Germany

Germany

Berlin Town Hall Germany image courtsey: iho-ohi.org

Germany is the founding member and leader of the 27 member European Union; and fourth largest economy in the world. Germany’s rising from the ashes of the World War 2 to this status is nothing short of a miracle, reminding the legendary bird; Phoenix. On 1815 with the defeat of Napoleon; the winners of the war (Britain, Russia and Prussia) reached in an agreement in sharing the area; and Germany was formed as a confederation of the 39 smaller adjoining regions. A Parliament was formed at Frankfurt in the name Bundestag. But it was William Bismarck who made it the present Germany by annexing all the areas with German culture. Germans call their nation Deutschland, their currency (before the advent of Euro) Deutschmark and their bank Deutsch Bank.

The West and the East.

The end of the World War 2 changed whole dynamics of history; Russia came under the Communist regime and it took over control of the eastern European regions like Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Albania etc; the eastern portion of Germany cut out from the rest was also one among these. This portion (the so called German Democratic Republic) was cut off from the rest of the world. While the Western portion (Federal Republic of Germany or the FGR) adopted capitalism; the alliance with US, Britain, France brought new currency, investment and development. When impoverished people of the eastern portion began to migrate to west in search of job, food and water (all these were not available in the east!) the German Wall was built.

A wall between hearts.

Destruction of Berlin Wall in Germany image courtsey: defence.gov.au

East Germans were fleeing to west despite the threat of being shot! There is no statistics of how many were shot dead. the communists came to understand that there will be no people to be ruled! On 13^th August 1961 the wall (45 km in length) was built by the East German Forces to check migration of people from east to west. This wall was intended to check Fascism as per the GDR authorities! The wall made residents of West Berlin virtual prisoners. On 1973 on an agreements reached between America, Russia, France and Britain; residents of both Berlins were allowed freedom to travel. October 18^th 1989 saw an end to the most hated icon of Germany.

German Airlift.

The West Berlin was trapped in the communist portion and land-access to it was denied compelling the Western Alliance to airlift materials required for the bereaved city. Two hundred thousand flights were operated day and night to meet the day today requirements of about two million residents. This mega operation (known as the Berlin Airlift) unheard of so far; lasted until Soviet Union called off the blockade in May, 1949. On October 18^th 1989 the wall was demolished by the people, its stones are now a novelty and bought by visiting tourists as a memento (even other concrete scraps are sold as German Wall remnants by some ‘smart’ ones!)

Stats.

Map of Germany coutsey: lib.utexas.edu

Germany is located in the middle of Europe and its capital is

Berlin. Germany is Federal Republic; its Head of the state is Chancellor. Its independence day is 3^rd October 1990 (the day both Germanys got united. It has an area of 558554 sq km and a population of 82.5 million and its official language is German. Protestant Christians and Catholics form the majority of the population (about 35% each), Muslims form about 5%. Germany has a coastline of 2389 km; Frankfurt and Hamburg are the main ports. Germany’s northern boundary stretches from North Sea to the Baltic Sea. Germany is rich in neighborhood as there are so many nations (clock-wise France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Czech, Austria and Switzerland).

A virtual ‘power house’ of Europe.

Once upon a time the Germans ruled the Roman Empire, in recent past it could challenge the whole world (during the wars) and now it dominates the world with its list of great men in almost all fields from technology to philosophy, there is no end to the list of scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, statesmen; in one way or other they played major role in changing the course of the world history. Johannes Kepler (Astronomer 1571), Goethe (writer 1749), Nietzsche (philosopher 1844), Schiller (writer 1759), Beethoven (composer 1770), Richard Wagner (composer 1813), Karl Marx (1818)and Engels (1820)(Communist Manifesto), Albert Einstein (founder of Atomic Theory), Emmanuel Kant (philosopher 1724), Martin Luther (reformer 1483), Johan Guttenberg (1390, discovered printing 1448), Rudolf Diesel (inventor of diesel engine 1858), these are just some of the names whose deeds crown history’s pages.

Technology super power.

World’s best Universities, topmost scientists and technologists enabled Germany to in churning out products that could excel the best in the world, ‘kindergarten’ itself is a German word meaning kids’ garden; denotes Germans’ stress on education from early childhood. The GDP of Germany is $ 2.5 trillion and is growing at 1% per annum. Industry contributes about 30% of its economy. Its motor cars, heavy machineries, precision and electronic equipments, chemicals, garments, food products etc all contribute to bourgeoning export basket. ‘Made in Germany’ products are accepted by the whole world as durable and trustworthy.

