TIME FLIES when you’re having fun … or even what passes for fun in Singapore. And so it is with mild amazement (and sometimes amusement) that we have dusted off the archives, plowed through old copies covered in mold and Cheez-Wiz, and put together this retrospective issue which looks back at 10 years of I-S Magazine—the people, the places, the events, the restaurants, the nightspots, the issues and the trends that have shaped our lives, defined our culture, made us happy and driven us crazy.Think about it. Ten years ago people wore off-brand polo shirts, carried pagers and thought partying at Boat Quay was the height of cool. Ten years ago the Internet was barely creaking along—no Napster, no Friendster, no Monster, no Blogster. (What did people at work do all day before they had emails to sit and answer?) Ten years ago there was no Esplanade, no Gurmit, no Neo—not even a Taufik or a Sly for goodness’ sake.Yet, into that grim and hopelessly peu élégant tropical city, I-S Magazine was launched. We won’t say we were an immediate success—this is Singapore after all, where kiasu is king and we never met a new thing we weren’t suspicious of. But I-S’ first eight staff members kept slogging away, pounding the pavement and pounding their keyboards, until one day we lost our publishing license for a month (aha, so somebody was paying attention)—and suddenly we were all the rage.Fast forward 10 years later (gosh, don’t you wish you could do that when you’re waiting for a taxi at midnight on Fridays), and Singapore has glammed and grooved itself into a world class hub of (all together now) arts, media, sports, education, bio-tech, animation, retail, tourism and travel. Hell, they’re about to start building a casino – who’d a thunk?And so as we look back from the ripe old age of 10, we are as fascinated by this place as we were on Day 1. It’s amazing and exasperating, far-sighted and obstinate, klutzy and cool, all at the same time. We hope we’ve captured all that and more in our pages over the years, and presented a taste of it here.One thing that has been constant is our sincere gratitude to those who have read us, befriended us, supported us, advertised with us, printed us, distributed us, talked to us, and talked about us (the good and the bad) over the years. Most of all, a super-duper round of applause to all of our staff—past and present—who have made I-S Magazine possible. It’s to them that this issue is dedicated. Enjoy.
