A weekend in Singapore : Dengue, Sentosa, and Church

(From Mary Bohan)

This weekend was the first time I relaxed in Singapore since I've been here. While in Southeast Asia I've been trying to take advantage of all of the amazing places that are nearby, so I've taken buses, ferries and planes to Malaysia and Indonesia each weekend. It's been amazing but I'm exhausted, too many 4 am flights and 8 hour bus rides have been taking a toll on me. I finally decided that enough was enough, and planned to stay here and enjoy the city.

Friday night I met up with a few friends that I had met by chance a few weeks ago, a girl from Australia, her Singaporean friend, and a few Chinese acquantances. We had a great time, and I had the chance to speak with the group regarding my research this summer. I mentioned that I was studying Dengue, its genetic makeup, and trying to make some small steps towards finding a vaccine. One Chinese boy said that many people he knew had been infected with Dengue, and that if I ever wanted to interview a few people he could arrange something, so I'm considering taking him up on his offer. It was quite satisfying to hear someone interested in Dengue, and appreciative of the work that is being done to combat it. His words really brought home the real life implications of the work that is being done in my lab, and renewed my interest in Dengue.

Early Saturday morning I went off with a friend to Sentosa Island, a tropical resort which was created from scratch by an American developer a few years ago. It's an eerie feeling, taking a bus from a busy downtown area similar to New York or Boston, and ten minutes later being greeted on a faux tropical island with Jamaican reggae drifting off towards the sea. After taking a quick tram ride, on which the recorded announcement finished each sentance with "have fun!" we arrived at a tropical scene filled with tons and tons of imported sand, swaying palm trees and sea views of the largest tanker ships I have ever seen in my entire life. Beyond tropical islands connected by bamboo bridges were ships larger than the most cruise liners carrying hundreds of tracter trailer crates full of cargo. The entire project was quite impressive and illustrative of the achievements of the Singaporean people, but at the same time eerie, with a Disneyland feel to it.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to visit a local church with a Singaporean girl a few years older than me named Yinglin who works in my lab. She had warned me that in the entire year only one other Caucasian had visited the church, and four of her friends had to spend the entire mass translating to him. Since coming to Singapore, I had been hoping to make it to a different worship service each work, and so far having only gotten to a Catholic mass and a ceremony in a Hindu temple, I was anxious to try it. I met my friend at the local MRT station, and we walked to the apartment where mass was being held, as the church was having construction. I asked her what type of a church it was and she replied "charismatic." In 13 years of Catholic school and religion class I'd never heard of that denomination! We walked into the apartment, took off our shoes, and behind a large curtain stepped into a makeshift meeting room, about ten rows of ten chairs each separated down the middle. In the front there were two men who looked more like rock stars than ministers, in dress clothes holding guitars and wearing microphones. On the ceiling there were two huge speakers and a man controlling the sound with a high tech computer sat near the front. The men sat on one side of the church and the women on the other, so as to minimize distraction and allow the individuals to be able to dance to the music without feeling self-conscious. The mass was closer to a Southern Baptist service than anything else, and consisted of lots of singing with swaying arms and clapping, a long sermon, and then a gathering with food afterward. It was all in Mandarin with my poor friend trying to translate everything to me, but I got the general idea though. It was quite an experience!