EVEN though he speaks in, to use a very Singapore term, "broken English", it is very easy to talk to Alexander Souptel, the concertmaster of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

The Russian-born violinist's enthusiasm and warmth is irrepressible, his cheery laughter ringing loudly down the telephone line.

The 58-year-old was unable to be interviewed in person as he was busy rehearsing for Monday's performance of the symphony, Singapore: A Geopolitical Utopia, at the Esplanade.

Based here since 1993, he left the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and joined the SSO at the invitation of former SSO conductor Choo Hoey.

"I didn't even know where Singapore is. After a few seconds, I remembered. It's close to the equator. Very hot. No, no, I cannot come," recalls the musician, who became a Singapore citizen in 1998.

But he soon discovered that the climate here is similar to the south of Russia, where he was born, and quickly adapted to life here.

In fact, he now refers to the Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade fondly as "my home".

"There are no four seasons here, only one season, time so fast gone, everything stop, you forget time pass," he says.

When you repeat the gist of what he has just said and comment that it is a good quote, he exclaims in glee: "You understand my English? Thank you, thank you!"

For the record, he can also speak some simple Mandarin phrases, like ni hao ma (how are you), hao bu hao (good or not) and bu hao (no good).

Sounding like an excited child, he says: "It's easy for me to remember because the word for good in Russian is horosho, which sounds like hao in Mandarin. And the word for no good is ploho, which sounds like bu hao."

After almost 14 years, he has developed very local tastes and loves his chicken rice, popiah and laksa. "It is in Singapore that I first ate coconut," he reveals.

His biggest complaint? Having no access to Russian television news.

"There are Japanese, Malay and German news on cable TV, but no Russian channel. I don't know why," he says, adding that he is unable to monitor Russian news on the Internet as he does not own a computer.

"My computer is my violin," quips Souptel, who lives in an apartment near Robertson Quay.

Before we end the conversation, he tells you that you can actually see him on television every night before transmission closes.

"At 12 o'clock, watch TV. There is a video of the national anthem. You will see me for two seconds, playing the violin. That's me, with big hair," he says.

"That was shot many years ago. Now I don't have hair on my face and only some on my head."