THE long arms of the global financial crisis seem to be reaching out farther onto our doorsteps and further into our wallets.
Perhaps nowhere else in the world do the undercurrents of East and West meet and churn as they do in Singapore.
As an American living and working here as a permanent resident, I am smack in the middle of the crossroads of the global credit crunch.
My salary is in Singapore dollars and I have a bank account here, but much of my savings are in brokerages and banks in the United States.
With the extreme changes in currency values, I often think twice before deciding which account to draw from when making purchases. I have to do a foreign-exchange rate calculation practically every time I pull out my credit card!
It is especially painful to see the seemingly- endless river of red ink flowing through my once-stable US stock accounts.
The fiery meltdown has severely singed the bottom line. It is really depressing to see hard-earned cash disappear as fast as hitting the 'refresh' button on a Web page.
As a result, I have to push back my life-savings targets by years. Meanwhile, we can only be strong and have faith that the markets will bounce back.
To help compensate for my shrinking net worth, I have changed my buying habits and become somewhat of a food-court connoisseur.
While I've always enjoyed the local cuisine, I have come to appreciate even more the outstanding value for money that hawker centres provide.
After all, are air-conditioning and a fancy plate really worth more than double the price?
I still get some rather surprising looks when I hunker down in front of a nice, steaming bowl of fishball noodle soup or mee siam. Delicious - and easy on the wallet.
Also, I have limited myself to one gourmet coffee a week, switching instead to kopi from the neighbourhood coffeeshop, which I have grown quite fond of. And 80 cents is sure a lot better than $4 during these times.
An added bonus are the smiles and approving comments I get from coffeeshop drinks-stall assistants when I order kopi siu dai (coffee with less sugar) in a distinctly local accent.
So, as the waves of the financial crisis continue to lap against Singapore's shores, we are reminded that, whether foreigner or Singaporean, we are all affected by this global crunch.
But at least we have something that binds us together and helps us get through these dire challenges: Our good ol' kopi.
The writer is a businessman and part-time writer. He has visited more than 40 countries and specialises in Asian travel, culture and East-West perspectives.
