Verbalism Personified

Groping in the Dark!

The Great Singapore Blackout, as christened by Siva, hit several parts of Singapore around 10 o'clock last night.

Text messages with Adrian, Clarence and Seng Aik revealed that the electricity supply to Jurong, Sengkang, Bedok, Punggol, Holland Village and Clementi were completely hosed. Anna confirmed that central areas like Shenton Way were unaffected. Thinking about it though, it would have been a sight looking out into the darkness from the floor of her building.

Initially it was thought that some kid had short-circuited my estate with a screwdriver. But a look out the window revealed that everything was lit up in darkness. With the street lamps blazing black, something was definitely wrong.

Though this kind of blackout is rare for a first world economy, I was confident that planners would have had the redundency system kick in the moment the grid went down. But tonight, nothing happened. Very soon, someone would have some serious explaining to do.

But for now, my neighbors weren't the least bothered and their reaction was reminiscent of a third world setting. As they poured out onto the street, vehicle owners turned on their headlights and enterprising men and women started their own bonfires by burning logs of wood in metal drums. Perhaps they had logs stashed away for just this kind of occasion. Then they broke out the beer and others joined in with their merry-making, exchanging the latest neighborly gossip and participating in around-the-fire speculation on where the invasion of Singapore was to begin.

In the cover of darkness, Siva lamented that he had the sole burden of holding off any invaders all by his lonesome self. Though later, he was relieved to see the MRT still running, to facilitate his quick getaway should things get out of hand. I assured him that his proficiency in Arabic would stand him in good stead with the occupiers. Then later Cindy complained about sweating due to the lack of air conditioning, for which my immediate response was to take a shower after putting the finishing touches on my house work. It is amazing what you can accomplish in a blackout.

Sitting in the dark, with the engineers working away frantically to bring the grid back up, power was restored in my area about an hour later. By then, I was more than ready for bed. However I couldn't retire for the night without writing about this. Though a quick check revealed that my internet cable network was in the throes of life, it wasn’t until just now that access was fully restored.

So if there is ever to be another Great Singapore Blackout, would the organizers send us an early announcement?

posted by Teutoburg @ 2:39 AM