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Swimming pools

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BigT
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Swimming pools

Post by BigT » Sat, 25 Feb 2012 9:05 pm

Hi bit surprised that pools here are all open And having toddlers it's a concern to me - I'm used to Geneva and Dubai where all pools are gated.

Should I be worried

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 25 Feb 2012 10:23 pm

If you want to, go right ahead. But it doesn't bother the other 5.5 million of us here. Suit your self. I'd never leave my children out of my sight anyway, gated or not. The choice is yours I guess. :-|
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by BigT » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 2:48 am

This is the most aggressive website on the planet or the natives are - off course I don't plan to leave my toddlers on their own - but it only takes a minute or the maid on the phone - who knows-but the consequences are horrendous-

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Post by nutnut » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 8:40 am

Yes, maybe we should put a fence around the roads too!
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Post by JR8 » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 8:53 am

I was surprised, initially at least, with how children were left to their own devices on our condo estate. There was invariably a group of up to eight of them (aged say 4-8?) running around up to something or other (collecting grasshoppers etc). But then I figured that this was the kind of freedom that I had as a child so in a way it was refreshing to see in an urban environment and this day and age.

I was even more surprised to see these children (including the above) routinely in the pool with apparently no supervision at all. When I was pool-side I by instinct found myself semi keeping an eye on them.

But this is how it seems to be in SG. Either they send them off to NS with their maid's carrying their packs, or they don't wrap them in western-style cotton wool, and let them do their own thing.

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Post by x9200 » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 9:47 am

BigT wrote:This is the most aggressive website on the planet or the natives are - off course I don't plan to leave my toddlers on their own - but it only takes a minute or the maid on the phone - who knows-but the consequences are horrendous-
Well, that's why it was pointed out to you that the key is to provide the proper care. A pool is only a single potentially dangerous place with few hundreds other places outside your condo gates. Maids on the phones happen to be also if not predominantly outside and I saw really scary situation with some kids crossing the road under such "care".

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Post by zzm9980 » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:01 am

BigT wrote:This is the most aggressive website on the planet or the natives are - off course I don't plan to leave my toddlers on their own - but it only takes a minute or the maid on the phone - who knows-but the consequences are horrendous-
So are the gates to keep the kids safe, or their inattentive adult guardians safe? I personally care more about my kid than to leave her with a maid I suspect would take her to a pool and then chat on the phone instead of paying attention... But then I also refuse to have a maid (and it's not for lack of resources) because I don't want my child growing up spoiled like some of the privileged locals or even worse, snooty expats :D (also I'm sure the maid would spoil me in ways I couldn't afford if/when I return home )

This forum is definitely a bit hostile, but honestly it serves as a good dose of reality for cozy and PC westerns (myself included) who are about to move to Singapore. Singapore is not a friendly place, and well-off expat westerns are NOT particularly welcome, despite the impression you may get from the government or certain locals looking to relieve you of some of your money.

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Post by JR8 » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:39 am

zzm9980 wrote: This forum is definitely a bit hostile, but honestly it serves as a good dose of reality for cozy and PC westerns (myself included) who are about to move to Singapore. Singapore is not a friendly place, and well-off expat westerns are NOT particularly welcome, despite the impression you may get from the government or certain locals looking to relieve you of some of your money.

If you think this forum is 'the most aggressive on the planet' then I'd suggest that you have not been around on the web very much! :-D

As ZZM suggests SG is not the west, and an expat coming here better be prepared for some hard-ball. It's not all khakis and Singapore Slings in the Long Bar after tiffin you know.

So what would you prefer, the honest learned and at times unvarnished truth of how it is in SG, or the mollycoddled hand-holding like back home?


I rather wonder what the point of the OP was. Was it meant to invite debate? If so why then did the OP slam the first person to comment? Or was it one of those 'debate' topics where the OP simply wants everyone to agree with them (or they get angry), in which case what's the point of the exercise?


p.s. In my humble opinion this forum is a fountain of information. Very few people rub the community up the wrong way, but those that do tend to fit a pattern...
a) when people are so naive or off-base they require a virtual slap to wake them up
b) when people are too lazy to get off their own backsides and do some research and instead demand people here do it for them
c) when people are trying to pull some trick, usually against the system, that they think is novel and clever, but to the forumers stands out like a lighthouse from 25 miles away.

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Post by Mi Amigo » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:01 pm

JR8 wrote:
zzm9980 wrote: This forum is definitely a bit hostile, but honestly it serves as a good dose of reality for cozy and PC westerns (myself included) who are about to move to Singapore. Singapore is not a friendly place, and well-off expat westerns are NOT particularly welcome, despite the impression you may get from the government or certain locals looking to relieve you of some of your money.

