THE buzzword from the past week? Toxic. Toxic mortgage debt and toxic milk, both of which made the world a sicker place.

The buzz on the Singapore street? Mixed. It depends on who you speak to and, strangely, where.

Is Singapore gripped by pessimism? We spoke to 50 people, ages ranging from 20 to 61, on Orchard Road and Shenton Way, to find out.

The first, collectively a giant, glitzy mall; the second, just a zippy MRT ride away, a frenzied moneyed street lined with towering temples devoted to the dollar god.

But oh, what a difference in sentiment.

The outlook on Orchard Road: Sunny, with 16 of 25 people polled saying they were optimistic. Shenton Way: Worry, with 16 of 25 fraught with pessimism.

On Orchard Road: Some people were oblivious to the credit crisis that has seen the downfall of major financial institutions in the United States.

Three could only give blank stares in response to our questions. They had not even heard of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, or the troubles of American International Group (AIG).

Others, like a 22-year-old private university student, felt that the developments of the last week had nothing to do with them. The student, who declined to be named, said that she was studying psychology, so she was not familiar with the financial markets.

Mr Rajes, 27, a service associate, was confident. He had a 'good feeling' about the Singapore economy.

Most also felt that the Government will cushion the economy from the aftershocks of the US financial crisis.

One of them, a 26-year-old real estate agent who gave her name as Karen, said: 'The Government has ongoing projects, so everything should be okay.'

Marketing manager Aileen Yong, 32, felt 'the economy may slow down, but the problem is only temporary', things would improve in two to three years.

Back to Shenton Way: Underlying the strides of busy people focused on the buck, a sense of gloom.

A remisier, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lee, predicted that 'the worst is yet to come'. The 61-year-old has suffered losses in investments, though he declined to reveal how much.

Matter of time

Mr Lee said with a wry smile when asked if he would now prefer to keep his money under his pillow: 'I have no money in the bank! I'm already on credit... the trouble will not end.'

A bank executive felt the economy was 'bearish and defensive', and that with the soft global economy, it was only a matter of time before the crisis hit home.

Agreeing, a trader felt that as the US financial crisis makes its way across the world, Singapore would feel the effects, and the economy would 'reach bottom' by the end of this year.

An account manager, who gave his name as Mr Chong said: 'Everything is collapsing. These are definitely not good times.'

An understatement, perhaps, considering the toxicity of our times.

This article was first published in The New Paper on September 21, 2008.