A statement of luxury and ultimate pleasure.

BMW Sports Car courtsey: motorfresh.com

Germany is home to BMW, Walks Wagen as well as Mercedes Benz. Walks Wagen means car of the people. Its factory was built at Wolf berg in1937 for mass production to make it a common man’s car. BMW is a breed apart as it is a rich man’s pride possession. BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke meaning Bavarian Motor Works) is there for the last seven decades delivering its promise (‘Joy in Driving’ is its punch word) to customers world wide. It employs about a hundred thousand people to make cars with fit and finish; no competitor can deliver. Rolls Royce – the mother of all luxuries- is the latest addition to BMW’s stable when it acquired the brand from Walks Wagen in 2002.

Connoisseurs.

Germans connoisseurs as far as quality booze is concerned; wine and beer (wheat beer with lager) are most popular; the Berliner weise (beer with fruit juices) is very famous, wines made out of superb grapes procured from the Rhine valleys are specialties. German wines have a characteristic flowery or fruity aroma –peach, apricot, apple etc- and a ‘nerve’ that reflects the soil that bred the grapes. There are wines with spicy and herbal aroma. Silvaners, Muller Thurgau, Scheurebe, Rieslaner, Pinot Blanc etc are its own popular varieties of which Germans are proud of.

Food for thought.

Germany being a federation of different small states, its food habits also exhibit variations; for example Bavarians have dishes similar to that of their neighboring Switzerland and Austria, where as the western areas have similarities to French cuisines. The eastern portions prefer dishes like those of Eastern Europe.

Breads of different types either toasted or rolled with eggs, jam, honey etc is for breakfast; a strong tea is a must. Salted meat, pickles, cheese, ham, cornflakes, fried cereals, dry grapes etc are also breakfast items.

Dinner is the main food as it is everywhere, pork, chicken, beef, etc are cooked in various styles; rabbit and mutton are also favorite dishes for dinner. Shintcel has always been the masterpiece among German dishes. Trout, pike are favorites but salmon and tuna are also widely consumed.

Soft skills.

Not just wining and dining; Germans are a disciplined lot and their adherence to rituals, perseverance and will to work hard have made them jack of every games from football to philosophy. These all never mean that they lag behind in soft skills; as experts in music (especially classical), Germans are second to nobody, Richard Wagner, Beethoven, Bach etc are without peers.

History is just history,

Germany Flag

The bitter experiences associated with two world wars have made Germans wiser and they take every precaution to see that history never repeats, even the mention of the name of Fuehrer is scoffed off as a bad word. This nation is committed to give equal opportunities to every religions and state pay to the priests from its exchequer to promote spirituality so that the people never go back to the holocaust mindset. Germany is a vibrant nation and that looks forward and to see that it keeps abreast with the changing time, rather than wasting time over what has happened in yester years. History is just history but it is future that matters.

Singapore

Singapore the Pearl of the East

Image courtsey: cia.gov

A Phoenix in real life.

Once remained as a fisherman’s village and passed through numerous turbulences of history; Singapore has traveled much to become the world’s fourth largest financial center after London, New York and Tokyo. The name Singapore is for Singa = Lion + pore = pur = land - meaning land of the lion in Malay with its origin in Sanskrit. Singapore was literally burned down by the invading Portuguese in 1613, that later colonized it. But like the phoenix of the legends it arose from its ashes to one of the most happening place in the world.

In the beginning “Tomasek”!

Singapore was earlier known as Tomasek (meaning sea-town) in the early times. It is a group of 63 small islands situated at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Jurong is the largest among these while Pulau, Tekong, Pulau-Ubin etc are among the major ones. Singapore has a rich culture to its credit ranging from the12^th century, the remnants of its architecture and monuments had been recovered by the archaeologists.

There comes the Empire.

Image courtsey: loc.gov

Singapore was being ruled by the Sultanate of Johore when the Portuguese set it in to flames; the British who came a bit late (in 1819) banished the Portuguese and took control of the islands. It was Sir Stafford Raffles who reached in to a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of the Johore dynasty, paving way for an era of British rule in to this land. The British have been helpful in giving this fisherman’s island a modern fit and finish.

Had to be Shonan for a while!