If you think this forum is 'the most aggressive on the planet' then I'd suggest that you have not been around on the web very much! :-D
+1 to that. Obviously our OP hasn't seen a certain 'angry board'. The difference between here and that site is that here you will find genuinely helpful information (albeit with some 'frank exchanges of views', which often add to the entertainment value), whereas in the 'other place' you just get people insulting each other with very little net contribution to the knowledge pool.

Speaking of pools, personally I like the lack of fences, gates etc. here. But clearly there is a duty on the parent / carer to to take proper care of the children, wherever they may be.
JR8 wrote:I was surprised, initially at least, with how children were left to their own devices on our condo estate. There was invariably a group of up to eight of them (aged say 4-8?) running around up to something or other (collecting grasshoppers etc). But then I figured that this was the kind of freedom that I had as a child so in a way it was refreshing to see in an urban environment and this day and age.
Same here. In fact one of the things I liked here from day 1 was that my children could have more 'freedom' than they would have had back in London. For example, being able to ride in taxis on their own (with certain rules having to be met, including sms'ing the taxi number and telling us when they arrived, etc.). The thought of letting them do that in the UK wouldn't have even entered our minds. But I think there's a danger that comes from that, which is that people assume everything's safe, which of course can never be the case. Sadly kids do get killed on the roads here, etc., just like any other part of the world.
Be careful what you wish for

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Post by BigSis » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 1:59 pm

BigT wrote:This is the most aggressive website on the planet or the natives are - off course I don't plan to leave my toddlers on their own - but it only takes a minute or the maid on the phone - who knows-but the consequences are horrendous-
Expat Singapore is the most aggressive website for expats in Singapore that I've found.

SG forums is a bit OTT too - this one is quite tame really.


yes, pools should perhaps be gated but not many of them are. Actually our pool is gated mostly - there's only one way in to it and while a small child (or a large one!) could probably slip past the guard on occasion, they could do that almost anywhere and you can't gate the sea or a river.

There's a lack of life-guards too, but you just have to be vigilant and perhaps avoid sending your kids to the pool with the maid. In fact, can your maid actually swim? Many of them can't which always makes me wonder about parents who routinely send their kids to a swimming pool with a person who can't swim.

The best thing to do is to get your kids swimming as soon as possible and teach them water sense. Our youngest was 3 when we moved here and despite having weekly swimming lessons back home, she couldn't really swim that well, but we gave her a pair of goggles and supervised her and she was swimming like a fish within 2 weeks of our arrival in Singapore.

I know accidents can happen even to the strongest swimmers but once your kids can swim fairly well it eases the mind a bit.

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Post by snowqueen » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 3:42 pm

Gating this lot would be interesting.

http://condo.singaporeexpats.com/condo- ... .htm#_self

Tried to post the image but had no luck with that so my message is a little lost but if you find the pic of the 3 pools, which doesn't show the moat style pool/river that runs around the ground floor units too. This place would be the OP's worst nightmare.

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Post by zzm9980 » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 3:57 pm

BigSis wrote:
Expat Singapore is the most aggressive website for expats in Singapore that I've found.
I've never heard of that forum until just now... I spent 5 minutes there and it's amazing! There is a thread with people all arguing about how it's *not* possible for an expat to live here on 20k/month... Wow.

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Post by BigT » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 4:49 pm

nutnut wrote:Yes, maybe we should put a fence around the roads too!

If you have nothing to add why bother -is there not other things you can get on with than replying to threads you find of no interest or have nothing constructive to add.

I referred in the op to Dubai - it's not in the west and not known for health and safety - however pools at condos are gated and safe in Singapore I was surprised - that there was no lifeguards-no safety signs and no protection - does this lead to more deaths or am I worrying unnesecarily?

The post about children learning to swim quickly is a good advice my6 year old has been learning but everything in Switzerland is slow.

Most of the other post are just plain schoolground bullying it's east to be a tough smart ass behind a keyboard

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Post by nutnut » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 5:10 pm

BigT,

My kids are age 4 and 6, they have learnt to swim in a remarkably fast time since being here, both are reliable in the water and know the safety of the pool. I am incredibly strict with them around our pool as there is no other safety (except a couple of orange rings to throw in), I am also incredibly strict around the roads.

I don't feel I should have to explain myself, however, my reference was to the fact (you have probably noticed) that a lot of kids here have no savvy around roads either! They run around pools like lunatics, but don't learn to swim without arm bands until they are 8 and yet :| , somehow they manage to survive without their parents strict supervision.

You asked the question to invoke a debate, don't just go blasting people for adding a response since you didn't catch the relevance of it!

Do you watch your own kids around the pool - yes? are you always ready to jump in and swim to them if anything happens - I assume so? If so then what is the need for fences? No need to be so worried, unless you let them out and about on their own and they cannot swim effectively. Common sense surely?
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Post by BigT » Sun, 26 Feb 2012 5:20 pm

Nut nut good post and I agree with what you say -mines are 6 and3 and don't swim - something I am trying to rectify are you a he or a she ? I assume from Scotland also?

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