yarrr, ye scurvy boy-king, halt ye whinin'

I'd never been to New York before. What I knew came from comics and films, which meant I was expecting to be mugged, but possibly rescued by Spider-man. I didn't expect to reformulate my feelings on race, but that's what happened.

In class and at the hostel I was crashing in, there were people from everywhere, and I mean everywhere. As a Singaporean, I had always prided myself on having grown up in a multiracial, multicultural society and for having Indian, Malay and Eurasian friends.

Now, I was hanging out with Brazilians, Argentinians, Welsh, Kazakhs, Russians, Nigerians, Ugandans, Belgians, Spanish, Koreans, Scots, Lebanese, Indians, Israelis, Egyptians, Mongolians, and even Americans, who spoke better Mandarin than me.

In terms of multiculturalism, Singapore had nothing on New York. In fact, I don't know any country on earth that comes close.

from "Pigment of your imagination" by Colin Goh
The Straits Times, January 25, 2009