World War II also brought its own perils to this tiny group of islands in the form of Japanese soldiers under General Tomayuki Yamashita in February 15, 1942 they defeated the ill-prepared British army stationed there and took control of the island. After gaining control the Japanese changed the name of Singapore in to “Shonan”, and Singapore had the ill-fate to live with that name until September 12, 1945 when the British recaptured it and got the real name back.

Then “Crown Colony”, with all burdens!

The British granted “Crown Colony” status to this state which meant that the government of Singapore was answerable only to the British Crown; later in August 1965 sovereignty was allowed making it a free state under Lee Kwan Yew. At the time when Lee took over the charge of the “crown colony” in 1959, Singapore was not what it is today, Un-employment, shortage of houses, illiteracy etc were rampant and to crown all these the strife between ethnic groups were also of common occurrence.

Starting from the scratches!

Mr. Lee Kwan Yew was undaunted by all these problems, he started to tackle the challenges head on, with panache and proved to the world that there is nothing un-attainable to one who is bold and committed. Opening up of trade, improvement of infrastructure (port, roads, rail MRT (mass rapid transit) were all something he brought out of his sleeve to tackle poverty and un-employment.

Real revolutions!

Image courtsey: asia-hotel.net

Education was made compulsory and those who violated laws were seriously dealt with frequent ethnic violence which dogged this state were efficiently tackled by iron hands.

Military service was made compulsory to all male citizen, these were just some of his revolutions! Compulsory military service strengthened the forces and made Singapore not a sitting duck to invaders. Mr. Lee’s tenure was rather prolonged 1959 to 1990, these 31 long years were more than enough for Mr. Lee to develop a mere fisherman’s village in to the glittering pearl of South Asia.

He made it clean.

Mr. Lee was stringent in cleanliness, spitting on the roads, littering, polluting etc were All subjected for heavy penalties. As Mr. Lee was aware that only physical hygiene was not enough for a model state as real neatness should be in the minds of its citizen, he sprang upon the corrupt elements and proved to the world that corruption can be banished from government as well as from land itself. As a result Singapore arose as a nation with least corruption in the world; “Transparency International’s” report has declared the same in their report.

There is much to be seen!

Singapore is not just clean it has much to offer for the visitors the well refurbished historical locations, ultramodern buildings which spell class in architecture, well preserved ethnic neighborhoods (China-town, Little India etc), top class museums, the botanical garden with more than 3000 varieties of rare orchids, an undersea aquarium which is similar to a wild safari where fish and a variety of sea animals roam free while spectators are caged in big glass houses!. Bukit Tima Hill is the highest hill and an exclusive tourist location it is about 538 feet in height.

Mind your language!

Almost all languages like Chinese, Tamil, Malay English, Singlish etc are widely used in this land. English has been awarded the official status. “Singlish” is a mixture of local languages with English and was once very popular. Of late it is being discouraged by the government as it has backwardness attached with it.

Expanding sideways!

Land being at high premium nearby sea gets reclaimed when small islands get joined with bigger ones and bridges connect islands together. Singapore is expanding sideways its initial area was about 224 Sq. Miles it is now about 269 Sq. Miles! The onus to upkeep of all the wonders rest on the “Urban Development Authority” which is the government agency for the development works going on, it is to be admitted that the agency is doing a tremendous job. It is Singapore doing a creditable job is only a way of life and not an aberration as is the case elsewhere.

Never learn anything!

It seems strange that the rulers of the third world have studied nothing from the glaring examples of Singapore. They pay occasional visits to Singapore to avail the luxuries, roam all around for sight-seeing and return as ignorant as they were. The money spent by them in this island is waste, as long as they study nothing from them, if they had spent some time to learn any lessons regarding management of a nation from Singapore, the whole world would have been a much better place!

The legacy remains.

Image courtsey: asiatravel.com

Mr. Goh Chok Tang followed Mr. Lee when he relinquished office in 1990 as the second Prime Minister of Singapore. Mr. Hsien Loong the eldest son of Lee arose to be the third Prime Minister in 2004. For the fortune of this island nation both of them followed the foot-steps of Mr. Lee and the “Lee legacy” goes on as usual. As a river sung “men may come and men may go, but I remain for ever!

A good team with a good leader!

The author’s request to the visitors to this island is to enjoy the marvels offered by this island nation and return enlightened to their land, tell it to everybody about what this little nation has achieved through commonsense and hard work. A good team with a good leader is wonderful, and that is Singapore. When a bad team with a good leader is amicable, a good team with a bad leader would be a disaster unfortunately most of the third world nations belong to the third order and hence they remain as third world nations.