EVEN MORE FROM SINGAPORE

As fresh as today's headlines, assuming "today" means "about 3 years ago."

July 27th, 2003

We’re in a mall in Singapore and we hear odd music coming from the center court. Being in a mall in Singapore is not all that unusual. The place must have more malls per square mile than any other country in the world. And the malls are air conditioned, whereas most of Singapore outside of the malls is not. My point is simply that I didn’t travel halfway around the world to hang out at a mall, but that’s just what I’m doing. So there.

The strange noise is coming from a troupe of alphorn players. They are dressed in traditional Swiss costume and are playing what I gather are traditional Swiss songs. It is hard to describe just how out of place they look.

It is the middle of the summer, and we’re just a few miles from the equator. If I walk out of the doors of this mall, it will feel as if someone has slapped me across the face with a blanket soaked in boiling water. It is hot here. Really, really hot.

But here are a half dozen Swiss people, playing songs that evoke images of rugged alpine landscapes, and lederhosen, and perhaps even Ricola. As a Swiss person, I couldn’t be more proud.

(Now when I say I am a Swiss person I mean, of course, that I’m not actually a Swiss person. My great grandma Robinson came to the US from Switzerland. So from a heritage standpoint I’m probably more Swiss than any other nationality. It goes without saying that I’m 100% American, except when I question anything the President tells me. At those moments—if Fox News is to be believed—I am a terrorist and unfit to call myself American. I imagine the Swiss don’t care what I think about the President, what with them being neutral and all.)

Sorry for that diversion, but it’s not hard for one’s mind to wander while listening to alphorn music.

As I watch these people wearing their brightly colored outfits and blowing into 10 foot long pipes, I realize that Swiss culture has gone global. Surely, if you can find it in Singapore, you can find it anywhere. And here it transcends its humble origins and blends with the local culture to become something completely new.

Kids who have never been to Switzerland can pick up the alphorn and use it to tell the stories of their communities, and thus they become part of the worldwide alphorn community.

Oh wait, I’m sorry. That was my speech on hip-hop culture. It comes out by accident sometimes. Never mind.