly easy to navigate. I arrived here early but they only opened the gates about 15 minutes before the train left.

I planned this day trip as I wanted to see the Terra Cotta warriors. It’s a 3.5 hour train ride covering 658km.

It left at 0609 sharp. All the announcements were in Chinese and English. Currently traveling at 244km/h.

A few stops on the way but an otherwise comfortable journey. The Chinese have done an amazing job connecting the country with a convenient and comfortable network.

The Xian North station I got off is more like a huge airport. Its an itegrated hub with trains, bus and metro. Massive.

Pity the HSR from KL to Singapore didn’t materialize. It was slated to start operations this year-(.

It’s a smooth exit from Chengdu airport. A new airport with clear instructions for visitors in English everywhere. There were no queues and immigration clearance was fast.

I tried the Alipay app for the first time. It has everything you need in one app. Incredible. You can pay for anything here, even the ride hailing app is in Alipay. Called a car via didi. Brand new 6 seater. Electric of course.

The way to the hotel had well paved roads and smooth traffic. No traffic jams or accidents on the way.

The US says it is trying to slow down the progress of China. Apart perhaps in the fields of high end tech and weaponry, not sure if the US is ahead in anything else anyway. Clean streets, well ordered traffic and generally well behaved people. Not sure this can be said of the US.

Pity that Singapore which has been touting itself as a smart nation and a digital nation has nothing to show anything comparable to what China has in terms of digitalization for the masses. We are just so far behind.

China has announced that Deepseek has now been classified as a National Treasure and the Chinese Government has confiscated the passports of Deepseek’s engineers and their key executives to prevent them travelling.

This apparently is to prevent any leak of information of Deepseek’s engineering processes to the outside world.

I wonder if it’s a bane or boon to be classified as working for a national treasure. Does this ban also apply to the close family members? What if they quit working at Deepseek? Would the ban continue? For how long? Perhaps indefinitely?

Yesterday at lunch I was told that many people in China are under a travel ban. The list includes senior executives at key companies, civil servants and professors at prestigious institutes.

According to him, unlike in the past, top students in China are now prohibited from coming to Singapore to study because the Government is afraid that they would not go back to China after finishing their studies.

I wonder how it feels to become so clever or important or high up in a key organisation that you end up being put under a travel ban.

It’s true that China is huge and there are many things to see and do there but surely there will always be a yearning to want to see the outside world?

I would have thought that for professors, attending conferences and meeting people from other countries and sharing research and experience is critical.

Even for a key engineer surely  sharing ideas and listening to other views can expand one’s horizons I would have thought.

I do wonder how those placed under this ban feel about the  prohibition against any travel outside your country?

Would a Chinese engineer, or a top professor student, who is presently overseas, want to go back to China if you thought there was a remote chance you can never leave China thereafter?

I wonder how other countries would view such a protectionist attitude. It is apparently alright for your people to study, work, learn and take information from elsewhere but if your information is deemed sufficiently important, it is protected by drastic travel bans to prevent any leaks.

Israel conducted a raid in Gaza just now that has killed more than 413 people. This is after a month of relative calm and during their fasting month.

This has happened because Israel is emboldened by Donald Trump and they believe there will be no consequences to whatever they do.

You would have thought that a people who suffered so much during the Second World War would know how it is to be persecuted and be defenseless in the face of military might. They were driven out of their homes, deprived of their properties and forced to live in ghettos. It is shocking that they are now doing the same to another defenceless people.

The sympathy that much of the world had for them as a people and a country will evaporate with this.

Even if the US has now closed both its eyes, Europe and the rest of the world need to step up and say this is not acceptable and try and put a stop to this.

It is sad that the Arabs do not stand up and support the Palestinian people because much of the protest against Israel is from countries outside the Middle East.

The last time the Arab countries in the Middle East stood together against Israel and the US was in 1973 with their oil embargo. It threw the US and the world into a major recession. I don’t think that will happen anymore. They are no longer united, oil is no longer their sole domain and economic interests now prevail against principles.

History sometimes has a way of repeating itself. The next time if what happened during the Second World War happens to them again, the world will once again turn a blind eye.