Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: August 31, 2003
Article Type: Journal

With anecdotes, tall tales, gossip, intelligent inside information and the occasional magic trick——all commented on in a forceful, clipped British accent—–Shakib Gunn of Singapore is easily able to dominate a dinner table of 20. He did it one night on that tight little island at a gathering of the Singapore Kite Association, an organization he helped found and has led for many years. A heart ailment has recently cramped his traveling, but hardly his enthusiasm.

An impressive group, the Singapore organization has one of the oddest problems confronting any kite club in the world. Singapore is so small and its population so dense, kiters literally have no place to fly their kites, not even low-tide beaches. Hard to believe but quite true. Fields can be rented by the hour, but the fees are stratospheric——Singapore is after all first world nation. The association makes do with small, out of the way spots, but as to flying satisfyingly big kites, well that is only for dreaming.

Still, Malaysia is just across the causeway and the state of Johor there is very welcoming—–a kite is the country’s unofficial symbol as well as being the insignia of the national airline——and the Singapore gang, including den mother to foreign guests Gadis Widiyati, hangs in there and manages.

PDF Link: Journal Issue